Issue link: https://securitytechnologyexecutive.epubxp.com/i/364163
38 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE • July/August 2014 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com COOL AS MCCUMBER B y J o hn M c Cu m b er s I mature in both my career and life, I have found myself spending a good deal of time looking at retirement planning tools. There are numerous online sites that offer to help you estimate the amount of money you'll need to retire, with additional planning capabilities that allow you to establish a plan to meet that financial goal. There are public seminars offered by financial planners, brick-and-mortar offices, and telephone-based groups associated with insurance companies. Seem- ingly, everywhere you turn, there is someone offering advice. As I was driving into the office last week listening to my local news station, a radio sponsor was claiming the first rule of retirement planning was determining how much money you would need in retirement. His thesis was that once this number was ascertained, you could design a savings and investment program to target that number for a retirement age you specify. If you came to his seminar, you'd learn how to perform this relatively simple mathematical calculation. Almost all these retirement pro- grams and calculators center on a yearly income stream derived from your current income. The estimate they provide is usu- ally anywhere between 75% and 125% based on your preferred lifestyle. One cal- culation I ran said I was waaaay behind in my retirement planning because by the time I was 94, I wouldn't have a $495,000 income for that year. Seriously? As a risk professional, I know this type of risk planning can be misleading. The most significant metric isn't how much you'll need per annum in your nineties; it's having a solid idea of when you'll likely die. You might think this just as odd as the straight-line calculations, but bear with me. My father died before seeing 60 years, my uncle succumbed at 58, and my sister passed at a young 51 years. You can see where my fam- ily history would influence a modified retirement scheme. I try to live somewhere between running around YOLO-ing like a fool, and investing much of my salary in an overly-prudent savings plan. I want to ensure my family is financially solvent in the event of an untimely death, but also make it a point to live each day as a gift, making it a point to seek out adventures and invest in good times. For security and risk professionals, the lesson is the same. Your orga- nizational risk tolerance isn't simply a function of standardized formulae and straight-line risk/reward analytical functions. In order to be truly effective, you have to find a way to incorporate unique organizational metrics into your proposals. Risk is tied to organizational objectives that you need to help define. Neither industry best practices nor knee-jerk responses to events are sufficient. Standards provide us a solid guide, but it's up to us to determine specifically what recommendations are best for the organizations and decision-makers we support. ❚ Feeling Risky? EDITORIAL Group Publisher ....................................... Nancy Levenson-Brokamp 800.547.7377 ext. 2702 • nancy.brokamp@cygnus.com Editorial Director/Editor-in-Chief .....................................Steve Lasky 800.547.7377 ext. 2221 • steve.lasky@cygnus.com CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITORS David G. Aggleton, CPP Kevin Beaver, CISSP Ray Bernard, PSP, CHS-III Ray Coulombe Robert Lang, CPP John R. McCumber Robert Pearson, CPP Ronald Worman EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Christopher B. Berry, CPP, VP Global Security & Safety, Henry Schein Inc. George Campbell, Emeritus Faculty Advisor, Security Executive Council Eric W. Cowperthwaite, CSO, Providence Health & Services Elizabeth Lancaster Carver, Member Services and Projects Manager, Security Executive Council Richard L. Duncan, CPP, Dir. Security, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport John B. Leavey, Director of Corporate Security, AIG Karl Perman, Director of Security, North American Transmission Forum Art Director .....................................................................Bruce Zedler Production Manager ..................................................Jane Pothlanski 631-963-6296 • jane.pothlanski@cygnus.com Audience Development Manager. ................................Wendy Chady SUBSCRIPTIONS CUSTOMER SERVICE Toll-Free (877) 382-9187; Local (847) 559-7598 Email: Circ.SecTechExec@omeda.com SALES CONTACTS Midwest Sales Brian Lowy 800.547.7377 ext. 2724 brian.lowy@cygnus.com West Coast Sales Bobbie Ferraro 310.545.1811 bobbie.ferraro@cygnus.com East Coast Sales John Lacasale 800.547.7377 ext. 6288 john.lacasale@cygnus.com Display Sales Erica Finger 800.547.7377 ext. 1324 erica.finger@cygnus.com LIST RENTAL Elizabeth Jackson 847-492-1350 x18 • ejackson@meritdirect.com CYGNUS REPRINT SERVICES To purchase article reprints please contact Nick Iademarco at Wright's Media 1-877-652-5295 x102 or e-mail niademarco@wrightsmedia.com SECURITYINFOWATCH.COM Group Publisher ....................................... Nancy Levenson-Brokamp 800.547.7377 ext. 2702 • nancy.brokamp@cygnus.com Managing Editor ................................................................Joel Griffin 800.547.7377 ext. 2228 • joel.griffin@cygnus.com CYGNUS BUSINESS MEDIA CEO, John French CFO, Paul Bonaiuto EVP Public Safety & Security, Scott Bieda VP Events- Public Safety & Security, Ed Nichols VP Production Operations, Curt Pordes VP Audience Development, Julie Nachtigal VP Technology, Eric Kammerzelt VP Human Resources, Ed Wood Published by Cygnus Business Media, Inc. www.SecurityInfoWatch.com John McCumber is a security and risk professional, and author of "Assessing and Managing Security Risk in IT Systems: A Structured Methodology," from Auerbach Publications. If you have a comment or question for him, e-mail Cool_as_McCumber@ cygnusb2b.com. A