A Discussion with François Gadenne, Jan Gundersen, CFA®, and Lori Lucas, CFA®, moderated by Robert Powell, CFP®, RMA®
In this episode of the Investments & Wealth Institute’s Exceptional Advisor podcast, host Bob Powell leads a Retirement Management Journal panel with Lori Lucas, Françoise Gaden, and Yan Gunderson on the most pressing retirement-planning issues advisors can help clients navigate. The conversation focuses heavily on caregiving and disability—how common they are, how they can accelerate retirement, strain assets, increase debt, and heighten anxiety—and why advisors have a major opportunity to step in by modeling these realities in retirement projections, helping clients plan proactively, and building a stronger “centers of influence” network (elder-law attorneys, geriatric care managers, social workers, etc.). The panel also explores how retirement planning shifts from accumulation to “immunizing” specific risks (like longevity, inflation, healthcare), why one-size-fits-all product solutions often fall short, and how advisors must guide clients through trade-offs and more personalized “product allocation.” They close by comparing the U.S. retirement system to other countries’ approaches (availability, mandates, stronger social floors), emphasizing practical improvements like better defaults and reducing retirement “leakage,” and underscoring that the real value of advice is helping clients ask better questions and ultimately use their resources to support a higher quality retirement life—not just avoid running out of money.
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