Comprehensive Guidance to Your Financial Security
The Services We Provide
Financial Planning
Financial planning is a roadmap; it is crucial to remind us at times, especially when market fluctuates of the reason why we invest. Great performance returns without a solid financial plan will leave us lost without a direction of where we’re going. As your Financial Advisor, I’m always going to be one who challenges you with the question “what is the money for”? “Do you want to retire 5 years sooner?” “Do you wish to plan for your dream vacation?” “Do you want to leave a financial legacy to your loved ones? (If so, do you wish to start gifting today or one day when you pass?”) “If money isn’t an issue, what would you rather do with your time?”
I want to hear “what keeps you up at night?” The better you dream and define your goals, the harder I can work for you. Of course, life throws a curveball at times, and plans change. Therefore, I will partner with you throughout your lifetime. We will meet and review your plan once or twice a year. I’m here for you whenever you have any questions. We hope & pray for the best, but we’d better prepare for the unexpected that life may bring.
Retirement Income Strategies
Part of your financial plan, we will be looking at when we should take your Social Security income. Does it make sense to take it at 62, or should you wait to take SS income till 67 or 70 (do you have longevity in your family?)—and what does that look like to your lifetime income/asset projection for the rest of your life. Remember that when you retire in your 60s, you’re most likely to still have close to 3 decades living in retirement. People are living longer & longer today, till age 90 on average. That means your money would need to keep up with inflation (the rising cost of goods & services) for another approximately 3 decades in retirement years. So, if your money isn’t keeping up with inflation, you may run out of money. That is a big risk.
We'll look at your 'withdrawal rates' in your retirement years. We will stress-test your plan. Based on your comfort level of risk, we will discuss your options for your retirement savings to be able to last, providing income back to you for the next few decades in retirement.
Risk Management & Protection Strategies
There are ways to protect what is ‘most valuable to replace’ if the unexpected happens. For some people, this could be the loss of income of the primary income earner in the household. The question you have to ask yourself is — “if something happens to me tomorrow, can my family still live in the same house and pay the mortgage? Can we still send our kids to college one day? Will my spouse be ok, or would she/he have to change her/his lifestyle and go back to work?”
For retirees, perhaps their ‘risk’ would involve the cost of healthcare in retirement years, especially if an unexpected event happens earlier in their retirement years. Or another risk could be if a recession occurs in the start of my retirement years, how would that affect my portfolio for many years to come? The ‘sequence of return’ matters especially when you’re withdrawing out of your portfolio on a regular basis for income in retirement.
Portfolio Management & Tax-efficient Strategies
When it comes to investing, there are things we can control, and there are things we cannot control. Market fluctuation is a normal part of investing. There are strategies we can build in to help make your investing journey smoother and less bumpy; it typically goes back to your goals of short-term (<2 years), medium term (2-5 years), and long-term (5 years+).
Some of the questions you can consider when it comes to investing are: do you like being an ‘owner’ or a ‘lender’? Do you like individual stocks? Or ETFs/mutual funds? Do you like knowing what company stocks you own/invest in? Are there any companies you don’t want to own as a matter of principle? Does investing in companies that follow your faith/values matter to you?
Tax diversification also matters. Deciding whether to invest in a taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts is also key that may impact your legacy.
Charitable Gifting
Most people like to give. Especially if they know there’s a tax-efficient way of doing so. You can give your ‘time, talent, and treasure’. When it comes to making a financial gift to your loved ones or your church/charities you feel called supporting, there are ways that would potentially save you in taxes where both parties are benefited (all tax strategies are to be consulted with your CPA). Have you considered opening a ‘Donor Advised Fund’ (an investment account for your charitable purposes)? What are the advantages of doing so? If you’re 70.5 years old with an IRA, are you utilizing QCD (Qualified Charitable Distributions) as part of your gifting?
When you think of your financial blessing as a pie chart, draw a slice for everything that’s necessary in life—to ‘live (spend), gift, taxes, save, invest/grow’. Discuss with your spouse. How do you feel about it? Let's discuss together.
Estate Considerations
Do you have your estate documents in place? Everyone should have at least 3 most important documents: a Will, a financial Power of Attorney, and a medical Power of Attorney.
These are things people don’t like to think about as they have to think about death or incapacitation. However, when you haven’t taken care of these, that means, you have made your decision in that you’re letting the state decide what to do you with you & your lifetime savings when you don’t have the ability to have a say one day. We will partner with an Estate Planning Attorney to ensure you have planned and prepared for the unexpected.
In addition, if lifetime gift estate tax is a concern for you, there are strategies we may be able to take advantage to minimize your gift estate taxes one day.
Do small things with great love.