Life planners: financial planners offer more than advice on money.

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy
• Position: Financial Services

A 60-year-old retiring today may need $50,000 a year, but at 85 will need almost $150,000 a year, says Chris Baker, partner at Oaktree Financial Advisors in Carmel. "You have to have a plan to triple your income during retirement."

He says this stark reality has led to a trend among retirees of working part-time to make their funds last even though his typical client has an average investment portfolio of $500,000. Complex retirement issues and meeting individual's lifestyle goals have transformed financial planners into Life Planners--the new buzzword, says Baker. "It's not just money, but really thinking about values goals, life in retirement. Those things can drive the financial plan."

Julie Burenga, financial consultant with Wells Fargo Investments, serves the "middle market" investor in Decatur. That's typically a mixed bag of small-business owners, retiring factory workers and employees seeking advice in rolling over a 401(k) after a job change.

Although Burenga can help her clients put together comprehensive financial plans--from investments to life insurance to estate planning--she says there are some basics people should keep in mind to get started on the road to financial health. These include maintaining a minimum cash reserve of two to six months' expenses for emergencies, paying down that high interest credit-card debt and using your tax-deductible home-equity line of credit rather than higher interest loans.

Only 10 to 15 percent actually have the money to retire at 60 and be comfortable, says Michael Lloyd, branch manager of American Express Financial Advisors in Indianapolis. This lack of planning on the part of Boomers will mean they will have to work longer than they may have planned, potentially easing the drain on Social Security.

The downturn in the stock market also has taken a toll on those already retired who were counting on in come from now-declining assets. Some are returning to part-time work to meet their financial needs.

Some Boomers will dodge the failed-to-plan-for-retirement bullet by inheriting the wealth of their parents. Ron Patberg, assistant vice president with Irwin Union Advisory Services in Columbus, helps his clients with the management of inheritances in addition to planning for their own estate, retirement and long-term-care needs.

Irwin has a $200,000 minimum investment level, and Patberg's 150 clients have about $100 million in managed assets, outside of retirement funds. With these...