T. Rowe Price Launches New Suite of Retirement Planning Services
As part of the services, the firm provides a complete portfolio evaluation and a detailed personalized recommendation for a suitable investment strategy and how much the individual should be saving to meet retirement goals, or spending in retirement. The recommendation is based on discussions that the investor has with a T. Rowe Price advisory counselor and a detailed questionnaire that helps provide insight on the client’s personal financial preferences – such as desired retirement date, achieving a high monthly income, or leaving a legacy to heirs – and investment experience, risk tolerance, and current financial situation.
The services also utilize state-of-the-art financial modeling technology that incorporates proprietary software to assess how the recommended strategy might perform based on 1,000 hypothetical market scenarios.
The Advisory Planning Services, which are available for a one-time fee of $250 and include free ongoing reviews to help investors stay on track, are designed to help meet these challenges:
• Saving for Retirement: Shows the amount you need to save and how to invest to attempt to meet your retirement income goal. Helps answer these questions: How much do I need to save each year to generate adequate income from my investments to support my desired lifestyle in retirement? What percent of my current salary could I replace at retirement from my investments? What is an appropriate asset allocation for my overall portfolio, given my time horizon and risk tolerance?
• Transitioning into Retirement: Recommends a realistic investment and income withdrawal strategy for the year in which you are planning to retire, that will support your desired lifestyle in retirement and will achieve a high probability that your investment assets last throughout retirement. Geared for investors within five years of the date they expect to begin withdrawals, the service helps answer these questions: When can I afford to retire? What is the impact of delaying my retirement date on the amount of income I can receive annually from my investments? What is the appropriate portfolio allocation to attempt to reach my goal?
• Managing Retirement Income: Evaluates your retirement investment and income withdrawal strategy and recommends the amount you should withdraw from your investments to best sustain your purchasing power throughout retirement without running out of money. Helps answer these questions: How can I maximize withdrawals from my investments in retirement? What is the likelihood of not outliving my assets if I adopt this strategy? What can I do to try to ensure a financial legacy for my heirs?
• Evaluating Your Portfolio: Provides an investment strategy based on your financial goals and risk tolerance, including a detailed comparison of your current portfolio versus our recommended portfolio, categorized by broad asset and sub-asset classes. Helps answer these questions: Am I properly diversified? What is an appropriate portfolio allocation given my time horizon and risk tolerance? What steps should I take to re-allocate or rebalance my portfolio?
In preparing the recommended strategy, T. Rowe Price takes into account the investor’s financial assets regardless of where they are held. Once investors receive their written recommendation, they review it with their counselor and receive assistance with implementation as needed.
“The primary financial challenge for most investors is securing a comfortable retirement,” says Christine Fahlund, a senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price. “Yet our experience tells us that many people underestimate how much money they need to save, and overestimate the amount of income they will be able to withdraw when they retire. T. Rowe Price advisory recommendations are based on sophisticated analysis, our years of investment experience, and most importantly, the personal conversations our counselors have with each of our investors in order to really understand their needs and preferences. Our Advisory Planning Services aim to put investors firmly in charge of their financial futures by giving them the keys for making appropriate investment and retirement planning decisions throughout their lives.”
The advisory services are geared toward investors with at least $100,000 in investment assets. The $250 fee is waived for investors with $500,000 or more in assets with T. Rowe Price and is reimbursed for those who transfer at least $100,000 in assets to the firm in connection with the service.
More information on these services is available at www.troweprice.com/advisoryservices or by calling 1-800-844-9424.
Founded in 1937, Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is a global investment management organization with $293.7 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2006. The firm provides a broad array of mutual funds, sub-advisory services, and separate account management for individual and institutional investors, retirement plans, and financial intermediaries. The company also offers a variety of sophisticated investment planning and guidance tools. T. Rowe Price’s disciplined, risk-aware investment approach focuses on diversification, style consistency, and fundamental research. More information is available at www.troweprice.com.