There’s no shortage of cookie-cutter retirement advice online, but generic plans often fail to account for the nuances of your life. Your income, lifestyle goals, family obligations, health needs, risk tolerance, and even your dreams for retirement are all unique to you. What works for one person may not work for another—and following a generalized strategy can leave you underprepared or overexposed to risk.

For example, two individuals earning the same income may have very different retirement outcomes if one wants to travel extensively in retirement while the other plans to downsize and live quietly. A generic plan might assume average spending, which could seriously misrepresent what's actually needed.

• A customized retirement plan considers the full scope of your financial picture—your current assets, expected income streams (such as Social Security, pensions, or rental income), potential healthcare costs, and long-term financial goals. It also considers your desired retirement age and lifestyle, helping ensure that your plan is both realistic and resilient.
• This personalized approach offers several advantages:
• Flexibility: Life changes—your plan should too. A custom strategy can be adjusted as you face career changes, market shifts, or unexpected expenses.
• Confidence: Knowing your retirement plan is built for your life gives you peace of mind, especially during periods of market volatility.
• Efficiency: A tailored plan ensures you're using the right financial vehicles and tax strategies to maximize your retirement savings.

Working with a financial planner ensures you have an experienced partner helping guide every decision along the way. Together, we can evaluate your needs, model different scenarios, and make smart adjustments over time. Whether you're just starting to think about retirement or are only a few years away, it’s never too early—or too late—to create a plan that fits.

A good retirement plan doesn’t just answer “How much do I need?” It answers, “What do I want my future to look like and how can I get there?”

At Blackbelt Wealth, we elevate customization with the Retirement Income Style Awareness (RISA®) assessment. Built on decades of academic research and behavioral finance, RISA® uncovers how you prefer to generate retirement income—your comfort with market dependency vs. income protection, and your appetite for flexibility vs. commitment.

Take our short questionnaire that maps your personality across four income style quadrants—Total Return, Protected Income, Risk Wrap, and Time Segmentation—then recommends strategies aligned with your preferences 

Let’s build a retirement plan that’s as unique as your life. Your future self will thank you.