The Multifaceted Journey to Financial Wellness
Financial wellness is multifaceted. It goes beyond mere wealth or debt improvement, but rather it involves understanding personal finances, managing expenses, saving for goals, and making informed investment decisions. Achieving financial wellness requires knowledge, discipline, and ongoing effort, encompassing budgeting, smart spending, debt management, and long-term planning. It impacts overall well-being, including mental health and relationships. Seeking guidance, improving financial literacy, and making sound choices are vital for attaining and maintaining financial wellness on the lifelong journey toward financial stability and peace of mind.
At the conclusion of The Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) Fiduciary Education Program held at DeSales University, Fred Barstein spoke with Adjunct Brendan Speers, Partner & Director of Retirement Plan Services with Legacy Planning which has been in business for over 20 years on the Retirement Plan Consulting and Individual Wealth Management side. During the conversation, Brendan shared insights about financial wellness and the importance of understanding participants’ goals and their approach to retirement. He emphasized the value of integrative planning that combines retirement, investments, and projections to help individuals make informed decisions.
Read the Full Transcript Here:
Fred Barstein:
This is Fred Barstein, CEO, and founder of TPSU here at DeSales University, where we just completed a TPSU program just outside of Allentown. I’m here with our adjunct lecturer, Brendan Speers. Welcome Brendan.
Brendan Speers:
Thanks, Fred.
Fred Barstein:
Okay if we ask you a few questions?
Brendan Speers:
Yeah, absolutely.
Fred Barstein:
Great. Before we do, tell us a little bit about yourself and your firm.
Brendan Speers:
Yeah, so my name’s Brendan Speers. I’m a partner and director of retirement plan services with Legacy Planning. And Legacy’s been in business for 20 plus years on the retirement plan consulting and individual wealth management side.
Fred Barstein:
Great. So one of the things in the big topic at a lot of our programs, with this one especially, was about financial wellness. Tell us about the importance of financial wellness and that it takes more than just a retirement plan specialist to deliver that.
Brendan Speers:
Yeah, I think financial wellness is one of those things where people are trying to use it in different areas and in different ways. And the way that it has worked best for us and our clients is really a deeper understanding of their participants, their goals, how they learned about money, how money affects them, and how they intend to live out their decumulation side of retirement plans. So the next step of what this retirement 401K program is going to bring to them in their retirement years.
Fred Barstein:
And I know that you’re part of a greater wealth plus the retirement side. How does that help you to deliver that kind of wellness?
Brendan Speers:
We have a lot of resources on our wealth side. So our education advisors are also certified retirement consultants. So what that means is they can bring the integrative planning between social security, other investments, retirement, 401k, and projections, and bring that to one statement where somebody can understand what it’s going to look like and then make incremental changes now and throughout the future to actually land on the goal that they really need and now understand how to get there.
Fred Barstein:
Right. So final question. This is your first TPSU. Why should plan sponsors come to a TPSU program?
Brendan Speers:
I thought it was very exciting. We had a lot of plan sponsors that were open and honest about what was going on with the retirement programs, positive and negative. And I think a lot of people left with at least a small step that they could take on their committee level or with other leaders in their organization to move that retirement plan forward to a spot where they could see their objectives being met and benefiting all of the other participants.
Fred Barstein:
Great. Well, thanks for participating. I know that it takes a lot of work to do this, but hopefully it was worthwhile for you, certainly for us and all of our attendees. And thank you for watching 401K TV and please stay tuned for more programs like this.
