Show Your Work: Why Transparency Matters in Retirement Planning

“Show your work.”

It’s a lesson we all remember from high school math class, and it remains just as relevant today—especially when it comes to retirement planning.

After 25 years of guiding individuals and couples through the complex layers of preparing for retirement, we’ve learned that clarity isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. That’s why, no matter how sophisticated the tools or projections, we do what we were taught all those years ago: we show our work.

Take Ted and Dottie, for example. As they neared retirement, they were filled with questions:

Had they saved enough?
Were they taking the right amount of risk with their investments?
How much would taxes impact their retirement income?

So, they met with a financial advisor at a well-known firm. He reviewed their statements, tapped some numbers into his calculator, and with a confident smile, said, “You’re doing great. Retirement shouldn’t be a problem.”

Ted and Dottie looked at each other, then asked the only logical question:
“Great—but how do we know that?”

This scenario is all too common.

When someone is preparing to leave a decades-long career—and the security of a steady paycheck—they need more than vague reassurance. They need education. They need understanding. They need to be a part of the planning process so they can see how their retirement will work, not just hope that it does.

It’s not about becoming a financial expert. It’s about knowing that your risks have been identified, your contingencies addressed, and that your best interests are at the center of the strategy. That level of understanding fosters confidence—the kind that lasts throughout retirement.

When approaching retirement, people are often presented with a few familiar paths:

Trusting the advice of a friend or family member
Responding to a sales pitch from a steak dinner seminar or radio show
Attempting to piece together a DIY retirement plan

But what if there were another option?

What if there were a way to be at the center of the planning process—to understand enough about the moving parts to know that your plan is sound, not just sold?

That’s the path we’ve chosen to offer.

Each month, we host Retirement Clarity over Coffee sessions at local coffee shops. These are interactive learning experiences—not sales pitches—where we talk through real retirement planning scenarios, demonstrate the tools and software we use with clients, and answer questions in a relaxed, no-pressure environment.

These gatherings aren’t about handing you a pre-built plan. Instead, they’re about giving you the foundational knowledge to build one that’s truly yours. When you understand the why behind your plan, you’re far more likely to trust that it will work—and stay confident when life inevitably throws curveballs.

We show our work, not to impress you, but to include you. Because when you’re part of the process, the plan isn’t just a recommendation—it becomes a reflection of your goals, your values, and your future.