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This D . C . advisor managed to cobble together a retirement plan for his client using covered calls .

By Karen DeMasters

Editor ’ s Note : This article is part of the Financial Advisor series “ How I Solved It .” Advisors describe a client with a problem and what they did to help .

Antwone Harris , founder and chief planning strategist at Platinum Bridge Wealth Strategies , developed such a strategy to help a 60-year-old divorcée who had turned to him for help two years ago .

Harris founded his boutique Washington , D . C ., wealth management firm in 2017 , but he has been specializing in retirement planning since 2014 and is a Certified Retirement Financial Advisor . His firm ’ s typical client is 50 years of age or older and has at least $ 1 million in investable assets .

The person in this example , who had been referred to Harris by another client , was afraid she did not have enough money to continue her lifestyle through retirement , which included a desire to travel with her two grandchildren . The members of her family tended to live longer , so she was looking to fund years of fulfilling retirement .

Harris says the client retired before she was eligible for Medicare and Social Security and did not have long-termcare insurance for her later years . “ With careful planning , we found a way for this retiree to enjoy her retirement without sacrificing her quality of life , to travel with her grandchildren ,

Antwone Harris , founder and chief planning strategist at Platinum Bridge Wealth Strategies in Washington , D . C .

and to still leave a legacy for her daughter and the grandkids ,” Harris says .

The strategy relied , in part , on delaying Social Security until she turns 70 years old , when the benefit is at its maximum level ; taking a pension in a lump sum and investing it rather than taking it in monthly benefits ; and using covered calls to generate income in a volatile market , Harris says , but the key to the plan was using the covered calls to generate income .

With a covered call , an investor is selling the right for another investor to buy some of their stock at a specific price in the future . The second investor pays a premium for the right to buy the stock at a time when the market is increasing .

This strategy is useful if the investor , in this case Harris ’ s client , feels the market is going to remain flat or decline . In that case , the stock never rises to the level at which the second investor has agreed to buy it and the client gets to keep the premium payment , so the stock never changes hands . This strategy is generating approximately $ 35,000 a year for the client .

“ This is one of the few areas of the market where you can generate enough income to outpace the rate of inflation ,” Harris says . “ If you are retired and in need of income , the money generated by the premiums can be used to meet

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ANTWONE HARRIS SEPTEMBER 2023 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 37