Your Financial Plan

Creating and maintaining a sound financial plan takes time and careful consideration. Success requires ongoing monitoring, periodic rebalancing and attention to any ever-changing financial landscape. We meet our clients every 90 days to review whether our strategies continue to serve your needs.

We start with a 4-step process.

Our Four-Step Process

We build all our relationships on honesty and trust

Our Four-Step Process

Step 1: Listen

We listen very carefully to understand where you are and where you want to be financially: Who you are and what you want to accomplish.

Your family members and their roles
Your current financial situation
Your experiences with other financial advisors
We’ll also tell you more about how we work, including our fee schedule.

Step 2: Analyze

To gain a deeper understanding of your financial situation, we thoroughly examine:

Wills and trusts
Business agreements
Tax returns
Financial and investment statements
Insurance policies
Qualified and non-qualified plan documents

From there, we may discover problems that could hinder your financial success.

Step 3: Plan

Your financial plan will have four key areas of focus:

Estate planning — ways to preserve your personal wealth.
Income tax & investments — accumulating personal wealth with sound tax and investment decisions.
Business continuation — planning for the preservation and transfer of business wealth.
Fringe benefits & retirement planning — Maximizing your corporate checkbook to provide retirement and other types of personal fringe benefits.

Step 4: Follow Up

Our work isn’t done after your plan is fully implemented.

We meet you every 90 days to review what's changed, how the strategies are working, and what new

opportunities are emerging for you.

More to Consider

If you’re counting on a pension, make sure it’s solid—too many people have seen their retirement plans shrink after cuts or bankruptcies. Social Security is a similar decision point: if you’re in good health, it can pay to wait for the bigger benefit; if not, taking it earlier may be the smarter move.

College education expenses: You may want to consider this not only for your children but also for grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc. This will generally mean establishing a 529 plan, ESA, or other college tuition plan.

Social Security benefits: Deciding when to take Social Security

will depend on each client’s circumstances and life expectancy. If you have a family history of good health, it might make sense to wait to get the maximum bene!t. If you have a family history of poor health or have a physical ailment, it might make sense to take your bene!ts early.

Closely held business: The biggest risk here is illiquidity. You need a strategy for deriving income from the business. Also, you need a succession plan in place that sets forth terms in the case of death, disability, divorce, or retirement of partners or shareholders.