At your next review, ask one question:“What’s our plan for the next bear market?“
A hypothetical second opinion that moved retirement from 67 to 64 — and a written playbook for the next bear market. Free, yours to keep.
Where can we send you the case study?
Illustrative concept only — not actual performance, a projection, or a depiction of any specific strategy’s results. Shown to contrast an undefined response with a rules-based process. Risk-managed strategies do not prevent losses and may underperform in some markets.
Most portfolios are set up before the storm — with no plan for during it.
If you’re within ten years of retirement, a major decline early on can do damage that decades of saving can’t undo. Economists call it sequence-of-returns risk. Retirees call it “the thing that happened to my neighbor in 2008.” The question isn’t whether markets will fall again — it’s whether anyone has decided, in advance, what happens when they do.
“We’re in it for the long term.”
Diversify, rebalance, and wait it out. It’s not wrong for a 40-year-old. But “the long term” is a luxury measured in decades — and if you’re retiring in three years, you may not have decades to wait for a recovery. For many advisors, the entire downturn plan is a reassuring phone call.
“Here’s what happens, and when.”
A rules-based approach decides in advance: at what point risk gets reduced, in what increments, and what conditions bring the portfolio back in as markets improve. No predictions, no panic, no discretion in the moment. You’ll know the plan before you ever need it — in writing.
The Bear Market Playbook: three documents, all yours to keep.
Income insulation analysis
How much of your retirement income is insulated from a downturn — and how much rises and falls with the market. Most people have never seen this split on paper. It changes how you think about risk.
Historical stress test
Your current allocation, tested against historical bear markets — with stated assumptions — so you can see what a 2008-style decline could have meant for your retirement timeline and income under your existing plan.
The defined-response framework
What a rules-based downturn process looks like applied to a situation like yours: the trigger points, the incremental steps, and the re-entry conditions — decided calmly in advance, not in the middle of a headline.
If we can’t improve your plan, your charity wins.
Here’s our commitment: we review your current plan looking for at least one meaningful improvement — a tax opportunity, an unnecessary cost, a risk you didn’t know you were carrying, or a gap in your downturn plan.
If we can’t find one, we’ll donate $100 to the charity of your choice and tell you plainly: you’re in good hands. Stay put.
Either way, you win. You leave with written confirmation that your plan is solid — or a written playbook showing what could be better.
The guarantee applies to the completeness of our review process, not to any investment outcome. “Meaningful improvement” means a specific, documented planning observation — never a promise of performance, returns, or protection from loss.
Discreet, simple, and finished in about two weeks.
Your current advisor is never contacted. Nothing moves anywhere unless you decide it should.
A 15-minute phone call
We confirm the review is a fit and answer your questions. Nothing to prepare, nothing to sign, and no one is notified.
15 minutesOne discovery meeting
At our Englewood or Broomfield office — or by phone or video. Bring your most recent statements and, if you have one, your current financial plan.
About an hourYour Playbook, delivered
We walk through all three parts page by page — including the honest verdict. Then it’s yours to keep, whatever you decide to do next.
~2 weeks from first callI want to be clear about something: most advisors are good people doing honest work. This isn’t about catching anyone doing something wrong.
But there’s a question I’ve watched people avoid asking for twenty years, because it feels rude: “What exactly happens to my money — and my retirement date — if the market falls 30% the year after I retire?” It’s not a rude question. It’s the most important one. And “we’ll ride it out” is a complete answer at 45 and an incomplete one at 63.
If your current plan already answers it, my review will say so — in writing — and your favorite charity gets $100 for your trouble. If it doesn’t, you’ll finally see what a defined answer looks like. Both of those feel like a good use of an afternoon to me.
— Ray
CFP® · Founder, New Light Financial · Co-author, Smiling Through Retirement · Featured in Fortune, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, MarketWatch & The Denver Post
What people ask before booking.
Will you just tell me my advisor is bad so I’ll move my money?
Does my current advisor find out?
Does a “defined process” mean I can’t lose money in a downturn?
What do I need to bring?
What if I don’t have an advisor at all?
Where do meetings happen?
You’ll ask the question eventually.
Ask it before the market does.
Fifteen minutes on the phone. A written second opinion two weeks later. And a $100 promise that keeps us honest.
Book my 15-minute callMeetings at our Englewood or Broomfield offices, or by phone/video. Completely confidential.
Not ready to talk?
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The complete numbers — yours to keep. We’ll also send a copy to your inbox.
Hypothetical illustration — not an actual client. Education only; not advice. We’ll email the case study and occasional planning insights; unsubscribe anytime.