Posts in Financial Planning
3 Tips for Successfully Retiring Together

Looking at the active, vibrant and well-educated Boomer clients that I am honored to work with, I often wonder: do we need to re-define retirement?

After all, just a decade or two ago retirement meant sitting by a fireplace in the rocking chair and whiling the days away playing Bingo at a local senior center. My clients today seem to have a different set of ideas as they envision a future of travel, exciting new projects and, for some, even no retirement at all! Those new developments create a need for a very different set of conversations that go beyond “what would be your ideal retirement age?” and “what is your monthly budget in retirement?”

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Financial Planning, Retirement PlanningPhillip R. ChristensonPhillip James Financialretirement mn, Retirement planning, tips for retirement
Where Do I Get My Money When I Retire?

Incomplete plans can be disastrous. A man named Carl McCunn learned this painful lesson amid the chilling landscape of Alaska. The wildlife photographer arranged for a bush pilot to fly him to an isolated region hundreds of miles north of Fairbanks. He carried enough provisions for his five-month excursion.

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Financial PlanningPhillip R. Christensonwithdrawal strategy, financial planning, financial plan, retirement, retirement money, retirement planning
What is Financial Success?

If we look at society and societal norms, a lot of weight is given to success when it comes to defining happiness. If we see a person who is successful, it is often assumed that they are happy. On an existential level we should consider what it all means. In reality, we actually have no idea whether or not that person is either happy or successful; for a couple of reasons: First of all, we can only measure someone else’s success or happiness by what we know about them.

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Financial PlanningPhillip R. Christensonfee-only financial advisors, fee-only financial planning, plymouth financial plan, mn financial planning, minnesota financial plan
Just Married and Starting a Family - Role of The Financial Advisor

John and Sally have been married 5 years. The 35-year-old computer programmer works at a major software company, while Sally, 32, works part-time as a freelance photographer and full-time as the mother of a 3-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.

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Financial PlanningPhillip R. Christensonfinancial plan, financial planning, family planning, financial plan for a family, just married financial plan, newlywed financial plan