Are you planning for retirement? Already there? Are you working with a financial adviser but wonder if you could be doing better? That's an important question to consider.

Greg Aler, founder and CEO of the financial planning firm Golden Reserve, is our guest on the Lean to the Left podcast. Greg believes that many people planning for retirement are being hoodwinked by financial advisors to whom they have given too much power over their investments and who are ripping off customers with percent-based fees.

Greg was born and raised in small-town Ohio, and after attending law school, he worked at one of the largest law firms in the world. Greg went on to build three multimillion-dollar companies before the age of forty: an elder care law firm, a financial services firm, and a real estate company. He re-thinks and re-builds industries to help service the other 99 percent of America. Greg has his own TV, radio, and podcast show: Expedition Retirement.

The only thing Greg loves more than cooking, scuba, boating, and laughing with friends on his back porch is being with his wife, Fernanda, and three kiddos (Lilly, Lola, and Louie).

We’re happy to welcome Greg to Lean to the Left today to talk about financial planning for retirement…a really important topic. Time to fire your financial advisor?

Questions we discussed with Greg:

Q. On your website in which you promote your book, “Fire Your Financial Advisor: 40 years of greed and exploitation of the American Retiree,” you say this: “there are wolves everywhere. Shockingly, most retirees have no idea what is going on with their money - or worse, what they’re being charged.” Can you please explain?

Q. Your book makes the case that financial advisors have massively failed retirees. How is that?

Q. Many retirees have seen their IRAs and other retirement plans grow significantly. So, why should they care about the fees their financial advisor charges them to manage their retirement accounts?

Q. Does working with a fiduciary advisor guarantee that a retiree can avoid these problems?

Q. Not feeling confident in my ability to manage my own portfolio, some people default to their financial advisor, telling them to do what’s best. Is it a mistake for people to do that?

Q. How can retirees increase their own financial literacy?

Q. What is a fixed index annuity, and how can it help retirees?

Q. What is a “Retirement Planner” and why should retirees work with them instead of financial advisors?

Q. What advice do you have for someone who wants to fire their financial advisor, but isn’t sure how to do that?