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Vanguard researchers emphasize that while the value of advice was once traditionally based on portfolio outcomes, goal success rates and advisory relationships are results of effective guidance as well.

Studies show all generations find legacy planning important and those who receive an inheritance feel more financially secure. And, Lincoln Financial has introduced a product to help advisers stretch clients’ inheritances over their lifetimes.

They have mortgages, second homes, kids going to college and elderly parents. They’re even thinking about long-term care policies.

Start by presenting health care expenses rationally, as a combination of predictable monthly expenses (insurance premiums) that can be budgeted for, and less predictable expenses (out-of-pocket) that can be managed from savings, a report from T. Rowe Price suggests.

“They are hiring advisers to understand how well their plan is functioning and how to improve it,” Jordan Burgess, with Fidelity Institutional Asset Management, tells PLANADVISER.

Specifically, they should offer intuitive plan health dashboards, the research company says.

“There can be huge consequences from making the wrong decision, ranging from taxes and penalties to higher fees and risky or poor performing investments," says Ric Edelman, with Edelman Financial Engines.

Participants who have taken a hardship withdrawal are nearly three-times more likely to feel “always” stressed in general and three-times more likely to have “a lot” of stress about their financial situation.

The self-employed think about and plan differently for retirement compared with their counterparts working for companies and corporations; they also have double the emergency savings.