Understanding the Question at the Center of Retirement Planning
Why “Do I Have Enough?” Is One of the Most Important Financial Questions
It is one of the most common and meaningful questions people ask as they move toward retirement or consider the next stage of life. After decades of hard work, tradeoffs, and delayed gratification, it is natural to wonder whether your planning, savings, and investments are enough to support your future.
Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is not yet. The goal is to understand what matters most to you, what you want your life to look like, and the steps required to get there. We bring a different perspective to these conversations so you can see challenges, risks, and opportunities clearly. That clarity empowers confident decision-making.
What You Will Learn in This Video
1. Why this question matters so much
Your long-term goals, retirement needs, and lifestyle expectations all connect to whether you have enough. The question drives the planning process.
2. The role of honest, fiduciary guidance
Telling the truth is part of our responsibility. Sometimes that means identifying gaps and explaining why adjustments may be needed.
3. Why planning is multi-dimensional
Evaluating whether you have enough is not only about investments. It requires looking at your whole life, your priorities, and what you want your future to include.
4. How your goals connect to legacy
Everyone leaves a legacy. The question is whether it is intentional. Planning helps you balance lifestyle needs, future goals, and the legacy you hope to create.
5. How clarity leads to better decisions
Understanding your position and options allows you to make informed decisions about spending, saving, retirement timing, and long-term planning.
Transcript of the Video
It is the most common-sense question to ask because at the end of the day, what’s it all for?
People have worked hard and have taken risks and have had to defer their time off until now.
Our job, again, as fiduciaries, is to tell the truth, and that sometimes is no, you don’t have enough. And here’s why. We are compassionate about where they are, what is important to them, and why they want to do it.
But we also come at it from a different perspective. If we see our clients’ challenges and issues exactly the way that they see them, we are of no value.
Answering that question is really important because that empowers the client to make decisions, but how we get there is vital.
Do I have enough to preserve and grow wealth? It is part of the process of retirement. It is part of the process of planning for your future wherever you may stand.
So it is not one dimensional. It is looking at life as a whole.
That is part of our job, to listen and interpret sometimes what the questions people are asking to really get to the heart of what is driving them and what is most important.
And in some cases, are they willing to make some adjustments and sacrifices and changes because not everybody is in the same financial position.
Everybody is going to leave a legacy. The question is, is it intentional or is it just what happens?
What does legacy mean to that person? Can they do that in conjunction with the other things we have already mentioned in terms of maintaining their lifestyle day to day, month to month, while preserving and growing their wealth?
So it is rarely one-dimensional when we are looking at a planning process and answering that question, do I have enough?
Legacy is not something that you want to be doing on your deathbed. You want to handle that before you get to that point.
So this way you can spend time with your family, enjoy your family, and when the day comes, they know and the professionals around you know exactly what you want to accomplish.
I would suggest whether you think you have enough or if you are not sure if you have enough, find out.
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Smith Bruer provides fiduciary financial planning and investment management for professionals, business owners, and multi-generational families. We proudly serve clients in Tallahassee, Colorado Springs, and across the U.S., offering clarity and structure to life’s complex financial decisions.
