Gen X
At this point in life, your responsibilities are probably much greater than they were in your 20s and many people may be depending on you. Your financial situation is typically much more complicated by now and you may be in your “peak” earning years from a career perspective. Many people in this stage of life are still raising or launching their own children, but may be starting to face issues surrounding aging parents. You may have heard the term, sandwich generation, and this is often the term we used to describe many clients in their 40s and 50s. You have a lot to balance, and we can help!
Some questions or concerns you may have that we help address are:
- How do I balance current expenses, college savings, and retirement savings?
- What is the best way to fund private school and/or college for my children given our specific goals/needs?
- Am I on the right track for retirement and making fiscally sound decisions with my money?
- Is there anything else I can be doing to minimize the taxes that I pay?
- Am I properly allocated in my investments according to my individual objectives, goals and risk tolerance?
- How can I help ensure a smooth and safe aging environment for my parents?
- How do I go about organizing my parents’ finances and funding possible future needs?
- If God forbid something happened to me, will my family be able to meet all our financial obligations?
- Can I afford to move into a bigger house?
Our services include:
Budget Review:
After you complete a Cash Flow Worksheet outlining your income sources and expenses, we will provide personalized cash flow analysis. Once we determine what surplus is available, (the amount of income you have each month that exceeds your expenses) we help prioritize how and where those surplus dollars should be allocated based on your family’s unique situation.
We can help decide “maximum” levels of spending given your individual financial situation and help you decide on an appropriate amount to hold in an “emergency" cash account.
Retirement Plan Review:
We make sure you are participating in the most appropriate type(s) of retirement plan(s) given the level/source of compensation and your overall tax situation. (i.e., Traditional 401(k) vs. Roth 401(k), Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA, Defined Benefit Plan vs. SEP-IRA vs. Single K, etc..). In addition to reviewing your level of contributions, we will help you determine what investments might be suitable given your options and timeline.
Private School and/or College Funding Analysis:
We help run calculations to determine what dollar amounts will be necessary given your individual goals and what the most tax efficient methods would be to save for and fund the future needs.
Comprehensive Portfolio Review:
We will review your investment accounts and give you our thoughts and where necessary, suggest changes (this includes personal advice as it pertains to potential real estate purchases/sales).
Risk Management Analysis:
Based on a variety of factors, we will review your current insurance policies (including life, disability and umbrella coverage) to determine if you are over or underinsured and can offer assistance and possible strategies.
Basic Estate Plan Review & Analysis:
We help walk you through the financial pros/cons of a job change including benefits analysis and cash flow comparisons.
Tax Return Review and Planning:
While we are not CPAs and suggest that you discuss your specific tax issues with a qualified tax advisor, we do have tax knowledge and want to see your tax return. A tax return tells a story and we want to know as much of your financial story as possible. We especially do this before recommending certain investment or distribution strategies to make sure we are making thoughtful and deliberate suggestions from a tax perspective. We can also help provide your CPA with updated information on taxable activity within the portfolio for purposes of your quarterly estimates. We also look for tax loss harvesting opportunities that or may not take place before year-end to address tax consequences.
Aging Parents Resources and Guidance:
We discuss some common issues we have seen many of our clients face in regards to their parents and incorporate these needs where necessary into your family’s financial plan. (This may include support where needed and/or inheritance planning). We have a section on our website specifically dedicated to providing resources and worksheets for those dealing with these challenges.