BOOK YOUR INTRODUCTORY CALL

We will conduct a review of your income and expenses to determine your current surplus or deficit, along with advice on prioritizing how any surplus should be used or how to reduce expenses if they exceed your income. Advice may also be provided on which debts to pay off first based on factors such as the interest rate of the debt and any tax ramifications. We may also recommend what we believe to be an appropriate cash reserve that should be considered for emergencies and other financial goals, along with a review of accounts (such as money market funds) for such reserves, plus strategies to save desired amounts.

This includes projecting the amount that will be needed to achieve college or other education funding goals, along with advice on ways for you to save the desired amount. Recommendations as to savings strategies are included and, if needed, we can help review your financial picture as it relates to eligibility for financial aid or the best way to contribute to grandchildren or other individuals (if appropriate).

A risk management review includes an analysis of your Risk Personality and exposure to major risks that could have a significant adverse impact on your financial picture, such as premature death, disability, property and casualty losses, or the need for long-term care. Advice may be provided on ways to minimize and/or mitigate such risks and about weighing the costs of purchasing insurance versus the benefits of doing so and, likewise, the potential cost of not purchasing insurance (“self-insuring”).

We will provide review and analysis of benefits offered by your employer, such as life, disability and long-term care insurance, matching contributions to retirement plans, and opportunities to purchase employer stock through stock purchase plans and/or stock option programs. We can include discussion of strategies for mitigating the concentration risks associated with Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), Stock Purchase Plans, and Stock Option Plans.

This may involve developing an asset allocation strategy to meet your financial goals, considering both Risk Personality and Risk Preference. We may provide information on different investment vehicles and strategies and assist in establishing accounts at a selected custodian. The strategies and types of investments we generally recommend are further discussed in Item 8 below.

Our Retirement Advice includes projections of your likelihood of achieving your financial goals, typically focusing on financial independence as the primary objective. For situations in which projections show less than the desired results, we may illustrate alternative scenarios that may affect the original projections by adjusting certain variables (e.g., working longer, saving more, spending less, adjusting risk level of investments). We may make recommendations based on your feedback on the variables we adjust. If you are near retirement or already retired, advice may be given on appropriate distribution strategies to, as applicable, (i) reduce the likelihood of running out of money or having to adversely alter spending during your retirement years or, alternatively, (ii) address anticipated savings surpluses. Our Retirement Advice includes projections of your likelihood of achieving your financial goals, typically focusing on financial independence as the primary objective. For situations in which projections show less than the desired results, we may illustrate alternative scenarios that may affect the original projections by adjusting certain variables (e.g., working longer, saving more, spending less, adjusting risk level of investments). We may make recommendations based on your feedback on the variables we adjust. If you are near retirement or already retired, advice may be given on appropriate distribution strategies to, as applicable, (i) reduce the likelihood of running out of money or having to adversely alter spending during your retirement years or, alternatively, (ii) address anticipated savings surpluses.

Tax Planning Strategies may include a discussion of ways to reduce current and future income taxes. For example, we may make suggestions on which type of accounts or specific investments should be owned based in part on their “tax efficiency,” with consideration that there is always a possibility of future changes to federal, state or local tax laws and rates that may impact your situation. We may also discuss strategies for minimizing or optimizing tax liabilities on pre-tax retirement accounts such as converting pre-tax retirement accounts to Roths, taking withdrawals from IRAs and other retirement plans prior to Required Beginning Dates, and utilizing Qualified Charitable Distributions. We recommend that you consider consulting with a qualified tax professional before initiating any particular tax planning strategy, and we may provide you with contact information for accountants or attorneys who specialize in this area if you wish to hire someone for such purposes. We may participate in meetings or phone calls between you and your tax professional with your approval.

These will usually include a review of your current estate plan, whether you have executed documents such as a will and/or trust or whether you would be subject to your state’s rules regarding intestacy. We will generally review your exposure to federal estate taxes and may include a review of your exposure to state estate or inheritance taxes. We may make suggestions regarding strategies for reducing potential estate taxes based on current law, as well as strategies to provide protection for beneficiaries that may not be capable of managing their own financial affairs. Depending on a client’s needs and desire for preparing and/or reviewing documents such as wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, et al., we may engage with a third-party estate planning service (EncorEstate) to assist with providing Estate Planning Documents and/or introduce estate & elder law attorneys. We always recommend you consider consulting with a qualified attorney when you initiate, update or complete Estate Planning Strategies. We may participate in meetings or phone calls between you and your estate and/or elder law attorneys with your approval.

We will help clients identify short-term and long-term financial goals and recommend strategies to achieve them. We will help you identify resources available and needed for each goal and provide you with an assessment of the likelihood of achieving your desired goals. If we believe your current resources may be inadequate to achieve your initial goals, then we will work with you to understand potential trade-offs of adjusting your goals and priorities.

We may review your existing coverages in multiple areas (life, health, disability, home, automobile and long-term care.) We may assess the adequacy of existing policies relative to your goals and objectives and make recommendations about changes and/or additions to coverage. We do not offer insurance products, and can work with your current providers, or introduce third-party providers who can assist with developing specific recommendations for insurance products. We have no financial interest in any third-party insurance providers we may introduce.