Meeting your financial goals begins with a good plan. Getting started can often be the hardest part.  We help you get going by using a formal planning process that takes into account your life goals such as retirement, education or leaving a legacy through estate planning and charitable giving.  Our comprehensive approach addresses the complex maze of regulatory, tax, investment and risk management issues. We cover all the bases, giving you’re the peace of mind, knowing that there is game plan in place. While provide the guidance and recommendations, you are in control, making informed decisions based on rigorous analysis and constant communication.

our process

Our financial planning process begins with an in depth assessment and analysis of your current situation that includes:  income taxes, insurance levels, investment portfolio performance, potential estate tax issues, structuring of assets (business ownership), current cash flow, and short/long-term goals (retirement, college, etc).

Next, we take all the information uncovered during our assessment fact finding session and develop customized cash flow and investment targets based on your specific circumstances.  We then identify any near term, priority issues that should be addressed, and start to build a plan for the future.

Once we agree on your plan, it’s now time to execute and monitor progress over time. We present you with a formal plan that includes recommendations and financial projections and begin implementation. We then constantly monitor not only the overall economic conditions and market performance, but also your individual financial situation, to ensure that the strategies and objectives we agree to in your plan are still consistent with your current and future needs.

retirement planning

Planning for retirement could perhaps be your largest financial need. Starting early and sticking to a plan is essential. Making sense of all your options can be hard, as you have a multitude of retirement plan alternatives. Our retirement specialists have experience working with high net worth individuals as well as small business owners to determine the appropriate strategies and retirement planning vehicles that will maximize accumulated retirement savings in the most tax efficient way.

You may have a collection of IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), SEP or other investments set aside for retirement that may be sitting in various accounts, and not know your level of risk or performance across these separate accounts. You also may not be maximizing your contributions, thus missing out on near term tax savings, and long term asset accumulation. With your targeted retirement plan, you will be able to make sense of your retirement planning options to maximize your retirement savings.  

insurance planning

Part of your custom financial plan includes a detailed insurance recommendation. We have the ability to design a comprehensive insurance plan that may include a combination of long term care, survivorship, term life insurance, or cash value-based policies (universal, variable, whole life).  

Through our insurance brokerage affiliation, we have access to all major insurers with the strongest financial strength and stability ratings.

college education

Parents can choose from a variety of different savings and investment plans designed specifically for college education. Our college education planning specialists can take you through your options based on factors such as your income and tax situation.

We can walk you through your college plan options and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using an UGMA, Coverdell Education Savings Account (formerly Education IRA), Roth IRA or Section 529 plans. Each have different tax implications that need to be considered now and in the future.

estate planning

A key goal of our planning process is to uncover way to minimize taxes in order to preserve wealth for you and your loved ones. In some instances, estate taxes liabilities could be higher than your highest marginal income tax rate today. Understanding the proper planning techniques to implement now can save you a potentially crippling tax bill upon your death. You don’t want to be in a position where your heirs will be required to sell personal property, real property or other belongings in order to cover the estate tax liability.

We can help you greatly reduce your risk of a significant estate tax bill by employing strategies such as the creation of trusts or lifetime gifting. We have established relationships with estate planning attorneys that  draft the legal documents, while we work with you to understand the financial implications of your alternative strategies.