Our Process

An interaction to determine the need for our services, how we can help and the high-level scope of our relationship.

1. Determine if the relationship is good fit for all.
2. Discuss all 8 steps of this process and what to expect.
3. Understanding the clients’ personal and financial circumstances.
4. Discuss clients’ and advisors’ backgrounds.

In person or virtually.

1. Every family is unique and will have a custom experience with us.
2. Identify and lock down the specific scope of what we’re trying to accomplish for clients.
3. Get to know the entire family and personalities of each individual.
4. Understand the wants/needs/wishes/aspirations/goals/values of each person and the family.
5. Understand the concerns/problems/challenges/hurdles/pain-points of each person and the family.
6. Gather client information both personally and financially to begin planning.
7. We set some goals both personally and financially in the step.
8. We assess understand risks for the family.

Analysis of the data uncovered in steps 1 and 2 above together we begin to help our clients formulate a picture and initial plan for their situation.

1. Analyze the client’s current course of action compared to any alternate courses of action.
2. Find strengths and vulnerabilities and begin determining the course of action.
3. Look at spending: help our clients create a monthly expense worksheet, budget & balance sheet.
4. Look at cash flows both in and out and debt/liabilities.
5. Look at asset protection for the risks to money (life insurance, long-term care, umbrella policy, guaranteed income, predators and creditors).
6. Assist the client in creating an initial action/retirement plan for both immediate and longer term.
7. Determine if the client is on track to meet their goals.
8. Talk about an emergency fund.

In this step we generate recommendations for the client(s).

1. Leveraging our experience and knowledge, we formulate a comprehensive financial plan of recommendations organizing and simplifying complexity uncovered in steps 1-3 above into an easy to understand plan.
2. Plan creation incudes but is not limited to:
   1. Recommendations for investment account consolidation and rearrangement of investments where needed across all types of accounts.
      1. Discuss income needs before and after retirement and strategies to help generate this income.
   2. Organizing, consolidating and potentially upgrading life insurance coverage and policy amounts.
   3. Organizing and potentially upgrading long-term care policies.
   4. Organizing wills and trusts with estate planning strategies, techniques and best practices.
   5. Taxation impacts are evaluated at every step.
   6. Social Security, pensions, rental Income.
   7. Private business ownership, structure, timeframe, liabilities, associated retirement plan and potential future sale for retirement and ESOP recommendations.
   8. Stress-test the situation with financial modeling software and a Monte Carlo simulation – discover the likelihood of success for lifestyle vs. assets.
   9. Consider available options products services or solutions.

Presenting the plan and adjust where needed.

1. Often this is our favorite step, it really gets us on the same page with the client(s) and helps the clients on the same page with each other.
2. Client feedback is critical at this step, client can ask questions, we encourage it!
3. Finalize steps needed to take to reach financial goals.
4. Creating the final action plan.

1. Open appropriate accounts and transfer assets.
2. Reallocate employer retirement plans still being actively contributed to.
3. Consolidate investment, retirement, and savings accounts where it makes sense.
4. Swapping out investments where it makes sense.
5. Implement Investments, actions, products and services.
6. Upgrading, enhancing, adding on to or swapping life insurance policies, as needed.
7. Tweak or initiate a long-term care policy where applicable.
8. Engage an estate planning attorney to implement our estate/end of life plan.

Face to face meetings and Zoom/phone calls.

1. Collaborative Process with the family.
   1. Fold in any Family, Financial or Asset updates from the client(s).
   2. Employment change.
   3. Family status change deaths/births/marriage/inheritance.
   4. We may change the plan at this time as needed and recompute.
2. Review and track progress and performance through time towards goals.
3. Ongoing support, guidance, advice, educations and friendship.
4. Meet annually AT MINIMUM to discuss the plan and make any necessary changes.
5. Have a minimum of two phone calls/virtual meetings annually.
6. Weekly email touches to keep clients up to date with what’s on our mind and what our best thinking is.
7. Periodic optional client training events.
8. Periodic optional client appreciation events.
9. We often talk to clients much more than the above based on need.

1. After inevitable loss of a client or both spouses we are very involved with the clean and efficient transition of wealth and assets to the next generation according to our clients’ wishes and execution of their estate plan.
2. This transfer is a big deal and needs to be planned out in detail, in advance, so that it is executed correctly.
3. Handle special needs children/grandchildren.
4. Consider state of domicile, estate tax and generational wealth.
5. Set expectations with heirs before death.
   1. Do a family meeting with the wealth managers and the next generation explaining the estate plan strategy.
6. Engage estate planning attorneys, executors, trustees, agents and powers of attorney where appropriate.
7. Often we store copies of a families’ estate plan, including financial and medical powers of attorney, living wills, on our secure servers for easy access to the heirs when end of life events occur.