Financial Life Planning
Six core values we use to optimize your lifestyle
Partnership: We help you achieve the best life possible and work in concert with you by
- Taking the time to clearly understand your background, philosophy, goals, and concerns
- Working collaboratively with you and on your behalf
- Offering transparency around our costs and compensation
Accountability: We help you follow through on financial commitments by
- Prioritizing your goals
- Showing you the steps to take
- Regularly reviewing your progress towards achieving them
Organization: We help bring order to your financial life on two levels
- Micro: Maximize and Protect Cash Flow
- Macro: Insurance, Investments, Retirement, Taxes, and Estate Planning
Education: We explore what will be needed to succeed in your situation
- First, by thoroughly understanding your situation, then
- Providing the necessary resources to facilitate your decisions
- Explaining the options and risks associated with each choice
Objectivity: We bring insight from the outside to help you avoid emotionally-driven decisions in important money matters by
- Consulting with you at critical moments of decision-making
- Doing the research necessary to ensure you have all the information
- Managing and disclosing any of our potential conflicts of interest
Proactivity: We anticipate your life transitions and financially prepare for them by
- Regularly assessing potential life transitions that might be coming up
- Creating the action plan necessary to address and manage them ahead of time
Our fee-based consultants are passionate about financial life planning for business owners.
Financial & Estate Planning
Financial & Estate Planning = accumulation + conservation + management + distribution
There is a common misconception that an estate is simply property that one leaves at death. In reality, it is much more than that. In its broadest sense, the term estate planning encompasses the accumulation, conservation, management, and distribution of an estate. The overall purpose of the estate planning process is to develop a plan that will enhance and maintain the financial security of clients and their families upon the client's incapacitation or death. Estate planning has come to include lifetime financial planning that may lead to increases in a client's estate as well as the conservation of existing assets. Estate planning should provide financial security during retirement years and facilitate the intended and orderly distribution of property at death.
The Financial & Estate Planning Process • Step 1 : data-gathering interview (qualitative interview) • Step 2 : evaluation of an existing plan (financial data) • Step 3 : development of estate plan - preparation • Step 4 : review and approval of plan • Step 5 : implementation of plan - execution of documents - transfer of property • Step 6 : periodic review of plan
Advantages of a Well-planned Financial Life & Estate • property distribution according to your wishes • tax-saving options • appropriate ownership of assets • disability and last illness preparedness • liquidity needs assessment • personal peace of mind
Your Financial Life & Estate Planning Team:
Financial Life Planner (Team Leader)
Insurance Professionals
Investment Counselor
Attorney*
Accountant*
Bank Trust Officer*
*We team with your current tax, legal, and trust advisors or we can provide quality professionals through our strategic affiliations.
Business Exit Planning
What is Exit Planning?
Exit Planning is the creation and execution of a strategy allowing owners to exit their businesses on their terms and conditions. It is an established process that creates a written roadmap or Exit Plan, involving efforts of several professions facilitated and led by an Exit Planning advisor who ensures not only the plan creation but its timely execution.
Our unique Seven-Step Exit Planning Process:
1. Identify Owner Objectives- Create Exit Plans that are owner-centric: Each owner's unique goals determine the destination for each Exit Plan.
2. Quantify Business and Personal Resources- Establish the value of an owner's business immediately following goal setting, because business value is a critical component in an owner’s ability to meet personal exit objectives.
3. Maximize and Protect Business Value- Help owners protect existing business value and create customized plans to build value. After completing the first two steps, many owners find that current business value will not yield the post-exit financial security they desire.
4. Business Continuity: Lifetime and At Death- Work with owners to protect their businesses, and their families, if the owner does not live to transfer or sell the business. In the case of co-owned businesses, facilitate the lifetime departure of one owner in a way that is equitable to both the departing and remaining shareholders.
5. Personal Wealth and Estate Planning- Coordinate owners' plans for their businesses with their estate plans for their families.
6 Transfer Ownership to Insiders- Help owners who choose this exit path create a transfer plan that keeps owners in control of the business until they receive the entire purchase price.
7. Sale of Ownership to a Third Party- Help owners prepare themselves and their companies for sale if they desire to sell to a third party
Advantages of the Exit Planning Process:
Maximizes quantifiable and non-quantifiable value of:
- The business
- Keeping the business going longer
- Providing employees with a job
- Being an industry leader
Minimizes risk that:
- Owners will be unprepared
- Key people with hopes for the future will leave
- The child who takes over the business will fail
Maintains the owner's control of:
- The choice of the next owner
- Whether a change of ownership occurs during the owner's lifetime or at death
- How and when the owner leaves the business
- The terms on which the owner sells/transfers ownership
Planning Engagements
Financial Life Planning
Planner Client
Initial Planning Engagement $2500- $25000
Annual Engagement Minimum $2000
Investor Client
Minimum investable assets: $200,000
Investment Management annual cost .60% - 1.25%
Situational Client
Minimum project fee: $1000
Hourly advice fees: Individuals $175, Families $250, Businesses $375
Business Planning
Exit • Growth • Start-up
Exit Phase
Immediate pre-sale planning or up to 10 years from the desired transfer date.
The costs typically run from .5% to 2% of Annual Gross Revenue.
Growth Phase
Minimum $1,000,000 Gross Revenue
Cost estimate: $10,000 - $50,000
Start-up Phase
Feasibility and Entity Set-up
Cost estimate: $5,000 - $25,000