1. Managing Joint Retirement Spending Desires & The "Timekeeper" Concept
Q. Why is only one person listed for our joint retirement desires?
When creating a Retirement Target-Map for a couple, you will notice that under the Member column on the What You Want page, only one name (usually the eldest household member) appears next to living expenses.
The dollar amount represents the total household need, not an individual budget. The designated name simply acts as the "Timekeeper" (or Anchor) for the plan’s timeline.
Why the System Uses a Single Timekeeper
Calculates a Single Timeline: Math requires a unified schedule. If the software attempted to track two different birthdays for a single joint expense line, start and end dates may conflict. We want to create a Target-Map quickly and simply. You can add other desires for other members later.
Maintains Date Consistency: Anchoring expenses to one person’s age (e.g., Age 67 to 90) allows the system to map expenses to exact calendar years.
Starts the Countdown Early: Defaulting to the eldest member ensures the retirement timeline accounts for the first person in the household to reach milestone ages.
💡 Advisor Tip: How to Explain This to Clients "We use [Eldest Member] as the 'Calendar Lead' to keep the dates perfectly aligned across calendar years. However, the budget itself is built to cover both of you for the entire duration of your retirement."
Understanding "Member" vs. "Money"
The Member Sets the Calendar: The name in the Member column dictates whose birthday establishes the calendar timeline. It does not limit who benefits from the funds.
Adjusting Start Dates: To change the retirement start date to a specific date or younger member's timeline, use the Date Reference selector within the line item to choose age to enter an age, or date to enter a specific date.
Descriptions Confirm Joint Coverage: If enabled in your Target-Map Preferences, description lines (e.g., "Living Expenses - 50% Primary/Spouse") confirm that total needs were calculated using combined income.
Descriptions can be edited once the Target-Map has been created.
The Total is the Goal: The annual amount (e.g., $180,000) reflects total household spending desires. This value is an estimate and can be edited at any time.
What Happens If You Change the Member Line Item?
If you manually switch the assigned Member on an expense line item, the target Ages (e.g., 67 to 90) remain the same, but the Calendar Dates will shift. If the newly selected member is younger, Age 67 will occur further in the future.
2. Troubleshooting & Cash Flow Best Practices
Q. Why is the Retirement Target-Map underfunded or overfunded?
If the Target-Map Appears Underfunded:
Check Funding Sources (What You Have Page): Ensure all future annual income sources (such as pensions, Social Security, or annuity payments) and investment accounts are entered on the client's Asset-Map.
Review Unapplied Assets: Open the What You Have tab in the Target-Map to check if existing non-retirement assets intended for retirement funding were accidentally left unselected.
Verify Current Earned Income: Target-Maps estimate future living expenses on the What you want page based on current earned income listed on the Asset-Map. If current income is missing, expense calculations may default lower than expected.
If the Target-Map Appears Overfunded:
Check for Misaligned Cash Flow Ages: Verify that cash flow end dates match expense horizons. Ensure that end dates line up as expected.
Review Duplicate Income Entries: Ensure future income sources aren't listed both on the Asset-Map and as manual overrides in the Target-Map.
Best Practices for Cash Flow & Contributions
1. Align Cash Flow Ages Across Pages
Verify that age horizons on the What You Have page match the What You Want page.
Example: If end-of-life is set to Age 90 on the What You Want page, ensure pension cash flows on the What You Have page extend to Age 90 as well. Misaligned ages can cause accidental underfunding or overfunding.
2. Align Duration of Contributions
Locate the Duration of Contributions field for savings plans.
Click the Circle-Arrow Alignment Icon next to the field to automatically calculate the years remaining between the client's current age and their planned retirement age. This aligns contribution timing directly with the What You Want timeline.
3. Configuring Target-Map Preferences
You can set global defaults for all newly created Retirement Target-Maps to save time during client onboarding.
How to Access & Edit Target-Map Preferences Defaults
Click your Advisor Avatar/Profile in the upper right corner of Asset-Map.
Select Target-Map Preferences and open the Retirement tab.
Set your preferred default Start Age and End Age.
Configure optional settings, including the Show Income Replacement Percent Amount switch.
Note: Global preference changes serve as template defaults for future maps. You can still customize individual Target-Maps for specific client households at any time.
Default Talking Points
Asset-Map provides three optional default talking points out of the box:
Retirement Living Expenses
Retirement Travel Expenses
Retirement Medical Expenses
You can disable these globally in Target-Map Preferences, or remove individual items from specific funding scenarios within a client's Target-Map. You can add additional default "Custom Wants" as well.
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