I came to this work as a teacher.

Christopher JaffeSecurewell Financial

I earned a Master's degree in Education at Indiana University and expected to spend my career in a classroom. I started in financial services helping people work their way through Medicare, and that is where I learned that most of this work is teaching. You take something complicated and you make it plain enough that the person in front of you can decide for themselves.

That turned into training work. Over the past twenty years I have taught hundreds of insurance agents around the country how to do this properly, which is a useful thing to know about someone you are considering hiring. I have seen how the business works from the inside.

What kept returning my attention to the households themselves was how many people arrive at retirement underprepared. Not because they failed to save, but because no one ever showed them what their savings would actually produce once the paychecks stopped. So I widened the practice. Today my work centers on three things that determine most retirements: clearing debt faster, keeping the lifetime tax bill down, and building income that continues for as long as you live. Alongside those I review the two costs most likely to upset a sound plan: healthcare, both before and after Medicare begins, and long-term care.

The recommendations are the start of the relationship rather than the end of it. Circumstances change, tax law changes, health changes. I stay involved and adjust the plan as they do.

• ExperienceMore than 20 years in financial services
• EducationM.Ed., Indiana University
• LicensingNational Producer Number 8965539  Verify this number