Comprehensive protection against things that could derail your retirement
Some retirees focus exclusively on growing their investments while potentially leaving themselves vulnerable to the forces that could destroy retirement plans. Medical emergencies. Long-term care costs. Liability claims. Final expenses. Estate taxes. Medicare gaps.
That’s why we created the 15% Solution™—our proprietary strategy that allocates no more than 15% of your portfolio to protect against the potential “what ifs” that can negatively impact your retirement. It’s comprehensive protection with appropriate insurance coverage, giving you the sense of security to enjoy your retirement years.
In our 16 years serving Bucks County families, we’ve seen some retirees who thought they were prepared to face setbacks. They had investment portfolios and retirement accounts, but in our opinion they hadn’t protected themselves against the real threats to retirement security.
These families weren’t irresponsible. They simply had protection gaps they didn’t realize existed until it was too late.
The 15% Solution™ addresses every force that could negatively impact your retirement by allocating no more than 15% of your portfolio to comprehensive protection strategies. Here’s what we cover:
Without protection, these costs can decimate your savings in just a few years, leaving you with nothing and burdening your family.
We evaluate multiple long-term care protection approaches—traditional insurance, hybrid life insurance policies, asset-based long-term care, and Medicaid planning strategies. We help you determine which approach makes sense for your situation and budget, ensuring you're protected without over-paying for coverage you don't need.
A serious car accident or incident on your property could result in a lawsuit exceeding your basic insurance coverage. Your retirement assets become vulnerable to judgments that could wipe out everything you've saved.
We review your current homeowners and auto insurance coverage, identify gaps, and recommend appropriate umbrella liability policies. For most Bucks County families, a $1-2 million umbrella policy costs just $300-500 annually and provides critical protection for your assets.
Your net worth could exceed your basic insurance coverage limits. If someone is seriously injured in an accident involving you, your retirement savings shouldn't be at risk. Umbrella coverage could provide that essential protection layer.
When combined with outstanding medical bills and other end-of-life expenses, your family could face significant immediate costs during one of the most difficult times in their lives.
We help ensure appropriate final expense coverage through permanent life insurance, potentially protecting your family from unexpected financial burden and preserving your savings for your surviving spouse's needs.
Beyond the financial protection, final expense planning gives you peace of mind knowing your loved ones may not face difficult financial decisions while grieving your loss.
If you're still working or planning to work part-time in early retirement, a disability could end your income before you're financially ready to retire. This could forces an earlier retirement without adequate savings or planning.
For clients still working, we review disability insurance coverage and identify gaps. We help ensure you're protected if illness or injury prevents you from earning income during your final working years or planned phased retirement.
Proper disability coverage provides the bridge you need if unexpected health issues could force an earlier retirement before your planned retirement date, potentially protecting the retirement timeline you've worked so hard to achieve.
Without proper estate planning, taxes could consume a significant portion of what you intend to leave your children and grandchildren. IRAs and 401(k)s are particularly vulnerable, with beneficiaries potentially facing both income taxes and estate taxes.
We coordinate with estate planning attorneys to implement strategies that minimize estate taxes and maximize what transfers to your heirs. This includes Roth conversion strategies, trust structures, life insurance for estate tax liquidity, and beneficiary designation optimization.
Through strategic Roth conversions, we helped one client save high six figures in future taxes that would have been owed by his children when they inherited his traditional IRA. His legacy increased dramatically through proper tax planning.
Without appropriate legal documents in place, your wishes may not be carried out, your family could face guardianship proceedings, and your assets might not transfer as you intended. The emotional and financial cost of inadequate estate planning can be devastating.
We help ensure you have five critical documents in place:
We don’t provide legal services, but we coordinate with qualified estate planning attorneys to ensure these documents exist, are properly executed, and align with your overall retirement plan.
Many retirees are shocked to discover that Original Medicare doesn't cover everything. Dental, vision, hearing aids, and long-term care are not covered. Even covered services have deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance that can cost thousands annually.
We help you through Medicare enrollment timing, help you evaluate Medicare Advantage plans, help ensure and identify potential gaps that need addressing. We also implement strategies to help minimize Medicare premiums by managing your modified adjusted gross income (IRMAA planning).
Medicare rules and plan options change annually. We review your coverage each year during open enrollment to help ensure you maintain optimal protection at the best cost.
We’ve found through years of experience that allocating approximately 15% of your portfolio to comprehensive protection could provide appropriate coverage across all seven areas without over-insuring or unnecessarily depleting your retirement savings.
Less than 15%? You likely have gaps in your protection.
More than 15%? You may be over-insured and spending money that could be used for income generation or other financial goals.
In our opinion the 15% Solution™ represents the optimal balance—comprehensive protection that we hope lets you sleep soundly at night without sacrificing your desired retirement lifestyle or future growth potential.
We review your current insurance coverage, legal documents, and protection strategies to identify potential gaps and areas of over-insurance. Some clients are surprised to discover they're simultaneously under-protected in some areas and over-paying in others.
Based on your specific situation, we create a customized protection roadmap showing what coverage we think you may need in each of the seven areas, what it may cost, and how it fits within the 15% allocation guideline.
We can help coordinate implementation across all seven areas, working with insurance carriers, estate planning attorneys, and Medicare specialists to help ensure complete, seamless protection. Our goal is to help make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Life changes, insurance needs evolve, and laws shift. We review your 15% Solution™ protection annually to ensure coverage remains appropriate and cost-effective as circumstances change.
In our opinion, the 15% Solution™ doesn’t exist in isolation—in our opinion it’s a critical component of your complete Paladin Retirement Roadmap. While our FORM methodology could help ensure we’re planning for Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Money, the 15% Solution™ specifically protects the Money component from potential threats.
Together, these proprietary strategies can create comprehensive retirement planning that addresses what truly matters while potentially protecting you from what could go wrong.
Some retirees focus exclusively on growing their investments while leaving themselves potentially vulnerable to the forces that change retirement plans. Medical emergencies. Long-term care costs. Liability claims. Final expenses. Estate taxes. Medicare gaps.
That’s why we created the 15% Solution™—our proprietary strategy that allocates no more than 15% of your portfolio to protect against the “what ifs” that can negatively impact your retirement. It’s comprehensive protection without over-insuring, giving you a sense of security to truly enjoy your retirement years.
We’d love to conduct a comprehensive gap analysis and show you how the 15% Solution™ could protect your retirement from forces that derail other families’ plans.