Retirement Planners Of America Reviews

Retirement Planners Of America Review

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Retirement Planners of America was co-founded in 2011 by Ken Moraif, who hosts the radio show “Money Matters with Ken Moraif” and is known for calling the 2008 stock market crash. The fee-based firm, which was originally called Money Matters with Ken Moraif. With headquarters in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas, Retirement Planners of America is on SmartAsset’s top financial advisor lists for Plano and Texas.

Retirement Planners Of America Background

Retirement Planners of America switched to its current name in 2019. The firm is employee-owned, with founder Ken Moraif and senior advisors Elias Dragon, Douglas Bartol and Charles Dyer, Jr. acting as principal owners.

The firm employs advisors who hold designations including certified financial planners , chartered financial consultants , chartered retirement planning counselors and more. General investment management and financial planning are the hallmark offerings of the firm. In addition to Plano, Retirement Planners of America has five other offices in Texas, four in California, two in Arizona and one in Oklahoma City.

Moraif Says That He Doesn’t Ever Want To Have A Conversation With Clients Telling Them That They Just Lost 30 40 Or 50 Percent Of Their Money Because They Didn’t Have A Sell Strategy For Starters As Previously Discussed Moraif Has Never Averted More Than 29% In Market Loses Most Importantly Moraif’s Market Timing Advice Has Essentially Caused Clients To Miss Out On Approximately 445% In Stock Market Gains Since 2009 Has He Had A Conversation With His Clients To Explain This

In order to justify his market timing strategy, Moraif asks “Do you think there will be a bear market sometime between now and the rest of your life?” The pertinent question that he fails to ask is whether attempting to time the market is likely to result in a net gain versus a buy / hold strategy.

“If you’re retired, your investments are not able to withstand large losses” — Moraif

Moraif argues that you cannot afford to sustain large losses in the early years of retirement because you may run out of money. For example, if you are relying on $4,000 of income per year, and your $100,000 sufferes a 30% market decline to $70,000, you are no longer taking out 4%. $4,000 is now 5.7% of $70,000. This increases the chances of the portfolio running out of money within 30 years.

But what he’s ignoring is that by attempting to time the market while taking withdrawals in retirement, you can also experience the equivalent of “large losses” that put your portfolio at risk.

Even if we try to make Moraif’s market timing strategy look its best, by cherry picking 2007 as a starting point and taking out 4% per year, these clients who had the immediate benefit of averting 29% of the 56% crash of 2007 – 2009, have now missed out on roughly 35.23% in gains up until July 10, 2010. Another way of looking at it is that these clients have suffered roughly a 26.05% loss by attempting to time the market .

Final thoughts

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Retirement Planners Of America Investment Philosophy

Retirement Planners of America looks to develop relationships with all its clients in order to help them meet their individual investment goals. The firm manages portfolios on a discretionary basis, but clients have significant input and can, to a certain extent, direct portfolio allocation as they see fit.

Advisors look to cut down risk and volatility by rebalancing portfolios at least once a quarter. A range of asset classes is recommended, but the firm tends to focus on mutual funds, variable annuities and other asset classes that are geared towards retirement. These mutual funds often invest in various stocks and bonds, but the firm may choose those that invest in other securities as well.

Where Is Retirement Planners Of America Headquartered Which States Do Its Financial Advisors Serve

Retirement Planners OF America is headquartered in Plano, TX and currently serves in 41 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

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Moraif Has Also Presented A Storm Shelter Analogy To Justify Being Wrong With His Market Timing Calls He Says That If You Retreat Into The Storm Shelter And There’s No Tornado That’s Ok But This Analogy Does Not Apply To Investing Imagine If You Lost A Body Part Or A Family Member If You Retreated Into Your Storm Shelter But No Tornado Passed Over Your House That’s A Better Way Of Summarizing What Can Happen If You Fail At Market Timing It’s Catastrophe In Slow Motion

Moraif also says “defense wins super bowls” or that trying to “score as many points as possible” is a bad strategy because it might backfire. The real question is whether attempting to time the market with the stock portion of your portfolio is likely to make you richer or poorer. So far Moraif has proven that his market timing strategy has severely backfired for his clients. And again, you can mitigate risk simply by diversifying into bonds.

Moraif says “there’s this tiny little thing that’s wrong with buy/hold . Oh yeah! Bear markets!”. And there’s this tiny little thing that’s wrong with market timing. Oh yeah! Mistiming the market! People who followed Moriaf’s market timing advice since 2009 have missed out on 44% in market gains!

On 4/24/2020 Moraif adopted yet another anecdote, I Dont Care About Missing Out on Gains. I Want to Miss Out on Losses. The problem is that missing out on gains is the same as taking losses! The only thing that matters is your account value.

Ken Moraif presents what he calls a “buy-hold myth” that if the stock market crashes “don’t worry about it because the market always comes back”. Well unfortunately Moraif’s own market timing doesn’t pass this smell test either! The market doesn’t come back after you repeatedly mistime the market either! Is Moraif telling his clients who have missed out on 44.5% in gains “Don’t worry about it. We’ll correctly time the next crash and it will be a big one”?

Retirement Planners Of America

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Don’t let an unstable market derail your retirement goals. To build their savings, many investors place a lot of emphasis on growth in the working years. If you are over 50 you can still invest, but you don’t have to be in the growth game. You’re there to preserve principal. A bad bear market can ruin your plans. It is possible to be forced into retirement, or you could run out of cash early. And it may take many years to recover your losses. Retirement Planners of America is a retirement planning firm that can assist you in creating a plan for reaching your retirement goals and protecting your investment. It’s time to prepare for a fall in the market.

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Retirement Planners Of Americas Pros

• No minimum balance requirement: While the firm may decline to work with potential customers whose assets are too small to efficiently manage, it states that, in general, it doesnt have a minimum balance for its clientele.
• Industry recognition: The firm has received several third-party accolades, including top 100 inclusion in Financial Advisor magazines RIA ranking in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In addition, founder Ken Moraif has appeared on Forbes list of Best-in-State Advisors in 2020 and 2021.
• Clean disciplinary record: The firm hasnt reported any disciplinary events over the past decade.

We Provide Retirement Planning Services To Help Give You Financial Peace Of Mind

You deserve the best retirement possible. Let us help guide you to financial peace of mind with our retirement planning services.

Retirement Planners of America offers a comprehensive approach to financial and retirement planning that goes beyond just managing your nest egg.

If its important to you, then its important to us. Thats the way it should be among friends.

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What Types Of Clients Does Retirement Planners Of America Serve

The firm serves both individuals and high net worth individuals, though it serves significantly more who arent high net worth than are. For reference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission defines a high net worth individual as someone with at least $750,000 under an advisors management or a net worth of at least $1.5 million. The firm has a focus on retirees and those getting ready to transition into retirement, particularly those age 50 and older. It also serves some pension and profit-sharing plans.

A minimum balance for investment isnt required, but the firm states that it wont work with clients who dont have sufficient assets for efficient retirement planning.

The Incomplete Tale Of Ken Moraif

The Plano, Texas-based RIA has a history of touting successful investment calls. A deeper analysis, however, reveals a more nuanced story.

• By Greg Bartalos

Ken Moraif has built one of the country’s biggest RIAs highlighting his seemingly well-timed, buying and selling of stocks in radio ads, at conferences, and in the press. But there are omissions.

Moraif, CEO and senior retirement planner of Retirement Planners of America, has been named to Barrons Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors list for the past eight years and in 2019 was named a Financial Times Top 300 Advisor.

His Plano, Texas-based RIA manages more than $4 billion in assets for over 8,000 households, focusing on retail and high-net-worth investors, with 13 offices in Texas, California, Arizona, and Oklahoma.

Moraif hosts The Money Matters With Ken Moraif Radio Show, which first aired in 1996. The one-hour paid, commercial programming, broadcasts in Dallas, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

On the program, he recommends that listeners attend his no cost, no obligation seminars held at hotels. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he has been steering listeners toward virtual seminars where they can learn more about his firm as well as topics including cybersecurity, social security, and retirement strategies.

In January, Moraif was bursting with optimism. Ive seen the light, I guess you could say. My fearless forecast for this year is the Dows going to be at 31,000.

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How Retirement Planners Of America Invests Your Money

Since Retirement Planners of America focuses primarily on retirees, it places an emphasis on protecting assets when the market is in decline. The firm uses a stop-loss strategy that it calls Invest and Protect, which uses a preset target to determine when to sell investments.

The firm tailors its investment strategies to each clients financial situation, but the stop-loss strategy means itll typically move all clients in or out of the market at the same time, based on trend analysis. All client assets are managed on a discretionary basis, meaning the advisor has the authority to make day-to-day investment decisions on behalf of a client.

In general, the firm builds portfolios that include mutual funds, variable annuities and fixed annuities. In some circumstances, it will also invest in exchange-traded funds .

Retirement Planners Of America Client Types And Minimum Account Sizes

Retirement Planners of America works almost exclusively with individual clients, the vast majority of whom fall below the high net worth mark. The firm also manages the assets of pension and profit-sharing plans.

Retirement Planners of America does not have a minimum account size for any of their accounts. That being said, the firm’s advisors may turn you away if your account balance is deemed to be too small to manage effectively.

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Retirement Planners Of America Awards And Recognition

The firm did make Barron’s “Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors” list for eight years, between 2012 to 2019. The firm has since fallen off of the list.

Additionally, the Better Business Bureau has rated it an A+.

In 2019, Financial Times named Retirement Planners of America a “Top 300 Advisor.”

Also that year, the firm was on Inc.’s “5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies” list.

Additionally in 2019, the practice placed #68 on Financial Advisor magazine’s “Top 100 Registered Investment Advisors” list.

What Is The Historical Performance Of Retirement Planners Of America

Neither the SEC nor FINRA tracks portfolio performance metrics for the financial planning industry. As a result, unlike hedge funds, there is no historical performance for any financial advisory firm. Financial plans and investment portfolios are always unique to the client’s personal financial situation.

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Fees Under Retirement Planners Of America

Retirement Planners of America has a simple fee schedule, charging an annual fee of generally 1.25% of clients’ assets under management. This fee may be higher under certain circumstances or negotiated lower at the firm’s discretion. Annual fees are payable on a quarterly basis, in arrears. The firm does not charge performance-based fees.

Is Retirement Planners Of America Right For You

Retirement Planners of America could be a good choice for you if you live near one of its offices and are at or nearing retirement. However, if you live on the East Coast, or want additional financial planning services or a more aggressive approach to portfolio construction, you might find a different firm to be a better fit.

Before choosing an advisor, its important to conduct your own research and interview potential advisors you think might be a good fit. To start your search or consider some further options, try MagnifyMoneys financial advisor search tool.

The Find a Financial Advisor links contained in this article will direct you to webpages devoted to MagnifyMoney Advisor . After completing a brief questionnaire, you will be matched with certain financial advisers who participate in MMAs referral program, which may or may not include the investment advisers discussed.

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How We Do It

Our team, including more than a dozen Certified Educators in Personal Finance , has spent thousands of hours researching and compiling information on the more than 300,000 registered investment advisors. We used our data and finance expertise to sift through millions of data points to highlight only the most important.

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Services Offered By Retirement Planners Of America

Retirement Planners of America offers portfolio management as well as several financial planning services, including retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning and long-term care planning. If clients so choose, it does offer discretionary investment services via a wrap-fee program. The firm also runs financial planning seminars.

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Overview Of Retirement Planners Of America

The namesake host of the radio show Money Matters with Ken Moraif founded Retirement Planners of America in 2011. Moraif remains a principal owner of the firm, along with fellow senior advisors Charles Dyer, Jr., Elias Dragon, and Douglas Bartol.

The firm has 100 employees, and over 30 of them perform investment advisory functions. All of its senior advisors are certified financial planners and about a third of its other advisors also hold that designation. In addition, a large majority of the firms advisors are chartered retirement planning counselors .

Retirement Planners Of America Disciplinary Disclosures

The doesnt report any disclosures in the past 10 years. The SEC requires that all registered investment advisory firms must disclose any civil, regulatory or criminal actions that occured in the last 10 years that might impact a clients evaluation of the business or management on their Form ADV filing.

For more information, visit Retirement Planners of Americas Investment Advisor Public Disclosure page.

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What Services Can Retirement Planners Of America Provide

As a financial advisory firm, Retirement Planners OF America can provide a variety of financial planning services for Americans. Financial advisors help you achieve your life goals, e.g., saving for retirement, by creating a comprehensive financial plan and managing your investment portfolio .Financial planning services can include tax planning, estate planning, retirement planning, or life-based event planning such as saving for college, getting married, purchasing a home, paying down debt, or planning an inheritance. For further detail, see our articles on different types of advisors and financial advisor services.