Financial Planning Services

Our team of financial planners can provide you with the advice you need to meet your financial goals. We work with you to develop a personalized financial roadmap to manage your financial resources and get you where you want to be in life.

Whether you’re thinking of purchasing a new home, saving for retirement, eliminating debt or funding a college education, we can help you achieve financial milestones by:

  • Assisting you in devising independent and unbiased practical financial strategies that help you navigate the complexities of your financial life, capitalize on your fiscal strengths and address your financial weaknesses
  • Assisting you in developing a cash flow plan that is flexible enough to accommodate the good, the bad and the unexpected in your personal and professional lives
  • Help monitor and revise your personal financial plan as necessary so you can create a fluid action plan that meets your goals as well as your lifestyle

Retirement Planning

It is never too late to plan for your retirement; however, the sooner planning starts, the more financially prepared you are likely to feel when the time arrives. Guidance and support provided by www.ourdebtfreelives.com can help you develop a plan during your pre-retirement years.

  • Review your expenses, including the major expenses such as healthcare costs, that will be, or are likely to be, incurred during your retirement and suggest a plan to eliminate or minimize any shortfall between retirement income and expenses
  • Identify the primary sources of your retirement income and the related planning strategies to optimize income such as Social Security benefits that you have or should have and calculate the amount of savings required for you to retire at a specific age and achieve your desired lifestyle
  • Suggest strategies for preserving and growing your retirement account balances and distribution amounts
  • Recommend a diverse range of tax-efficient financial tools – IRAs, 401(k)s –  that are best suited to your age and retirement time frame

Risk Management Planning

Risk is a part of life. It’s how you deal with it that counts. While the majority of us think of managing risk in terms of insurance, it’s important to recognize the need to protect yourself in a full range of areas. This consist of both unanticipated events close to home, and the fallout from financial and market conditions that might seem far away.

  • Identify areas of your plan that would be most susceptible to risk
  • Defines the types of risks in your investment portfolio
  • Advise ways to manage risks – reducing, avoiding or sharing
  • Assist in quantifying the impact of loss of income or assets

This is not to make you feel afraid; it’s to have a plan in place that provides as much protection as you need to weather a storm.

Investment Planning

Forming and developing the resources needed to reach your financial & lifestyle goals starts with a well-crafted investment strategy.  We can provide insight, based also on input from your investment advisor, for a foundation on which you can build a sound investment plan.

  • Evaluate your assets, liabilities and cash flow, and suggest how you can best meet your current financial needs
  • In collaboration with your investment advisor, explain the advantages and disadvantages of a range of investment options, from annuities, Treasury bills and insured certificates of deposit to life insurance, stocks and mutual funds
  • Suggest a plan, in collaboration with your investment advisor, that meets your short- and long-term financial goals that is consistent with your risk tolerance and has the potential to produce ideal returns during the time you have to invest
  • Suggest strategies, in collaboration with your investment advisor, for managing a sudden financial setback or windfall, including the best ways to use, manage and protect your resources

Education Planning

You and your family can have a more positive view on your future when you have a well-planned strategy for education costs.

  • Suggest a timely, diverse college investment strategy designed around your financial resources, child’s age, risk tolerance and projected educational costs
  • Explain tax credits and deductions that can defray education costs, the tax implications of education-related investment and savings decisions
  • Keep your plan updated to reflect changes in your savings plans, employment situation, investment options, financial-aid requirements and tax laws

Estate Planning

For most of us, planning for the distribution of our personal property and financial resources can be a difficult and emotionally charged issue. We can assist you by:

  • In collaboration with your attorney and tax advisor, identify whether  wills, trusts, retirement plans and other estate-planning documents are in place and whether these documents should be updated
  • Collaborate with other team members –  investment advisor, appraiser and insurance agent, among others – to ensure that every issue is properly addressed by the appropriate expert

Income Tax Planning

A continuing education requirement keeps CPA Personal Financial Specialists up-to-date about constantly changing tax laws so they can provide prudent, year-round tax planning counsel.

  • Collaborate with your tax advisor to design strategies you can follow throughout the year to reduce your taxes
  • Collaborate with your tax advisor to identify the long- and short-term tax consequences of your spending, investment and other financial decisions, and advise you on the steps you can take to reduce your future tax liability