Planning For Retirement - Who Are These Financial People?

In the course of planning your retirement you'll probably meet a number of people in the financial industry field - each with their own expertise and role to play in your planning. These professionals who trade their skills and expertise for a living derive their income from fees they charge or commissions they receive. They must have acquired the expertise and/or trained in the field they specialized and passed the required examination in order to practice. Their activities are regulated by a supervising and regulating body in the country they operate to protect the interest of consumers.

Let's now take a look at the four financial Industry professionals that you'll most likely meet.

Financial Planner For Retirement or Retirement planner.

The first and most likely financial industry professional you'll want to consult for your retirement planning is a Financial Planner. A Financial Planner is a practicing professional who helps people to deal with various personal financial issues through proper planning in order to achieve his/her client's financial and lifestyle goals. Quite often this entails delving into such diverse areas as education planning, planning for retirement, investments, insurance requirements, tax planning, risk management, estate planning and business succession planning for business owners.

In carrying out the planning function, the Financial Planner is guided by the financial planning process to create a detailed strategy tailored to his/her client's specific situation and meeting his/her specific goals. For you as his/her client, this process involves gathering relevant financial information, determining your goals in life, examining your current financial status and coming up with a strategy or plan as to how you may achieve your goals given your current situation and future plans. One of your more obvious and specific goals of course is planning for a retirement life-style that you desire.

Quite often, for your specific retirement purposes you should consult a Financial Planner who specializes in retirement planning. He/She might also designate himself/herself as Retirement Planner or Retirement Advisor.

Stock Broker

The second professional you'll likely want to meet especially if you decide to include stocks in your investment portfolio for your retirement is your Stock Broker/Stock Broker Representative or Remisier/Dealers Representative as they are sometimes known in some other places. A Stock Broker is a qualified and regulated professional who buys and sells shares and other securities on behalf of investors. Most Stock Brokers are actually registered representatives who work for a stock broking company. Stock Brokers earn their incomes from commissions on the securities that they buy and sell.

In addition, a Stock Broker may also offer advice to their clients on which stocks, mutual funds(unit trusts), etc. to buy.

Mutual Fund(Unit Trust) Sales Person(Agent)

A Mutual Fund Sales Person is another likely financial industry people that you'll want to see if you decide to diversify your investment for retirement and build a portfolio. A Mutual Fund Sales Person is someone who is licensed to sell mutual funds(unit trusts) only. They cannot sell stocks or bonds.

He/she works for a mutual fund company or a mutual fund dealer. A Mutual Fund Sales Person receives a salary or a fee for selling funds from mutual fund companies.

Insurance Sales Person/Agent

This is another person that is in your best interest that you should meet. An Insurance Sales Person/Agent is a licensed professional who helps individuals, families, and businesses select insurance policies that provide the best protection for their lives, healths, and properties.

Insurance Sales Agents are representatives of insurance companies. They are commonly referred to as "producers" in the insurance industry and they sell one or more types of insurance. The more common types of policies they sell are property and casualty, life, health, disability, and long-term care. Property And Casualty Insurance Agents sell policies that protect individuals and businesses from financial loss, while Life Insurance Agents specialize in selling policies that pay beneficiaries when a policyholder dies. Depending on the policyholder's circumstances, a cash-value policy can be designed to provide retirement income, funds for the education of children, or other benefits.

Life Insurance Agents also sell annuities that promise a retirement income. Health Insurance Agents sell health insurance policies that cover the costs of medical care and loss of income due to illness or injury - which obviously is an important factor to consider for your retirement planning.

An increasing number of Insurance Sales Agents are offering comprehensive financial planning services such as retirement planning and estate planning. They also may involve in "cross selling" of several financial products to their clients. Thus, besides offering insurance, many of them may become licensed to sell mutual funds.

In closing those are the four most likely persons that can help you with you retirement planning. In planning your retirement you may need the services of only one or two of them at the most, as some of their functions may overlap. It is however advisable to seek recommendation from others as to who is the best person that can help you with your retirement planning.

Technorati : personal financial planner, planning your retirement, retirement income, retirement planner

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