Accumulation planning addresses an individual’s investment needs, asset allocation, and the suitability of different types of securities in light of your goals and risk tolerance.

Asset allocation is used to distribute your investable assets among a variety of investment categories. This process will:

• Reduce overall investment risk
• Create more reliable investment forecasts
• Improve the risk/return tradeoff of your portfolio

Accumulation planning also involves the choice of securities for your investment portfolio.

Business planning focuses on issues specific to business owners and shareholders. For most business owners, the business is their most significant asset, and the financial success of that business has an immediate impact on the economic security of the family. Without proper planning, you may have difficulty tapping the value of your business to support your retirement, or your family may lose the value of your business at your death.

Our process coordinates the management of your business throughout its life cycle with:

• Risk management
• Distributions to the owners
• Succession planning

Estate planning creates a master plan for the management of your property during life and the distribution of that property at death.

For most people, estate planning will:

• Give you more control over your assets during your life
• Provide care when you are disabled
• Allow for the transfer of wealth to whom you want, when you want, at the lowest possible cost

Common estate planning issues addressed in the wealth management process include:

• The transfer of wealth,
• The minimization of transfer taxes,
• Asset protection
• Charitable giving

Retirement planning involves evaluating your current financial standing and creating an accumulation strategy that will help to ensure a desired retirement lifestyle. Because an individual’s retirement years can span decades, retirement planning generally dominates other financial goals. A successful plan put into place during the wealth-building lifespan should address ways to maximize growth and tax-efficient distributions, as well as how to leave retirement assets to the next generation.

There are several ways to save for retirement:

• Qualified employer-sponsored plans
• Individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
• Personal savings
• Executive deferral plans

Risk management is intended to minimize financial and other losses potentially associated with risks to your assets, business, or health. Some examples of risk are personal and professional liability, business ownership, and catastrophic illness or disability. Your first line of defense is to identify your sources of risk and then to either avoid or minimize the major exposures. Your last line of defense is insurance.

Asset protection planning manages risks to your wealth. Lawsuits, accidents, property damage, and other financial risks are facts of everyday life and asset protection planning looks to transfer the risk of these events through:

• Insurance
• Repositioning asset ownership
• Other protections available under the law

Tax planning considers the tax implications of individual, investment, or business decisions, usually with the goal of minimizing tax liability. While decisions are rarely made solely on their tax impact, you should have a working knowledge of the income or estate tax issues and costs involved.

A major goal of tax planning is minimizing federal income tax liability. This can be achieved by:

• Reducing taxable income through income deferral or shifting
• Deduction planning,
• Investment tax planning
• Tax Loss Harvesting 
• Distribution Planning
• Year-end planning strategies