The need for Financial planning: Everyone faces financial issues and challenges that determine not only the quality of their lives, but also that of their family and loved ones. In a complex and complicated world, taking stock of where you are today and where you are headed for in the future is what the financial planning process is all about.

 

The Financial planning process can be looked at in a series of steps:

• Discussing, defining, and agreeing on your objectives and goals in financial terms.
• Gathering all necessary personal financial information.
• Analysis of your information.
• Implementation of recommendations and actions with guidance in the process.
• Monitoring and review of the resulting outcomes.
• You will receive a state of the art “Living Plan.”

 

We call our financial planning process Giving Your Wealth Purpose™.  We partner with our clients in the financial planning endeavor. In a typical engagement we will review, analyze and discuss a range of things including but not limited to:

• Cash flow analysis and budgeting.
• Risk management of life, health, and property and old age care.
• Portfolio review and asset allocation and systematic rebalancing.
• Careful security and asset selection.
• Analysis of employee benefits and perks like deferred compensation or stock options.
• College education and financial aid strategies.
• Retirement Base case and “what if” alternate scenarios.
• Retirement income planning including Social Security, Pension, and alternatives analysis.
• Asset protection including Long term care planning.
• Estate planning and transfer options.
• Coordination with your other financial team members including Attorney, CPA, other professionals.
• Ongoing advice on a range of financial issues for you and your family.
• Twice a year review of your planning, portfolio and custom strategies.

We encourage you to contact us. There is never any obligation to meet and learn more. If you desire a relationship with a dedicated financial planning team, we will be your partner today and tomorrow.

People have a common question when thinking about retirement: How does one use accumulated assets to generate a predictable and reliable stream of income in retirement? In addition to pension and Social Security income, we can help you evaluate available income generating techniques, including:

• Fixed-income strategies
• Dividend payments
• Fixed annuities
• Variable annuities
• Charitable annuities
• Real Estate income

By balancing an optimal amount of fixed or guaranteed income in your retirement planning, we can help you better pursue your goals for retirement income and overall financial security.

Any guarantees are backed by the claims paying ability of the issuing entities.

People must consider their financial security in light of the potential of a disability or need for home care or facility care. In addition, married couples must protect their mutual financial independence. Many families are concerned about protecting a legacy for their children and/or grandchildren. Every situation has its unique considerations. The information that follows serves as a framework for discussion and planning considerations. (It is always wise to consult with an elder-law attorney for Medicaid-based asset protection planning.)

1. You may consider gifting assets to your family as long as the gift is completed 5 years in advance of a Medicaid application for care benefits.
2. You can purchase long-term care (LTC) insurance with an inflation rider; however, costs have risen substantially over the last 15 years, and insurers reserve the right to raise rates once policies are in force.
3. Some people can purchase group LTC protection. Home care is generally 60- to 70-percent of facility care rates, and inflation protection is generally not available. Also, premiums are not guaranteed and may be raised on a class basis.
4. Combining life insurance with a LTC rider and some type of LTC insurance can offer flexibility. Life insurance with a LTC rider allows access to a percentage (often 2-percent) of the face amount per month during one’s lifetime once the LTC benefit is triggered. Triggers are typically based on the industry standard that identifies two of six impaired activities of daily living (ADLs). The policy will pay a benefit one way or another, but no inflation protection is available. Hybrid life/long term care insurance is often a consideration.
5. Survivorship, or joint-life converge, is a type of leveraged life insurance on two lives used for wealth replacement, which is related to asset protection. The cost can be attractive when compared to LTC insurance coverage. It is a useful tool for estate preservation.
6. Various annuities in the marketplace also have a variety of LTC riders. Some pay additional income in case of a LTC-qualifying event. Others are a type of “sinking fund” that may be drawn down to pay for the cost of care or services.
7. Tail Risk is something retirement income planning considers, because it is possible for people to out-live their money. Using a deferred income annuity, one can leverage an investment and receive payments to defray the cost of care or to alternatively enhance one’s income later in life.
8. Today, gifting strategies need to consider the Medicaid rules, which include a 5-year lookback. Completed gifts may be subject to Medicaid estate recovery rules known as “claw backs.” Gifting strategies, including using a life insurance/survivorship policy in an irrevocable trust, can be a cost-effective way to protect assets from LTC expenses.

We believe it is appropriate to consider your family’s total net worth and factor in expected inheritance, LTC expenses can seriously erode the value of your estate and potentially lower the standard of living for a spouse. Asset protection includes incorporating LTC protection in your planning and suggests that one look ultimately at wealth transfer to the next generation.

Most families are not aware that if a person with special needs inherits roughly $2,000 in assets–no matter what their age–they will lose their current eligibility for important government benefits, including Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid. We can help families with special-needs children or other dependents plan for the future by providing financial solutions and preserving government benefits, which can help provide a lifetime of quality care. These families will:

• Gain a greater understanding of government benefits.
• Learn techniques to preserve government benefits eligibility for SSI and Medicaid.
• Understand the options for special needs trust funding.
• Create the Letter of Intent.
• Review legal options–including guardianship and conservatorship–when the special needs dependent turns 18.
• Understand client self-determination issues.
• Determine how much money is needed to provide lifetime quality care.