ValueWalk’s interview with Eric Pritz, the Senior Partner at Signature Estate & Investment Advisors. In this interview Eric discusses his and and his company’s background, simplification of the retirement savings legislation, and how important is saving for younger generations.
Can you tell us about your background?
I’ve been working with individuals and families for over 15 years providing needs-based investment advice and financial planning. I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) and Senior Partner at SEIA.
Q2 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
Can you tell us about your firm?
SEIA (Signature Estate and Investment Advisors, LLC) is an independent, boutique, fee-based Investment Management and Financial Planning Firm with $9.9 billion in AUM (SEIA & its affiliates as of 6/30/19). We credit our on-going success to our un-biased consultative approach and our ability to customize investment strategies depending on every client’s unique needs.
If you could craft legislation for helping retirement assets what would you do?
The SECURE Act, which is currently up for vote in the Senate, provides some steps in the right direction, but I would rather see a simplification of the retirement savings legislation altogether. The typical employee or self-employed worker doesn’t have the time or energy to navigate his or her options for building wealth in a retirement plan. If everyone had one standardized, self-directed retirement saving option with simple, low-cost investments in an easy-to-use format, I believe we’d see much higher participation rates.
What advice would you give to a young person starting work today who wants to build a large nest egg when they retire?
It might sound cliché but the tried and true advice “Save, Save, and Save some more” still holds true … Younger generations have the unique challenge of entering a workforce that is often underpaid and overworked in cities where entry level wages have not kept up with the cost of living. Add the student debt issue and saving can seem impossible. Start small if you must, but there is no time better than the present to start a savings plan of some sort It is hard for young graduates to imagine working for 40 years and then retiring for 30 years, but it sneaks up on you. The more in diversified assets you can own now, the easier your financial future can unfold. If you are gainfully employed, start a 401(k) immediately and save more than you think you can save.
