Funding a 30–year retirement will take financial planning prowess as you juggle the effects of inflation, distributions, and, Adaptive Asset Allocation. Are you up to the task?

George Foreman, the boxer–turned spokesman for portable grills, may have best summed up the retirement conundrum facing baby-boomers, “The question isn’t what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.” The amount you’ll need each year to maintain your desired standard of living is the most critical variable in the financial planning process. How long will you need financial planning advice? The answer is: for your entire life. Retirement income today is no longer ‘set it and forget it’. No matter what your investment strategy is, financial planning for retirement should include a cash account with 2 years of retirement income. The investment strategies used by your financial planner-whether growth income or a combination of the 2-should be re-balanced each year with the cash account replenished. Investment returns matter. Seek financial planners that utilize an Adaptive Asset Allocation. Specifically, the strategy should:

1. Maximize returns with minimum risk in up markets

2. Protect value in down markets

3. Reallocate frequently. Unlike traditional asset allocation, which might realign your investments between 1 and 4 times per year, Adaptive Asset Allocation reallocates your portfolio 10-11 times per year

4. Align investments to market conditions. Unlike traditional asset allocation, which aligns asset mix according to answers to a risk assessment questionnaire, Adaptive Asset Allocation aligns your asset mix according to market realities