Retirement Planning

Retirement planning is an ongoing process that helps you define your objectives, develop a plan, and implement strategies to realize your goals for retirement. By combining a client's investment profile with capital-market realities while factoring in probable inflation, tax considerations, and spending requirements, we can then evaluate a range of strategies and plans.

Many LWM clients are still accumulating substantial wealth from their business or profession. Every client, however, is eager to know whether what they have already accumulated, or can plan to acquire, is adequate to comfortably achieve all their key goals for retirement.

As you and your advisor proceed through the planning process together, you will understand the implications of your choices in the context of all aspects of your financial life. By gauging the odds of success over specified time horizons, a personalized asset allocation can be found.

Tax-Management

We realize that taxes have a great influence over a client's chances to achieve long term financial goals. Working in close cooperation with clients' tax advisors wherever possible, your wealth advisor assists in integrating tax management into every aspect of the process: deploying year-end strategies to offset realized gains against losses, timing purchases and sales accordingly in taxable accounts, accounting for all clients' tax lot holdings, selling high-cost lots first, and distributing detailed reports to clients and their advisors for use in completing tax returns.

The following general guidelines are followed wherever possible:

• Offset realized gains by realizing losses
• Track all purchases by lot, specifically when and at what price
• Use year-end strategies to harvest losses without compromising return or risk
• Hold securities long enough for gains and dividends to qualify for lower tax rates
• Consider the dollar size of potential taxes as well as rates
• Delay taxability until the following year when practical

It is important to note that these tax management strategies are implemented for your portfolio on a personalized basis. No one tool to manage taxes will work for all investors. Accordingly, we consider every relevant aspect of your finances including but not limited to:

• Client's age and investment horizon
• Potential for step-up in cost basis on inheritance
• Your exposure to the Alternative Minimum Tax
• Your marginal tax rates and whether that will change

Investment Planning

Investment management should be an outgrowth of your financial plan. Your advisor will employ a disciplined approach for the highest probability of helping you realize your goals, as well as monitor your portfolio and adjust your investments when needed to ensure consistency. Regardless of the size of their account, each client gets the best we have to offer. In designing your portfolio, one or more of these investments will be employed:

• Index funds and similar instruments 
• Mutual funds - both actively and passively managed   
• Individual securities - including help with concentrated positions 
• Separate account money managers 

In addition, we've built a range of capabilities and tools to help clients who have specialized needs:
 

Major puchase considerations such as the purchase of a second home for vacation or income, recreational asset (RV, boat, etc.) or annual vacations. Our experience can also assist in areas such as family (wedding for children or support of parents) and business needs (expansion of business, new capital venture).

A college savings plan enables residents of any state to set up investment accounts to fund a family member's college education without taxes on the investment earnings or on eligible withdrawals, while also removing the contributed money from the estate. Please note that this is subject to future changes in legislation. See your Wealth Manager for more information.

Estate planning services facilitate the transfer of wealth between family and philantropic desires, taking into consideration tax planning, current dependants, succession of personal business, and legal distribution.

A risk management assessment to evaluate key areas of risk: Impact of illness on income and assets, impact of death on estate and/or survivors, and the impact of personal injury.

Cash management services that are available as needed through a series of money-market funds that seek safety of principal and excellent liquidity.

Please Note: Financial Planning services are offered through LWM Advisors, Inc., a registered investment advisor.

To learn about our investment philosophy, click here.