“In the absence of a pension and without reliance on Social Security or another government program, 20 to 25 times your gross income net of savings put away. I would argue that the number is somewhere between $1.6 million and $2 million. Now if you have a secure pension and you are eligible for Social Security and rely on it, it lowers the amount of savings you need to put away. You can get by with $500,000 to $600,000 in savings, as long as Social Security continues and your pension is secure. But, those are very big ifs.’’

Brotman said most of his clients are in the “Sandwich Generation’’ -- 45- to 60-year-olds who have parents growing old and children needing to be educated. “We do not have an asset minimum. Our clients are typically multigenerational families, in most cases the folks are between 45 and 60 and they need help in figuring out how to handle all that noise. They are busy, nose to the grindstone, in their peak earning years. They want to keep as much as they can and they have tax, family, legal and financial concerns. Most are incredibly bright, but they just realize they don’t want to do this themselves.’’

He supports efforts in his home state of Maryland to create school programs to educate children about money matters. Educators and the state legislature disagree on the mechanics of implementing such programs though, he said.

Is the American inability to understand how money works due strictly to an education gap? “No; we learn most of the lessons in life from our parents very subtly. If both are spenders, robbing Peter to pay Paul, buy now and pay later; those habits stick with us. If parents are both savers and they take that too far, a miserly attitude gets taught to the kid. We come from such different backgrounds and we have learned different lessons about money, and most of what we have learned is bunk!

“I try not to embarrass anyone I know is ill prepared. But they need to hear the truth. Talking about money to people is like talking about mortality or marriage. There are tears, arguments, incredible emotions here between couples, generations. The conversations are as intimate as the conversations you have with your doctor. Except for the obvious difference that there is no disrobing  allowed.’’

Brotman, 43, says being a Certified Financial Planner is a “labor of love; it’s not work and I don’t know what else I could do. But I don’t want to have to work forever. By my own definition, I want to be in the position where I do not have to work, before I am 60.’’

Eleanor O’Sullivan is an award-winning freelance journalist who has written for USA Today and Gannett newspapers. She can be reached at [email protected].
 

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