Legacy (estate) planning

• • Aided by our network of estate planning attorneys, we focus you on what would happen to your family, financially, at the death of one spouse.  Our goal is to allow your family to continue to enjoy the same financial standard of living, to which they are accustomed. – for education savings and accumulation for retirement to stay on track ,or to maintain a comfortable level of income for a retired, surviving spouse.  At the death of the second spouse, we seek to manage that your assets pass efficiently to your intended beneficiaries (family and/or charities) in a tax-efficient way.

Income tax planning

• • We don’t prepare tax returns.  We strategize with our clients and their CPAs, accountants or tax preparers to present clients with strategies aiming to reduce or minimize their Federal and Vermont income tax liabilities.  This may involve making investments that provide tax deductions. It also considers strategies to defer taxation while assets are accumulating for retirement.  Tax-free investments may be considered. The selection of investments accounts to generate retirement income can also be made more tax-efficient.

Cash flow planning

• • We advise on directing your discretionary income in a way that works toward your financial planning goals – i.e. – debt reduction/elimination, saving for a large purchase, charitable contributions , education and retirement savings or reinvestment of investment income for compounding.

Education planning

• • We focus on directing high school students toward both need-based and merit-based college financial aid.  We assist in establishing college savings plans (529 accounts) for parents and grandparents.

Long-term care planning

• • We work on asset preservation strategies for households with an uninsured  family member that requires nursing care in their home or in a facility. This is accomplished by consultations with our client’s elder care attorneys.

Insurance planning

• • Life insurance – to replace your income and to provide cash to achieve  your family’s financial goals if you die too soon
  • Long-term care insurance – to pay for nursing care, in your home or in a facility, if you become infirm and incapable of caring for yourself without nursing assistance
  • Disability income insurance  — to replace your income, if you are unable to work due to an illness, injury or accident
  • We focus on three areas that may require insurance coverage to mitigate risks that negatively impact a household’s pursuit of their financial goals

Retirement income planning

• • When will you retire, what will you be doing and how much will it cost?  The answers to these questions help to design an investment portfolio to generate income to supplement other retirement income sources like– Social Security retirement benefits, pensions, rental income, small business income and part-time work
  • We manage your portfolio as you move from saving during  the accumulation phase in-pre retirement to the income phase
  • We work to help you manage the tax liability from your retirement income at a minimum, as we select the investments from which you will make withdrawals

Investment strategies

• • Accumulation of assets for retirement
  • Accumulation of assets for education
  • Delivery of investment income during retirement
  • For assets intended for your heirs as part of your financial legacy
  • For assets intended for charitable contributions
  • After all of the seven planning items (above) are addressed in the financial plan, we build a portfolio in service to that plan, with strategies designed for different investment objectives.