If you’re approaching retirement or have already stopped working, it may have occurred to you that saving for retirement was the easy part. Most likely, you had contributions to a 401(k) or other employer-provided retirement savings account automatically deducted from your paycheck. Target-date funds , which automatically adjust your investments as you approach retirement, have taken the guesswork (and hopefully the stress) out of investing those contributions. For investments outside of your workplace plan, many brokerage firms have harnessed digital tools to provide low-cost investment advice. (We've evaluated the online services that many major brokers provide .) But once you retire and need to start withdrawing from your nest egg, the task of managing your money becomes more difficult. Fewer than half of retirees say they’ve estimated how much they’ll need to withdraw from their savings and investments to cover their expenses, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey . Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Even if you’ve nailed down the amount of income you’ll need each month to retire comfortably, you’ll have to wrestle with a host of decisions that can’t be put on autopilot, such as which accounts you should tap first , how to lower taxes on your withdrawals and when you should sign up for Social Security . Add to the mix concerns about long-term care, estate planning and charitable giving, and you may start to feel as though managing your savings is a full-time job. With the stakes so high, you’re probably going to want some advice. For many retirees, that means hiring a financial planner . A qualified certified financial planner can manage your portfolio and provide advice on a range of other subjects, from withdrawal rates to legacy planning. To earn the CFP designation, an individual must complete a course of study, pass a rigorous exam, have 6,000 hours of experience related to financial planning and commit to continuing education. In addition, CFPs are required to act as fiduciaries , which means they must put their clients’ interests above their own. Many CFPs provide excellent advice, but their guidance doesn’t come cheap. Compensation structures vary, but a common one is an assets under management (AUM) model , in which the planner bases his or her fees on a percentage of your portfolio. For example, if you have a $1 million portfolio and your planner charges a 1% fee, you would pay the planner $10,000 a year. The percentage typically decreases as your portfolio grows. On average, advisers charge 1.12% per year for a portfolio of $100,000, 1.02% for a portfolio of $1 million and 0.98% for a portfolio of $2 million, according to a 2023 survey by Advisory HQ , a marketing organization. Supporters of this model, a longtime standard for the advisory business, say it gives advisers a strong incentive to perform well, because as your portfolio grows, so does their compensation. Increasingly, though, brokerage and financial services firms such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard are offering financial advice to retirees and preretirees at a lower cost. Depending on the amount you have invested, you may be able to get advice on account-withdrawal rates, taxes, estate planning and more, often from a dedicated financial planner, for a fee of 0.5% or less of assets under management. The firm may limit advisory services to assets it manages — so it may not include your former employer’s 401(k), for example, or a taxable brokerage account you inherited that’s with another brokerage firm. If you’ve accumulated a significant amount of assets with a particular financial services firm, you’ve likely already received promotions for its financial-planning services. Enrolling in one of these programs could give you the confidence to spend money you’ve worked so hard to save. That’s not easy for many retirees: A 2018 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that retirees with at least $500,000 or more in savings had spent down less than 12% over 20 years. Here are some questions to ask before signing up. How much do I need to have invested to qualify for advisory services? The amount required to be eligible for guidance from a dedicated adviser varies. For example, Schwab Wealth Advisory provides a dedicated financial adviser and personalized wealth-management strategy to clients with $500,000 or more in assets. Through Fidelity Wealth Management Services , you can get a dedicated financial adviser and portfolio management if you have at least $500,000 in assets. T. Rowe Price , a relative newcomer to wealth-advisory services, will provide a dedicated adviser to clients with at least $250,000 in assets. For customers with a minimum of $100,000 in assets, Ally Invest Personal Advice offers a personalized financial plan from a dedicated adviser using portfolios of exchange-traded funds ( ETFs ); Ally will also provide withdrawal strategies for retirement accounts, but it doesn’t offer tax advice. Some firms have expanded services for wealthier clients — typically those with $2 million or more. For example, Vanguard’s Wealth Management program, available to clients with $5 million or more in Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs, provides investment-advisory services, wealth and estate planning, tax strategies, and other services through a dedicated CFP. Fidelity’s Private Wealth Management Services , available to clients with investable assets of at least $10 million — with $2 million or more managed through Fidelity — provides investment management, trust and estate planning, and other services. How much does the service cost? Fees range from 0.3% to more than 1% of assets, typically depending on the amount you have invested and the services provided. Vanguard’s Personal Advisor Select, which provides access to a financial adviser, a customized financial plan and ongoing investment advice to customers with at least $500,000 in Vanguard IRAs, brokerage accounts and trusts, charges 0.3% of assets, or $3,000 a year for an account with $1 million in assets. The fee for Schwab’s Wealth Advisory service starts at 0.8% of assets and decreases at higher asset levels. When considering costs, though, it’s also important to look at the expense ratios imposed by the underlying mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the firm’s recommended portfolio. Although index funds and ETFs typically have low fees, your adviser may recommend actively traded funds — emerging-markets funds , for example, or small-company stock funds. While these funds may offer the potential for higher returns, they tend to come with higher expense ratios than ETFs and index funds. When inquiring about advisory services, ask whether you’ll qualify for any breaks on fees. T. Rowe Price, for example, caps fees so that its combined investment-advisory service fee and fund expense ratio doesn’t exceed 1%, says Lindsay Theodore , a thought leadership manager at T. Rowe Price. For example, if the client’s portfolio has a weighted average expense ratio that exceeds 0.5%, the advisory service fee of 0.5% will be reduced. And depending on the amount of assets invested in Vanguard funds, participants in Vanguard’s advisory program may be eligible for Admiral class shares, which have an average expense ratio of 0.14%, or institutional shares, which have an average expense ratio of 0.08%. What’s available for free? Before you agree to pay a percentage of your assets, look into what’s offered at no cost. For example, Fidelity’s advisers will help clients create a financial plan that covers everything from withdrawal rates to Social Security claiming strategies for no extra charge, and clients can contact a member of Fidelity’s advisory team at any time to update the plan, says Ryan Viktorin , a CFP and financial consultant for Fidelity. The service is particularly valuable for clients who are retired or approaching retirement, she says. “It can be a mental shift when you get to retirement, and it’s scary for a lot of people,” she says. There’s no investment minimum for this service, but clients with a large amount of assets may qualify for a dedicated financial adviser at no cost, Viktorin says. If you want an adviser to manage your portfolio, however, you’ll have to use one of Fidelity’s paid services. For clients with at least $250,000 in assets, T. Rowe Price provides a complimentary financial plan that includes a recommended portfolio of investments, analysis of Social Security benefits, proposed spending adjustments and a score showing the likelihood they won’t outlive their savings. Schwab clients with at least $1 million in assets are automatically enrolled in Schwab Private Client Services , which provides them with a dedicated consultant who will direct them to resources at Schwab in areas such as income, tax and estate planning. This service is primarily designed for self-directed investors; clients who want ongoing investment management will need to enroll in Schwab’s Wealth Advisory service and pay the fee. In addition, most financial services firms provide a range of tools you can use to estimate income and expenses, analyze your Social Security benefits, determine whether you should convert to a Roth IRA and more. Even if you eventually decide to hire a financial planner, these tools will help you get a handle on your finances and figure out where you need help. Will the advice be comprehensive enough? One of the upsides of paying for advice from your financial services firm is that the firm already knows a lot about you — and you know a lot about it. If you’re comfortable with the company’s customer service and investment offerings, paying for a dedicated financial adviser and other features could make sense. But if the advice is limited to assets you own within the firm, the adviser — or team of advisers — may not have a complete picture of your financial health. Many retirees have multiple retirement, taxable and savings accounts with different banks and brokerage firms. Your net worth may also include life insurance, a pension and home equity, all of which will contribute to your retirement security. While some advisory services “are great for DIY investors who want a little bit of help, it’s not holistic financial advice or planning,” says Pam Krueger , chief executive officer and founder of Wealthramp , which connects investors with vetted, fee-only advisers. Most CFPs will provide a free consultation, which should give you an opportunity to ask about their skills, specializations and fees before you commit to what could be a long-term relationship. You can search for a CFP in your area at the Financial Planning Association’s website . Look for a fee-only planner. These individuals are compensated for giving advice, and they don’t earn commissions by recommending specific products or services. They’re also required to act as fiduciaries, which means they must put your interests above their own. Be wary of any adviser who declines to discuss their fee structures upfront. If you’re paying a percentage of assets under management, you should expect to receive, along with investment advice, help with estate planning, insurance and other aspects of your financial life. If you’re not comfortable paying a percentage of your assets, it’s easier than ever to find CFPs who use different — and possibly less expensive — compensation methods. Some Wealthramp advisers charge by the hour or work on retainer, Krueger says. Planners in the Garrett Planning Network are fee-only CFPs who charge by the hour, typically at hourly rates ranging from $100 to $300. Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here . Related content Get the Invest for Retirement series New to Investing? 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After a significant delay, the Trump transition team has signed a key agreement with the Biden White House to ease the transfer of power. "This engagement allows our intended cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power," Susie Wiles, chief of staff to President-elect Donald Trump, said in a statement on Tuesday. The memorandum of understanding was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1 — along with a second MOU with the General Services Administration (GSA) that would provide funding, office space and technology. The deadline and process is set out in a law called the Presidential Transition Act. The transition team said it has ruled out signing the GSA agreement, saying it would use "an existing ethics plan" for its team, and would post it on the GSA website. "The transition already has existing security and information protections built in, which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight," the Trump transition team said in a statement, noting it would disclose its donors publicly. Now that the MOU is signed, authorized members of the Trump transition team can have access to agency and White House employees, facilities and information because it has "agreed to important safeguards to protect non-public information and prevent conflicts of interest, including who has access to the information and how the information is shared," said Saloni Sharma, a spokeswoman for the White House. While the White House would have preferred that the Trump transition team sign the GSA agreement, it decided that a disruption in the transfer of power would be more risky. A third agreement, with the Department of Justice, is required for FBI background checks and security clearances. That agreement has not yet been signed. Those background checks are traditionally required by the Senate during the confirmation process, along with an ethics agreement with the Office of Government Ethics, and responses to a detailed questionnaire.Digital hatred
GRAND FORKS — The latest defense authorization bill expands mental health care access for North Dakota’s military service members and adds new provisions for countering threats posed by unmanned drones. Those are among the provisions touted by North Dakota’s two U.S. senators in the annual National Defense Authorization Act. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Monday after it passed by divided votes in the House and Senate. ADVERTISEMENT Language in the latest NDAA includes an order to establish a counter-UAS task force combatting drone incursions onto U.S. military bases and several provisions for current service members’ mental health care, including measures singling out pilots of U.S. combat drones. Drone incursions have been reported in recent weeks over U.S. military bases in England and Germany, while residents of several eastern states have reported seeing numerous unidentified lighted drones flying overhead, though U.S. officials say most of the latter incidents have been manned aircraft. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said the NDAA “helps formalize what (the Defense Department) is already doing” to combat unwanted drone use, citing the counter-UAS goals of Project ULTRA and ongoing efforts to integrate drones into U.S. airspace at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site. Project ULTRA — which stands for UAS logistics, traffic, research and autonomy — seeks to boost national security and operational efficiency of unmanned aerial system operations. “The interesting thing about Grand Forks is we’ve built an ecosystem where, I’ve talked about us being the tip of the spear against China; we’re the tip of the spear in developing drone and counter-drone,” Hoeven said. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., has championed a provision that expands the number of mental health providers certified under military health insurance provider TRICARE. Cramer said he pushed for the expanded access in response to a pair of suicides among Grand Forks Air Force Base personnel in the past several years. “The standards to join TRICARE are so stringent now, they don’t take into account that some states like North Dakota only have certain accreditations and certifications that are available to them,” Cramer said. “If you don’t get the right credential — it’s not that it’s a better credential, just the right one — your providers don’t meet the standard for TRICARE.” ADVERTISEMENT He’s also pushed for a provision creating a combat status identifier for pilots of remotely piloted aircraft involved in combat operations. Cramer cited as inspiration the 119th Wing of the North Dakota National Guard, which flies MQ-9 Reaper unmanned planes. “Our remote pilots are treated differently when it comes to things like PTSD potential or depression or mental health challenges as the result of, say, a kill shot,” he said. “I wanted to make sure the remote pilots are given the same type of consideration as somebody that’s in the cockpit of an airplane.” This year’s NDAA also authorizes $1.9 million in planning and design funding for maintenance on Grand Forks Air Force Base’s runway — one of Cramer’s pet projects — and reauthorization for the Space Development Agency’s mission, including its recently-established Operations Center North at Grand Forks Air Force Base. Hoeven said his office is working to appropriate another $450 million toward an advanced fire control system built off the SDA’s network of low-Earth orbit satellites. Other North Dakota-specific provisions in this year’s NDAA include authorization for funding to update the UH-72 Lakota helicopters used by the North Dakota National Guard and funding authorization to modernize Minot Air Force Base’s nuclear capabilities. Policy measures, like more provider options for mental health care or the counter-UAS task force, became law with the passage of the NDAA. ADVERTISEMENT However, NDAA provisions that require funding — like nuclear modernization or the runway study — will need to pass in a separate defense appropriations bill. “An authorization just says that it’s approved,” Hoeven explained. “In defense appropriations, we allocate the dollars to do it, and if we don’t provide those dollars for the NDAA, for those authorizations or programs, then obviously they don’t advance.” The federal government is currently operating at last year’s funding levels via a continuing resolution set to expire in March. Congress will have to attempt to pass a defense appropriations bill before then or pass another continuing resolution. The NDAA usually passes with significant bipartisan support. This year, however, the bill passed with significant dissent from both House and Senate Democrats after a last-minute amendment by House Speaker Mike Johnson added language barring TRICARE from covering some gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members. Both Hoeven and Cramer expressed support for Johnson’s amendment, which blocks gender-affirming care “that could result in sterilization” — though medical professionals say hormone therapy (like puberty blockers) generally does not cause infertility. Cramer said providing gender-affirming care did not support military readiness and dismissed concerns about the mental health impact of denying that care to minors. “(The amendment) has a much lower priority than caring for people who are stressed out by the fact that they’re a warfighter,” he said. “We need them to be healthy, we need them to be ready for war, and puberty blockers, gender-affirming care, just simply don’t do either of those things.” ADVERTISEMENT Hoeven said gender-affirming care was hurting military readiness and recruiting and decried providing gender-affirming care as a “social experiment,” a phrase also used by Cramer. President-elect Donald Trump is widely expected to reinstate a ban on transgender service members in the U.S. Armed Forces, as he did in his first administration. North Dakota’s U.S. senators also dismissed concerns that the Johnson provision could affect bipartisanship or productivity in the next Congress. The Senate ultimately passed the NDAA 85-15, while less than half of the House’s Democrats supported the act. More Democrats attacked Johnson’s last-minute addition while saying they felt compelled to vote for the broader bill. “I’m hopeful Democrats will come around and join us with what we’ve always done with our military, which is support our professional, great men and women in uniform who do such an outstanding job, not a bunch of social policies that shouldn’t be in there,” Hoeven said. He also said he expects the embattled House speaker, who holds one of the smallest House majorities in history, to be reelected next year. ADVERTISEMENT Cramer called this year’s NDAA a loss for the political left but said he “wouldn’t read a whole lot” into the dissent, pointing out the bill had continued its decades-long streak of passing into law despite partisan gridlock. 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