When it comes to retirement plan consulting, we believe that experience and specialization matter. It’s likely that your retirement years will be unlike any other phase of life you have experienced, so managing your finances during this period can require an entirely different approach to the saving and investing patterns considered wise in your younger years.
“As far as money is concerned for your retirement years, it's a completely different game: you’re not trying to grow a million bucks, you’re trying not to lose a million bucks, and to make it last for the rest of your life.”
At Iron Point Financial, we don’t just help you build wealth—we help you transition into retirement with confidence. As Retirement Income Certified Professionals (RICP®), we know what it takes to set you on on a healthy financial path, through approaches that less specialized financial advisors might not be aware of.
That’s why, in today’s article, we’ll discuss the four main advantages of working with an RICP®-accredited professional compared to a standard CFP®, before sharing with you how our team takes retirement planning even further with a personalized, client-first approach.
The RICP® Difference: 4 Certified Advantages in Retirement Plan Consulting
Many financial advisors, including CFP® professionals, have a broad understanding of investment management and financial planning. However, an RICP® professional has specialized expertise in retirement income strategies, which can help you can sustain your wealth throughout retirement.
Here are the four key advantages we believe set RICP® professionals apart when it comes to retirement plan consulting:
1. Expertise Helping Business Owners with Employee Retirement Plans
Business owners face unique challenges when structuring retirement plans for their company and employees. Factors including the number of employees, the business’ ownership structure, and contribution strategy can all influence how a retirement plan is designed.
“You can structure your retirement plans in different ways. A lot of that depends on the number of employees you have and the average age of the ownership group. There may also be more than one owner, and all of that comes into the design of the retirement plan. The next thing to consider is: how much is the owner trying to put away? Does he or she want a steadier rate or a variable contribution? Answering these questions in the setup phase is really important.”
Why This Matters:
For RICP® professionals, there is no such thing as a “plug-and-play” retirement plan for business owners (or at least, not an optimized one, in our opinion). They know what questions to ask, and why, because their advanced training and real-world experience have shown them how different solutions suit different scenarios.
For small-, medium-, and even large-scale business owners, the RICP® advantage is about adding value where others didn’t know it could exist.
2. Expertise in Retirement Cash Flow and Inflation Adjustments
Planning for retirement doesn’t just have to be about hitting a static, arbitrary savings figure — it can be about working strategically toward a sustainable income that you could make last for the rest of your life.
RICP® professionals specialize in putting together income distribution strategies that align with your needs, while adjusting for inflation, taxes, and other macroeconomic market conditions.
“Retirement plans focus on retirement cash flow. So let’s say you want to retire at 65 with $500,000. In my mind, I know that you mean $500,000 in today’s money, which is very different from $500,000 thirty years from now. So we have to convert current dollars into future dollars, run the numbers, and figure out how much you need to save to get to your goal. That’s just one of the many things we have to consider.”
Why This Matters:
Many traditional planners focus almost exclusively on total accumulation, rather than phased, time-sensitive distribution. In our view, an RICP® professional is more likely to understand that spending in retirement isn’t the same as saving for retirement, and that you have to adjust your plan with a contextualized, long-term perspective in mind.
Simply put, factors like inflation can significantly erode your purchasing power, and withdrawing too much too soon can cause you to run out of money; RICP® professionals know how to build those factors into your retirement plan to suit your lifestyle and preferences.
3. Customized Strategies for Different Retirement Stages
While a CFP® may focus on general financial planning, an RICP® professional is more likely to tailor their strategies to different life stages. That makes sense to us, because we believe that the best retirement planning is not a one-size-fits-all practice — it can look very different at 35, 55, and 75. In short, your timeline matters:
“The level of trust that clients are conveying when they work with us is huge. Let’s say you’re in the younger age bracket: you don’t have anywhere near a million bucks yet, but you really want to retire someday. You're essentially telling me, “Greg, I’m trusting you with the next thirty years of my life. I need you to guide me in an honest and measured way so that at some point I can scale back and have the next thirty years of my life after that.”
Why This Matters:
An RICP® professional doesn’t just focus on numbers for numbers’ sake—they focus on helping you see the bigger picture.
Whether you’re just starting to think about retirement or are ready to transition into it, we reckon that a good retirement plan consultant will be able to guide you through the long-term impact of each financial decision before you make it, and frame those decisions on a timeline that make sense for you.
4. A Structured Approach to Retirement Planning
We have met many people who have a gut feeling they should plan for retirement but struggle knowing where exactly to start. To those people, we would say: the role of RICP® professionals like us is to take your scattered financial concerns and turn them into a structured, actionable plan.
“Say you’ve been busting your butt for twenty years, but you’re not there yet. You have 10, 15 years left. You’re thinking, “When can I retire? I don’t want to work forever.” That’s where we start from, and ‘retirement’ is where we need to go. So those are the start and end points, but there’s a bridge missing. It’s my job to construct that bridge and figure out how to get you from Point A to Point B — which really means doing the math for you.”
Why This Matters:
Many financial advisors can be prone to giving generic advice, but RICP® professionals are trained to map out your entire retirement journey in detail—from savings strategies in your working years to managing required minimum distributions (RMDs) in your later years. Their job is to help you build a bridge that will last, not one that looks good on paper but folds at the first hint of pressure.
How Iron Point Financial Goes Beyond Standard Retirement Plan Consulting
Working with an RICP® could already be a great step up from traditional financial planning, but we believe Iron Point Financial could take your progress even further by prioritizing:
1. “People, Not Products”
“We try to do it a little different. A lot of the advisors out there don’t want to think outside the box. They’ll just tell you: “Buy this mutual fund.” Everybody gets the same thing. Now, you may have it a little different from your parents, but there’s only twenty funds to choose from in that family — and how different can they really be? That cookie-cutter approach is what we fight against with every part of our being.”
At Iron Point Financial, we believe in customization over commission-driven sales. Some advisors push investment products because that’s how they get paid. We focus on what’s truly best for you, creating retirement plans tailored to your specific needs, values, and goals.
2. Long-Term Commitment
We don’t believe that retirement planning should be a one-time transaction, but a lifelong relationship. That’s why, at Iron Point, we don’t just help you set up your plan and then walk away. Instead, we commit to:
- Adjusting your retirement strategy as your personal preferences and wider economic conditions change;
- Providing ongoing financial checkups and risk assessments to help you stay on the right course for your goals;
- Working & planning with you to help keep your retirement cash flow sustainable for as long as you are likely to need it; and even
- Arranging meetings with your family (when the time is right), to discuss next steps like legacy planning (or ‘estate planning,’ as it’s sometimes called).
3. Decades of Experience & Practical Focus on Retirement Planning
With years of experience navigating both strong and volatile markets, we have found that no two retirement plans look the same. At Iron Point, we take a practical, client-led approach, as we seek to help you understand:
- How to generate income while preserving your assets and maintaining your values;
- How to manage risk without unduly sacrificing the lifestyle you desire or the causes you care about; and
- How to build tax-efficient withdrawals and charitable giving into your plan.
Let’s Build a Robust Retirement Plan Together
The longer we have been in this business, the more we have become convinced that retirement planning can be too important to leave to chance. With the right expertise and a client-focused approach, you could create a plan that supports you throughout your entire retirement journey… and even beyond.
We know this stuff can get complicated, and we also know that is why many people put off retirement planning or opt for overly simplified solutions that don’t truly meet their needs. But we’re here to help.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start planning, Iron Point Financial is here to guide you through the process. Simply schedule an appointment with us today, so we can help you build a robust, sustainable retirement plan—tailored specifically to you.
And if you enjoyed this perspective on retirement plan consulting, and you wanted to hear more from us in future, why not sign up to receive email updates, straight to your inbox, so you never miss a future post?
Iron Point Financial is here to empower you to secure a brighter tomorrow. We operate physical offices in Grove City, PA and Greenville, PA.
We primarily serve residents of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Florida but we also have security registrations for 22 other states across the continental USA.
Further Resources
Disclosures
- All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
- There is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful.
