Financial Plan Strategies
Key strategies to create a comprehensive financial plan Cash flows
An important step to developing your plan is a clear understanding of your annual income and
expenses. We will conduct an analysis to determine whether income can be controlled or expenses
adjusted. Often, tax savings are discovered in cases where income can be deferred or accelerated.
Gaining an understanding of how your money is being spent is often a critical component
of how a financial plan will be structured. If you are spending less than you earn,
you may have excess cash flow to put to work toward meeting your financial goals.
If you are spending more than you earn, we work to identify areas that can
be adjusted.
Estate & Tax
No one wants to pay more taxes than necessary. We monitor changes in current
legislation and apply strategies that will minimize your tax liability. We look for opportunities within your financial plan to shift income and deductions
to maximize your tax savings. An estate plan will ensure your financial plan continues
beyond your life expectancy.
As we review the various components of your financial plan, we may identify estate
and income tax issues we feel should be addressed. We work closely with
your attorney and accountant to determine the most appropriate strategies for you.
Document Review
We work with our trust company to review your estate plan documents
to determine whether it is appropriate for your situation and goals.
We also evaluate the beneficiary designations on your IRAs, Qualified Retirement
Plans, and insurance policies to ensure they
are structured properly. We provide any recommended changes to your estate plan
attorney to ensure they are updated. Estate plans should be reviewed at least every
five years to reflect changes in the law and family situations.
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Investment
How much risk do you need to take in your portfolio to meet your goals? Can you
invest more conservatively and still meet your goals? We will evaluate how you are
currently allocated and discuss whether that allocation is appropriate to meet your goals.
If you have a child starting college in two years, you may not need to invest in
all stocks if you have saved enough to meet the education obligation.
If you have saved a retirement nest egg large enough to meet your spending goals
in retirement, you may consider investing more conservatively to preserve what you
have accumulated.
It is always important to account for inflation and maintain a degree of stock exposure
to counteract inflation over the long-term.
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Insurance
Insurance comes in many different forms and all types are important to managing
risk within your household. No one ever knows when, where, or how our
lives, and thus our ability to generate income, will end. We will evaluate your
current policies to determine whether they are sufficient to meet your needs. Disability
insurance is needed in the event of an accident or extended illness during an individual’s
working years.
Life insurance is needed to provide income to survivors for living
expenses, debt repayment, college education, charitable intentions, and estate liquidity.
Long-term care insurance will provide for physical needs, and can also relieve
the burden of family and loved ones being responsible for providing care for their
elder family members. Individual health insurance policies may be needed to bridge
the gap between retirement and age 65, when Medicare-eligibility begins.
SVA Plumb Financial does not sell insurance products, but we work closely with a
team of independent professionals to identify the most appropriate product to fulfill
your needs.
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Education
With annual costs in the tens of thousands and average annual inflation of 7%, it
is imperative to begin planning for education at the early stages of your child’s
life.
There are many different solutions available to fund your goals. We will work with
you to determine how much you need to save and the most appropriate solution to
use for your education savings.
To learn more about the services SVA Plumb Financial can provide for you,
contact us at (888) 856-8801.
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