Jason L Smith - The Bucket Plan®: Protecting and Growing Your Assets for a Worry-Free Retirement

ADVANCE PRAISE

Aging well involves paying attention to our lifestyle and all the factors that can potentially impact it. Our financial well-being is definitely one of those factors. Jason Smiths The Bucket Plan provides the right questions to ask and considerations needed to design a structured and comprehensive plan that will allow you to pursue a life of being all you can be.

Roger Landry, MD, MPH, award-winning author of Live Long,
Die Short: A Guide to Authentic Health and Successful Aging

Jason Smiths The Bucket Plan does a great job of distilling a wealth of sophisticated retirement planning wisdom into a simple story that anyone can understand. Read this, and let Jason open your eyes to the advantages of bucketing your money to achieve the most successful financial plan to support the future you want, now, soon, and in the distant future.

Dan Sullivan, founder, The Strategic Coach, Inc.

The Bucket Plan is an easy to read, thought-provoking book that takes the reader on a journey that many of us wish we could travel. Jason Smith uses his creative genius to tell the story of a process that simplifies the often complex world of personal finance. In doing so, he demonstrates the peace of mind and understanding of our financial concerns that Americans approaching or in retirement long to achieve.

John Gilliam, Ph.D., MBA, CFP, CLU, department
of personal financial planning, Texas Tech University

Jason Smiths book is one of the best in the business.The Bucket Plan planning process is absolutely the best way to serve your clients and motivate them to implement. Jasons insights and processes are far and away above all others.

Kerry Johnson, Ph.D., MBA, best-selling author, speaker & coach

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press

Austin, Texas

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Copyright 2017 Clarity 2 Prosperity

All rights reserved.

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Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group and Sheila Parr

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Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

Print ISBN: 978-1-62634-460-0

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62634-461-7

Part of the Tree Neutral program, which offsets the number of trees consumed in the production and printing of this book by taking proactive steps, such as planting trees in direct proportion to the number of trees used: www.treeneutral.com

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

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First Edition

The information contained in this book is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed. It is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional advice. Any use of the information in this book is at the readers discretion. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

Client names, circumstances, and other personal information included in this book have been changed to protect privacy.

To all the advisors in The Mastermind Group who contributed to the development of The Bucket Plan planning process: Thank you for your hard work and dedication. You are truly making a difference in the lives of countless American families across this great country of ours.

Most people dont plan to fail; they fail to plan.

John J. Beckley

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: The Biggest Dangers You Face in Retirement
Market Risk, Interest Rate Risk, and Sequence of Returns Risk

CHAPTER 2: The Bucket Plan Philosophy
Buy a Time Horizon, and Invest the Rest!

CHAPTER 3: Behavioral Finance and Investments
The Worst Behavioral Mistakes Investors and Advisors Make and How to Avoid Making Them

CHAPTER 4: The Asset Sheet Questionnaire
Identifying and Documenting Assets and Liabilities

CHAPTER 5: The Income Gap Assessment
Determining If There Will Be a Retirement Income Deficit (or Excess) and If So, How Much?

CHAPTER 6: The Volatility Tolerance Analysis
Assessing Attitudes About Risk and Volatility in the Soon and Later Time Frames

CHAPTER 7: The Bucket Plan Design
Bringing All the Elements Together for a Well-Planned Retirement

CHAPTER 8: How Does Your Current Plan Stack Up?
A Few Important Questions and a Scorecard Assessment

FOREWORD

You are reading this book because you want a secure retirement, free from worry, stress, and confusion. The Bucket Plan is a must-read book for anyone serious about creating a practical and sensible financial plan for his or her retirement years.

Unlike most books on retirement planning, youll read this all the way through in a few hours, and you wont want to put it down. Each chapter builds on the previous chapters. As you continue reading, you will start to see a plan forming. Thats because Jason L Smith, the author, has created a process so that nothing falls through the cracks. The best part of learning about The Bucket Plan is that there are very few moving parts. That means less confusion and more understanding. Youll learn more here than you would from most other retirement books, probably because youll never get to the end of them. Theyre too long and offer too many options, leaving you wondering if there is any solution at all that you can actually use.

The Bucket Plan is that solution. It reads so easily because its a story about a couple, Jerry and Irene, to whom you will immediately relate. Youll like them! They are just like you and your friends. They have worked, built savings, and now want to plan for a successful retirement.

As you read, youll find yourself going through the same thinking process and understanding the reasons for the three-bucket strategy. Youll see that Jerry and Irenes concerns are like yours, and youll start seeing your own solutions appear.

Your biggest questions about retirement will be answered, such as, Will I have enough money? How much income will I need now, soon, and later? Those are the three buckets, and youll also look at how each of those buckets should be invested, according to your own comfort level. You wont have to take chances or rely on luck, as unfortunately many people do.

Jason L Smith immediately connects with you and begins by steering you clear of the biggest mistakes people make in planning their retirement. As you keep reading, youll gain more understanding and confidence about your own retirement plan. The Bucket Plan keeps you on track and eliminates bad choices. To me, that is probably the single biggest benefit of the planning process. Even Jerry and Irene recognized some big mistakes that Jerrys brother Ted made. Avoiding financial mistakes is a big part of building wealth and making it last.