Our Services

THE FIVE AREAS OF PLANNING IN WHICH WE SPECIALIZE INCLUDE:

 

 Estate Planning

 Most of us are pretty good about taking care of our present needs and protecting the things we value. But surprisingly, many of us never take time to address what could be our biggest financial questions.

How would you answer these questions?

  • Who will receive your estate?
  • Will you owe federal or state death taxes and, if so, how much will you owe?
  • Where will the money come from to pay these taxes and other settlement costs?
  • If cash and other liquid assets available to your heirs is insufficient to pay the taxes and costs, will they have to liquidate your estate?

Without proper planning, estate taxes could consume a substantial portion of everything you own.

Proper estate planning now can help you reduce the amount of taxes your estate will owe, as well as allow you to plan for how the assets you've accumulated over your lifetime will be distributed.

The most common estate planning tools include:

  • Wills, which are a legal declaration of how you want your assets to be distributed when you die.
  • Trusts, which transfer property to your beneficiaries with several tax and non-tax advantages.
  • Charitable gifts, which enables you to distribute a portion of your assets to selected organizations, thus reducing the amount of taxes you owe.
  • Life insurance, which provides the cash your family needs to maintain its lifestyle and the liquidity needed to pay estate taxes and settlement costs.

Our services include strategies to help reduce taxes, transfer assets to heirs quickly and privately, and preserve what you have spent a lifetime building.

 Business Planning

You know the importance of delivering a good product or service and standing behind it.

You also know the importance of keeping books balanced, hiring qualified employees, beating the competition and meeting ever-increasing customer service expectations.

But until you address the issues of retirement planning, business continuation and rewarding and retaining key employees, everything else could be in jeopardy.

Did you know.....

 

  • Three fourths feel that the uncertainty in the financial markets can affect their businesses.  They are postponing growth and reducing operating expenses, but are less likely to reduce their workforce or cut employee benefits.  
  • Almost two thirds offer some kind of welfare benefits, most likely health insurance.
  • Only about one third offer some kind of retirement savings program to employees.  Fewer than 10 percent offer nonqualified programs for the owners and executives.  
  • Life insurance is not a top priority for these businesses.  Group life is the least common employee benefit, only one third have business life insurance for such things as key person coverage; and life insurance is next-to-last executive benefit the firms would bring in.

Source:Small Business Owners: LIMRA, 2009

 Ask yourself....

  • What would happen to your business today if you suddenly weren't here?
  • What would happen if you were disabled or if you simply decided to retire?
  • Would your business go on running smoothly without you, or would there be arguments over who should make executive decisions?
  • Would your key people stay on, or would they begin looking for opportunities elsewhere?
  • Would your best customer stay, or are you the reason they do business with you?

Good business planning is more that just ensuring the stability of your business should you die or become disabled.  It also includes using the business to reward yourself and your key people while you are living. 

Selective employee benefit planning can help you:

  • Provide significant perks to select employees - including yourself.
  • Motivate, retain, and reward key employees.
  • Increase shareholder value.
  • Differentiate among key employees - you decide at which level each key employee will participate.
  • Provide financing options that help offset benefit costs.

Proper planning can help provide for a smooth transition of your business while providing incentives to you and your key employees.

 

Protection

 You've worked too hard to get where you are.  Now it's time to protect what you've built-for yourself and for the people who depend on you.  Will your current assets be sufficient to cover any unforeseen contingencies?

 Even substantial assets can be wiped out quickly:

  • A medical emergency results in premature death, leaving your family without adequate income.
  • A long-term illness quickly drains a lifetime of savings.
  • An injury or accident makes returning to work impossible.

No one likes to think about dying too soon, suffering a long-term illness or becoming disabled. 

However, if you haven't planned correctly for these possibilities, you, and the people who depend on you, could find yourselves in a devastating financial situation.

Three of the most effective and potentially affordable ways to address these concerns are life, disability and long-term care insurance.

  • Life insurance can provide a income tax-free, lump sum payment that can be used to settle debts, or provide a monthly income stream to your family
  • Disability insurance provides a monthly income to make up for the lost wages should an accident, sickness or injury prevent you from working.
  • Long-term care insurance provides a monthly benefit to help offset the cost of a nursing home or in home-care.

Proper planning today will help you protect yourself, your family and the things that are important to you.

 

Retirement Planning

One of the biggest concerns facing Americans today is retirement. 

Unfortunately......

  • Many company-sponsored, company-paid pension plans, long the staple of many Americans' retirement incomes, are quickly being replaced by qualified plans funded by employee contributions

For many people, the answer will be vehicles such as:

  • IRAs
  • Employer-sponsored 401(k) and 403 (b) Plans
  • Fixed and variable annuities
  • Life insurance cash values

 Most of us list financial security at retirement among our highest priorities, yet only a few of us take adequate steps to prepare for it.

Choose the right tools now to prepare for the comfortable retirement you expect and deserve.

 

Wealth Accumulation and Investment Planning

 Accumulating wealth, no matter when you start, requires:

  • A long-term investment strategy;
  • A commitment to seeing that strategy through; and
  • An understanding of your tolerance for risk.

As you go through various stages in your life, your ability to set money aside will fluctuate.  This fluctuation must be factored in to any long-term strategy you develop.

People today are retiring earlier and living longer. Where the concern was once accumulating sufficient assets, it is now making sure those assets last a lifetime.

 

A Solution: 

Save early and often, and practice solid investment management with asset allocation.

Asset allocation simply means you allocate your assets among a variety of investment classes to help lessen the risk, but not prevent, market ups and downs. Asset allocation does not insure a profit or protect against loss.

Investment funds can be allocated among a number of vehicles, including:

  • Fixed and variable annuities,
  • Mutual funds,
  • Life insurance cash values,
  • Stocks, bonds, money markets funds, etc.

Our emphasis on investment management services, coupled with our relationships with established, respected firms, help us to customize portfolios based on each client's specific goals, objectives and risk tolerance.