It was a regular day at Strategic Tax & Retirement in 2009 when owner, Greg Nelson, CFP ®, looked up from his computer to see one of his clients in his late fifties standing at the front of his desk.  “He didn’t check in with our receptionist, he walked straight into my office. I knew him well and I could tell something had happened,” Greg recalled.  The client said, “I was just laid off, am I going to be okay?’”  Greg’s first thought was, “Of course,” but as they entered variables into typical industry financial planning software, he could tell the information wasn’t connecting with his client.  Little did Greg know, but at that moment in time, his client was introducing him to the next stage of his own life.  

 

The software did reveal an estimate of the amount of income available during retirement, but as his client fidgeted in his chair, Greg wondered if he was going to be able to give him assurance.  Greg empathized with his situation, and as they poured through the report, the client said, “Greg, this data is fine, but it doesn’t tell me if my money will last through retirement.” Greg could feel his fear and tried to put his mind at ease when it occurred to him that his client was right.  There was a variable missing in the industry standard software.

 

Greg immediately started calculating; he quickly created spreadsheet after spreadsheet pulling all of his client’s investments together with the missing link—actual tax data. As afternoon came to a close, it was clear to Greg that he needed more time.  He suggested to the client, “Let’s reconvene first thing tomorrow morning.  I promise I will have your retirement mapped out by then.” Greg spent the entire evening pouring over the data, calculating and creating.  What emerged sometime near dawn was the first version of the Retirement Positioning System (RPS). When they met again early the next morning, Greg presented the data.  His client breathed a sigh of relief.

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Since that day, Greg has refined RPS into a revolutionary online platform that now helps countless other clients navigate through their retirement years.