Investing without a plan is like embarking on a cross-country trip without a map. It is impossible to reach your desired destination if you do not know where you are or where you want to go, and you do not have a map to lead the way. The components of your financial life are closely interrelated, and each decision you make affects other areas, so your plan needs to be comprehensive and holistic.
Wealth management is the marriage of investment management and comprehensive financial planning. Rather than focus on just your investments, we focus on you. True wealth management includes the coordinated delivery of financial solutions. You’ve built your wealth doing something other than studying financial markets, analyzing insurance, or coordinating estate plans, so odds are you don’t have the time or inclination to coordinate and monitor the countless details of your financial life.
The expertise and thoroughness we bring to our wealth management process is one of the areas that sets us apart. Many firms say they will provide you with true wealth management, while very few actually do.
Getting to Know You
Our wealth management process begins by listening to you. It doesn’t start with us peddling the latest and greatest investment product or pushing the financial planning strategy of the day. Your wealth is a tool that allows you to realize not only your financial goals, but also your life goals. So we will discuss your goals, dreams, and concerns about your money and your life, and we will work together to articulate and prioritize what you tell us. Whether it is your retirement, family legacy, or charitable endeavors, you tell us what you want and need, not the other way around.
Getting to Know Your Finances
You can’t map a route to your destination if you don't know where you are right now. People often lack a clear understanding of their current net worth and how each component affects the whole. Our process will help you see the big picture and understand where you are at the current point in time.
We will develop a complete understanding of your current financial position with our methodical process that leaves no stone unturned. We will create a detailed, multiyear model of your cash flow, net worth, and income tax projections, and we will analyze your current investment portfolio to uncover hidden risks. Next, we will examine your stock options, business interests, insurances, and estate plan. If it concerns your finances, we will analyze it. Although it may sound like a lot of work, we do most of the heavy lifting. Oftentimes, we work directly with your attorney, accountant, banker, or human resources department to clarify details.
By coordinating the interrelated areas of your financial life with your other key advisors, we can unlock planning opportunities that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. And by focusing on the details, we allow you to focus on the big picture.
Combining everything we have learned about you and your finances, we will provide a written, comprehensive Wealth Management Plan covering all areas relevant to you, including:
- Retirement Income Planning
- Social Security
- Employee Benefits including Retirement Plans, Stock Options and Grants, and Other Plans
- Single Stock Concentration and Hedging Strategies
- Education Funding
- Multiyear Income Tax Projections and Planning
- Investment and Asset Allocation Analysis
- Product Allocation, including using annuities to hedge longevity risk
- Risk Management, including Life Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Long-Term Care Insurance
- Asset Protection
- Charitable Giving and Philanthropic Planning
- Business Succession
- Estate Planning
The plan will integrate and analyze each component in unison so that you can understand how each decision you make affects other areas. We’ll examine all of the "what ifs" that keep you up at night. Financial planning often involves evaluating different trade-offs. Our goal is to provide alternatives to reach your goals and the tools to evaluate those trade-offs. We will explain everything in plain English, without the usual investment jargon, so that you will understand and be confident in the decisions you make.
Implementing the Plan
We will lead the implementation of the plan with your other advisors. Doing so allows you to save your time and energy for things other than telling the same story to each of your advisors and relaying information between them. You can either work with your existing advisors, or we can provide referrals to professionals with whom we work regularly. You can think of us as your financial quarterback or personal CFO, integrating and simplifying your financial life.
Monitoring Progress
Wealth management is a continuous process. We pride ourselves in being the first call our clients make any time they are facing a financial decision. Through regular review meetings, we will stay abreast of changes in your life and adjust your plan accordingly. As the legal, tax, and economic landscapes change, we will proactively offer advice and strategies that fit your situation. The product of true wealth management is your peace of mind and freedom to focus on what matters most to you.