“Wouldn’t it be nice if you could take a prospective client’s asset allocation and calculate the percent of time periods since 1926 that it would have survived a 30- year retirement?” asks Bob Veres in a recent article in Advisor Perspectives. “You would be able to show a client who has a high percentage of fixed income that the odds are less than she might think. Better yet, you could vary the withdrawal rates, the length of the retirement, the asset allocation or the annual portfolio expenses, all right there on the screen, and see the odds of success change instantly as you change the key assumptions. This is not a fantasy.”

Case in point: an “eye-opening application for retirement planning” called the Big Picture®. Investments Illustrated, Inc. has just released a new and improved version of the app that allows financial advisors to simulate retirement portfolios over hundreds of historical investment periods. Company spokesman and founder Ryan McLean says the Big Picture App brings 91 years of historical return data to life and that endless ‘what-if’ scenarios can be explored in the app, each an opportunity for client engagement.

PLANNING MODALITIES

There are three modalities:

• In retirement: Helps advisors guide clients’ asset allocation, spending, and other key decisions through retirement
• Saving for retirement: Helps advisors set investors on the right path toward retirement
• Principles of investing: Illustrates the power of compounding, diversification, and the importance of along-term perspective

McLean and his team will be exhibiting and speaking at the T3 Advisor Conference next week in Garden Grove, CA. Financial advisors and interested others are invited to stop by and see the software in action, hear from the developers and visionaries, and learn more about discount pricing for two or more users in a single firm.

ABOUT INVESTMENTS ILLUSTRATED, INC.

Investments Illustrated, Inc. builds applications that enhance client-advisor engagement. It is also the creator of the Big Picture chart in print, a FINRA-reviewed illustration of historical investment returns that is widely used by the financial services industry in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. For more information, visit www.BigPicApp.com.