The Value Of Planning
A 2013 study by Morningstar analysts published in the Journal of Retirement claims an individual investor who makes intelligent financial planning decisions can expect to generate 22.6% more in certainty-equivelent income at retirement. 22.6% more income at retirement
The financial planning factors analyzed in this study include optimal asset allocation, a dynamic withdrawal strategy, incorporating guaranteed income products (i.e., annuities), tax-efficient decisions, and liability-relative asset allocation optimization.
We don’t stop there.
What It Involves
A conversation.
You talk… about your values, your goals, your lifestyle, your plans for the future.
We listen… and ask questions about your financial life.
In other words, we get to know each other.
We Then Consider
Insurance planning and risk management – life, disability, umbrella
Investment planning – liquidity requirements, risk, concentrated position
Income tax planning – tax loss harvesting, AMT
Employee benefits planning – profit sharing benefit optimization
Retirement planning – cash flow projections, longevity hedging
Estate planning – efficient transfers of your wealth
More on our approach to planning
Financial Personality Questionnaire
Behavioral finance has grown in leaps over recent years and that is good news for the advisor-client relationship. We have adopted risk tolerance and cognitive and emotional bias questionnaires to help guide the conversation toward a portfolio suitable to your needs and appropriate to your financial personality. When it comes to investing, we aim to discover if you may be pessimistic, overconfident, or whether you become emotionally attached to investments.
The 13 question risk tolerance assessment is modeled after a continuously vetted paper named Financial Risk Tolerance Revisisted: The Development of a Risk Assessment Instrument, written by John Grable and Ruth Lytton.
The 8 question cognitive and emotional bias assessment is modeled after Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management: How to Build Optimal Portfolios That Account for Investor Biases by Michael Pompian.
Traditional Routes Not For All
Many people do not fit neatly into traditional phases and cycles. We want to be aware of and help with any special circumstances that may arise in your life. When necessary we help you work through the complicated issues of commingled assets in civil unions or domestic partnerships, relationship dissolution, death of a partner or complex family dynamics.
Vehicle Optimization
Great gains can be made by reviewing asset *location*
Once we understand your goals it will make sense to consider where to place your assets. Uncle Sam provides us with incentives to save for retirement, save for education, own a home, and give to charity – it is our job to find a way to design a plan that takes advantage of those incentives.
Once an understanding of those vehicles are in place, we can strategize around which types of investments should be held in which accounts. Investment income from a stock dividend receives different tax treatment than income from a municipal bond, so it is important to be thoughtful around which investments go into the different vehicles.
Efficient Transfers of Wealth
Don’t leave it to Uncle Sam.
If you are considering gifts, or bequeathing to family or charity, we can guide you to tax-efficient plans and structures to help protect and efficiently transfer your wealth.