A re you headed for the future you want ? Your retirement years should be the best years of your life. You’ve worked hard to be where you are, and you deserve a rewarding future with wonderful experiences. The problem is — there are a few mistakes many people make that sabotage their retirement. These five mistakes are easy to fix, but left unaddressed could cost you in the long run. At Miramontes Capital, we’ve had the privilege of guiding thousands of working professionals and have helped them avoid these common mistakes. As a Forbes Top 30 company, we’ve earned retirees’ trust by helping them course correct their retirement plans to get the future they want. In this guide, we want to share a few of these secrets with you. The following are five mistakes people make when planning for retirement and how to avoid them. 1 Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com If your financial advisor isn't calling you, they most likely aren't looking at your account. Most advisors call 1-2 times a year. When the market is stable, this is fine. But these days, the market is volatile and changes regularly. To prepare well, you need more than a quick review once for twice a year. We recommended that you review your account every 4-6 weeks. The frequency at which you review your account depends on how much risk is in your portfolio. At Miramontes Capital, we review our client’s portfolios with the following schedule: Every 30 Days - Aggressive Portfolio Every 35 Days - Moderately Aggressive Portfolio Every 40 Days - Moderately Conservative Portfolio Every 45 Days - Conservative Portfolio If you are uncertain of how often your portfolio is reviewed, call your advisor and request better service. 1 Failing to Review Your Portfolio 2 Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com As you head towards retirement, there will be time times you'll want to increase or decrease your level of risk. Many people try to assess this themselves or leave it to their advisor. But technology is often smarter than humans. That’s why we recommend using an app like Riskalyze. At Miramontes Capital, we meet with you in-person, and also leverage tools like Riskalyze. This helps our clients keep their investments in line with their acceptable or desired risk level. Using modern technology allows us to regularly adjust our client’s portfolio to meet their comfort level. Next time you talk to your advisor, ask them what technologies they are using to assess the risk on your account. As you regularly adjust your risk level, you’ll optimize your retirement savings and sleep better at night! 2 Ignoring Your Level of Risk 3 Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com 3 Selling Off Your Shares for Income There may come the point when selling shares of your stock is the right thing to do. But often, people sell shares for the wrong reasons, hurting their long-term retirement savings. Rather than selling shares to augment your income, it is better to et up your portfolio, so your dividends and interest provide enough income to cover your expenses. For Example: Imagine you have $100,000, and your expenses are $4,000, but your portfolio is only generating $3,000. You might be tempted to think you need to sell shares to get the extra $1,000 you need. But if you do this, you will only have $99,000, and your income will be lower because you have fewer shares in the market. Instead of selling shares, work with your advisor to optimize your portfolio, so the shares generate the dividend and income you need. 4 Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com The way you invest before retirement is different than after retirement. Unfortunately, many retirees do not understand this and mistakenly cut into their long-term wealth. Pre-retirement is all about growth. You want to earn as much as possible with your investments. After retirement, it's all about income with growth. Your investments need to generate enough income through dividends and interest to cover your expenses. If this is not possible, you must lower your expenses or keep working to generate more retirement savings. At Miramontes Capital, our advisors can help you adjust your portfolio, so you have the right kind of investments for a secure future. 4 Not A djusting Your Investments Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com 5 Most working professionals have partnered with a financial advisor for their longterm retirement goals. But it’s critical you know that not all financial advisors are the same. What you need is a fiduciary. A fiduciary has the legal and ethical requirement to put your best interest before their own. A fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care, working for your best interest even if doing so is contrary to theirs. A fiduciary will: • Act with undivided loyalty and utmost good faith • Provide full and fair disclosure of all material facts, defined as those which "a reasonable investor would consider being important.” • Never mislead their clients 5 Not Hiring a Fiduciary Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com 5 • Avoid conflicts of interest (such as when the advisor profits more if a client uses one investment instead of another or trades frequently) and disclose any potential conflicts of interest • Not use a client’s assets for the advisor's benefit or the benefit of other clients More than a financial advisor, hiring a fiduciary is the best way to ensure your retirement is in good hands for years to come! Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com 5 That Miramontes Captial, we believe your retirement years should be the best in your life! We want to help you avoid these common mistakes to gain financial peace of mind and achieve the future you want. Let us help you prepare and live the life you deserve. Give us a call today, and our team will start working for your retirement success! (949) 404 - 2300 We can help you avoid costly retirement mistakes Miramontes Capital miramontescapital.com 6 Miramontes Capital is a Registered Investment Adviser. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Miramontes Capital and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. This website is solely for informational purposes. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. No advice may be rendered by Miramontes Capital unless a client service agreement is in place. All awards and rankings (including Forbes) may not be representative of any one client’s experience because the ranking reflects a quantitative and/or qualitative analysis of factors that may or may not include a sample of the experience of Miramontes Capital clients. The rating is not indicative of future performance. Miramontes Capital did not pay a fee to participate.