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Personal financial planning

It’s time to take control

In today’s information-driven world, there are many resources that can “help” you understand your financial situation: newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the internet – even your friends and family. How do you make sense of all of the noise? How do you reconcile opposing opinions and know which one is most appropriate for you? And how do you best accumulate and protect your wealth when you’re confronted with too much information?

You don’t have to, that’s our job.

We can help you identify opportunities, help you avoid pitfalls and – acting in your best interest – provide comprehensive strategies that will help meet your personal financial needs.

Not only do people who work with advisors have a better understanding of the importance of wealth protection, they’re also more likely to feel better prepared to meet their financial futures1 . Indeed, Lincoln Financial Group research found that people who work with advisors are almost twice as likely to feel “in control” as they strive to protect the work of a lifetime.

When you retain our services, you enter into a relationship founded on a commitment to collaborate with you and serve your personal financial needs above all. We will take the time to fully understand you, your goals and aspirations and make appropriate decisions and recommendations using a dynamic financial planning process.

The key pieces of a sound financial plan

Your unique financial plan will include a comprehensive evaluation, analysis and straightforward recommendations in one or more of the following areas:

The probability that you or your spouse will require home health care or nursing home assistance, or suffer a disabling injury or illness is greater than you might think. If you have assets to preserve, then life insurance, long-term care insurance and disability income insurance should be considered. Protecting loved ones or survivors against these potentially catastrophic costs is an essential part of astute financial planning.

Our dynamic process

Our dynamic financial planning process makes complex issues simple and understandable so you can make appropriate decisions and feel confident about your future. Our goal is to “get you all the way home,” not just today, but for the rest of your life.

1. ENGAGE

Establish and define the client-advisor relationship

We begin by discussing how we can work together to develop and implement your financial plan. We strive to understand your financial situation, but we also will help you define your goals. We start the process by:

• Learning about your situation
• Establishing the cost of financial planning
• Organizing basic documents

2. COLLECT

Gather your information, including goals, feelings and expectations

The more detailed information we learn, the more detailed and accurate your personal financial plan can be. We conduct a holistic audit of your current estate, investment and business situation. We develop a comprehensive financial condition model of your situation, including cash flow, tax-reduction strategies and estate distribution. Highlights of this stage include:

• Defining our working relationship
• Gathering appropriate financial data, objectives, risk tolerances and feelings
• Integrating your attitudes, views and concerns
• Learning and prioritizing your goals

3. ANALYZE

Process and analyze to determine financial needs

We identify gaps and opportunities between your current financial situation and your objectives, feelings and risk tolerance. This stage focuses on:

• Reviewing your data and assessing your status relative to goals, objectives and attitudes
• Analyzing and evaluating your current financial status
• Confirming and clarifying your data
• Preparing a preliminary financial plan
• “Trying-on” ideas, involving key advisors, as needed, and refining recommendations

4. DESIGN

Develop and present financial planning recommendations

Based on your input and our analysis, we offer effective strategies and identify solutions that are an appropriate fit for your personal situation and are consistent with your objectives. This stage – one of the most important in our process because it is where the financial planning takes shape – includes:

• Presenting a final plan
• Answering questions and gaining your input
• Establishing an action plan

5. IMPLEMENT

Implement the financial plan recommendations

We present the specific recommendations that are designed to help toward meeting your needs, and discuss the pros, cons, risks and costs for each recommended alternative. This helps ensure that you will make an informed decision. Some aspects covered in this stage are:

• Coordinating with your other advisors
• Reviewing and recommending specific financial products for your consideration to help implement the financial plan
• Assisting you in implementing the financial plan

6. REVIEW

Review the financial plan recommendations

Many factors can impact the viability of your financial plan in the future – a life event, unexpected expenses or income, a change in taxes, etc. We meet with you to check the status of the financial plan by comparing actual results to initial assumptions to determine if adjustments need to be made. This final stage of the process centers around:

• Analyzing ongoing issues
• Making adjustments as your situation changes
• Keeping your financial plan updated and current

The emphasis is on you and your needs – not on a prepackaged set of solutions or ideas. We are committed to providing you with the information necessary to make timely, informed decisions about your financial future. The benefits of this approach are quickly apparent: you enjoy a greater understanding of the impact of various choices and are better positioned to make the appropriate decisions for yourself and your family. Let’s talk a bit about the other value-added benefits when you engage us

A model approach

Effective financial planning is only possible with the help of sophisticated modeling. We use leading-edge software that allows us to create an individualized financial condition model that:

• Addresses your needs and objectives in a way that fully takes into account the long-term impact of taxation, inflation and each of the financial strategies you have already implemented or plan to implement;
• Projects your annual cash flow – income and expenses – and your asset growth over the full length of your life expectancy; and
• Estimates, at various points in time, the size of your net worth, your savings and investments, and your estate.

This sophisticated modeling helps us determine the adequacy of your current financial situation, shows how a given financial planning strategy that you have already implemented or are considering compares to other available strategies, and demonstrates what may happen to your current financial plan if you should experience significant changes in your personal or family situation, taxes, inflation or investment returns.

Coordination of services

Many of our clients have trusted, long-term advisors – perhaps an attorney, a CPA or both – who have helped them with some planning (wills, trusts, business agreements, retirement plans, etc.). Our work coordinates the services these advisors provide. While each of your existing advisors is a focused specialist, we look at the various pieces of your financial picture and put them together by using a cross-disciplinary approach. We also work closely with your other advisors to ensure that the solutions you choose complement any existing business, estate tax or investment strategies.

National resources

While we manage the financial planning process, we also have access to additional support from local and national teams of specialists. This business model affords us a high degree of independence, while providing access to specific technical assistance and abundant intellectual capital that ensures you will receive consistent, high-quality support and outstanding thought leadership.

Meeting regularly

Our relationship doesn’t end once you implement your financial plan. Because your personal situation and objectives are not static, the plan you develop today will need to be revisited. By periodically meeting with you, we will analyze any changes in your financial situation, evaluate their impact on your current financial plan, and recommend actions as necessary. This often-ignored step is critical to help ensure your long-term success and the benefit of the financial planning process for you and your family

The value of advice snapshot

• A remedy for information overload

A treasure trove of financial data is at your fingertips. How do you make sense of it all? We can help you separate news from noise.

• Professionals who put you first

We can provide a steadying influence in turbulent times and help you feel “in control.”

• A dynamic financial planning process

We make complex issues simple and understandable so you can make appropriate decisions and feel confident about your future.

• Comprehensive financial planning strategies tailored to you, your needs and your goals

Our holistic approach covers accumulation planning, retirement planning, investment planning and implementation, estate and asset protection strategies, business owner and exit planning strategies, risk management and contingency planning.

• A focus on creating a financial plan that gets you all the way home

We not only work with you to create a financial plan that helps meet your immediate needs, but also will meet with you regularly to adjust that plan as your personal and financial situations evolve.

When you need solutions, count on us to help you define the issues and then design a plan to help you create, preserve and protect the work of a lifetime.