ONGOING FINANCIAL PLANNING

Helping You Plan For Your Child’s Education

A major concern of parents is planning for the educational needs of their children. Listed below are some of the areas discussed with you. ​

• Making sure your children have college funding options when the time comes.
• Planning for funding of private or public school tuition.
• Discussing different types of accounts you can save into such as a 529 for college.
• Informing you about each plan to see which is right for you and your situation.
• Advising and making recommendations on how much to save, where to save it and the breakdown of your best savings vehicle choices.

Planning For Major Purchases

Often life goals include planning for major purchases. We talk through all your future major purchases and add them to your Financial Plan.

• Discussing major purchases like renovations, a big trip, or a home purchase.

Understanding and Optimizing Your Benefits At Work

Workplace benefit plans are complex, and it’s challenging to wade through it all. We take a comprehensive look at the benefits your employer offers and help you make the best decisions for your own situation. This includes analysis of: ​ Group term insurance Disability insurance Employee stock purchase plans 401(k) and other Retirement Plans Deferred Compensation Plans

​​ Health Insurance Review

Health insurance is another complex area. There are many considerations and it’s critical to get it right. For many people, this means evaluating their employer options. We work together to plan your best choices. We revisit this each year in case your situation changes.

• We look at all your options and pick the best plan based on numbers.
• We discuss FSA accounts, HSA accounts and HRA accounts as vehicles to minimize your out-of-pocket medical expenses.
• I don’t sell any insurance. If you need individual coverage on the Exchange or through Medicare, I can refer you to a trusted professional.

​​ Investment Review and Advice

I review all your investments with you, discuss current fit with your needs, and suggest changes for you to make. Note that in Ongoing Financial Planning, I make the suggestions and you implement them with my guidance. If you would like me to make the changes and actually manage your portfolio, consider Investment Management.

• I review your entire investment portfolio and provide a written analysis and recommendations.
• The recommendations are derived from your financial plan and chosen to deliver on your plan goals.
• You get specific advice on how to allocate your portfolio.
• You take the recommendations and change the allocations yourself.

Exercising and Leveraging Your Stock Options at Work

Stock options are a complex and challenging subject. I discuss this topic in depth with you and create a strategy to best optimize this valuable benefit.

• I help you understand exactly what you have. Not all stock options are created equally. I educate you on the true value of your options.
• Your stock options are integrated into your financial plan. All stock option decisions are driven by your Financial Plan.
• We discuss timing and when it makes sense for you to exercise your options. Tax implications are often significant in deciding the timing of exercising your options. We’ll coordinate with your CPA to make sure smart tax decisions are made.

Tax Efficient Investing, Saving, and Withdrawal Strategies

There are many different options and types of accounts to deploy to save on taxes. In fact, the number of options can be overwhelming. ​

• We consider what types of accounts and options make the most sense—based on your goals and financial plan.
• We look at your bigger tax picture also, to identify the best type(s) of accounts for you to use to maximize tax savings. The more diversified you are in using before-tax, after-tax and tax-free accounts, the more flexible you can be in your financial planning.
• We develop both short-term and long-term tax strategies relating to investment decisions—with the objective to “pay yourself” and reduce taxes.
• I am not a CPA, where necessary we may coordinate with your CPA.

Planning a Career Transition

I often work with clients who are unhappy in their jobs and want to plan a change. This could include planning a job change or a career change or transitioning to self-employment.

• We focus on questions like, “Is it doable? Can I afford to make a change from a dollar perspective? If not, could we adjust the plan so I could do this at some point?”
• I work with you to analyze everything you need to consider and the impact on your income and benefits.
• Many retirees are trying to figure out how to fit part-time work into the picture. We look at the numbers to analyze how taking part-time work could change your Financial Plan and allow you to retire earlier.
• Some clients want to give up being an employee altogether and make the leap to being self-employed. There are different analyses for that scenario, a primary one being the loss of benefits.
• I will talk it through with you making sure the right safety nets are in place. I want you to be able to make the transition worry-free.

Saving for Retirement

Of course, saving for retirement is one of the biggest concerns for most clients. It’s a complex puzzle with many moving parts to consider. ​

• You have to know how much money you’re going to need to retire comfortably. That’s our starting point.

Estate Planning

A caveat here, I’m not an attorney. I do not draft estate documents. However, I play an integral role in preparing you in advance of your appointments with an attorney. This preparation aims to have you informed and knowledgeable before you meet with an attorney. I ask you the questions and brainstorm with you in advance. If you wish it, I could also accompany you to the attorney. After you’ve worked with the estate attorney, I look everything over to ensure that the prepared documents conform to your desires. A little thing like not changing a title could unintentionally destroy your well-crafted estate plan.

Data-Gathering Session

Our first session is a data gathering meeting. We take a deeper dive into the information you’ve provided me. I’ve got questions to ask and clarifications to make. The primary objective though is to understand more about your goals and what you want to accomplish. You can count on me for input such as, “Have you thought about this? Do you want to consider that?” At this point, I have some of your numbers already, but we want to turn those numbers into your Big Vision.

Analysis and Consolidation Of Information

After this meeting, I do an analysis of everything. During this time, I get a lot of ideas and have more questions to ask you. There are always “loose ends” to collect, so I continue to get information and documents from you. The goal is to be comprehensive and thorough. With all your information, I create the first draft of your Financial Plan.

First Plan Presentation Meeting

Things get exciting when we get together and look at the first draft. We’re going through your net worth summary and a high-level look at all your financial information. For many clients, this is the first time to see the big picture. In this session, we add goals, refine details, and surface both new ideas and forgotten information. The goals you’re working towards are translated into possibilities.

Plan Refinement Work

After our meeting, I add all the new information to the plan and refine it. Typically, I give you some “homework” to do. This could be things like refining your budget and thinking more in-depth about your goals.

Second Plan Presentation Meeting

We have our second Plan Presentation meeting. By now, your Financial Plan is in near-final form. I use the terminology “near-final” because a Financial Plan is an ever-evolving document. It’s never finished. As your life changes, the plan changes to fit your life.

• In this meeting, I’ll be making recommendations based on your needs.

Quarterly Meetings- Implementing, Refining, and Monitoring.

You have all of the recommendations, now what? This is one of the most important parts of the process. Once we are off and running, it’s time to take action. We begin to work on implementing the recommendations in your financial plan. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through it. Each quarter, we’ll focus on a new topic and revisit the plan to make sure you are on track. The Financial Plan is an ever-evolving document. It’s never finished. As new goals arise and life changes, we’ll adapt the plan.

After you decide to become a client, I request that you provide a list of documents for me to study. This includes things like account statements, pay-stubs, and pension projections. I then create your customized Financial Plan. It's my job to help you see the big picture and the possibilities. We then work together quarter by quarter to constantly evolve your plan over time. See below for in an in-depth explanation of how it all works.