Wealth Preservation

Following the years of successfully growing wealth comes the need to carefully preserve it. After all, feeling financially confident about the future is important to us all. And by applying the right expertise and resources, we can help you feel more comfortable with the future that lies ahead of you. Together, we’ll look ahead at life’s events you can plan for and those you might not expect.

Titling of Assets

By applying our in-depth experience in registering and titling assets, we can work to best enable proper transfers that are consistent with your estate plan. We can also look at the implications of holding a significant portion of your assets in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship (JTWROS). And we can work with you to confirm that your probate assets – your jointly held assets, your beneficiary designated property and your trust property – are all in coordination with your wealth legacy plan.

A 360-Degree View: Dave and Elena

In this scenario, lets pretend that there is a couple has been married twenty years, own real property valued in excess of $5 million, hold marketable securities valued in excess of $15 million, own separate life insurance policies, and both have qualified retirement plans. Title of their real property and marketable securities is held JTWROS. And they list each other as primary beneficiaries of their life insurance policies and retirement assets.

Six years ago, Dave and Elena updated their wills. The terms of the document create exemption trusts to take advantage of the lifetime exemptions that both have under current law. In such a scenario upoin speaking with a 360 WMG financial advisor, however, Dave and Elena would realize that while their current documents represent their wishes, their current ownership structure of assets might not allow the plan to be fully realized.

To remedy the situation, their financial advisor would coordinate a meeting with their attorney in which a plan would be devised to ensure the desires expressed within their current documents would be realized by changing the title and beneficiary designation of assets and accounts.

What’s your view?

This is a hypothetical story and not indicative of any specific situations or client. It is presented only as an example and not intended as investment advice. Investing involved risk and there is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful.

Insurance

More than just for unexpected emergencies, insurance plays a crucial role in long-term financial planning by helping to ease the burden of life’s sudden but often anticipated events. We can help you devise an agreed-upon plan for how death benefits will be used and make sure your life insurance plan is a coordinated part of your estate plan. We can also review your current coverage to make sure it is commensurate with your wealth. Insurance can also play a strategic part of your long-term care needs.

A 360-Degree View: Jordan

In this scenario, lets pretend that this 47 year-old married man is the father of three early-teen children. He has a $1 million 20-year term life policy, a $200,000 group life policy, and a $75,000 paid up whole life policy. Jordan and his wife do not have long-term care coverage, and he has no excess liability coverage beyond his homeowner’s policy limit of $500,000 and automobile policy limit of $150,000.

In this scenario such as this one, A 360 WMG financial advisor would work with Jordan and his wife to commit to writing an agreed upon strategy for the use of life insurance benefits should Jordan pass away. Through the process, it could be discovered that Jordan did not have sufficient coverage to address all of his needs. By consolidating policies, Jordan would be able to acquire additional coverage for reasonable cost. Further review could indicate that a life insurance policy for each with a long-term care rider would be a very savvy choice. It could also recommended that Jordan address his excess liability coverage requirement with his property/casualty insurer.

What’s your view?

This is a hypothetical story and not indicative of any specific situations or client. It is presented only as an example and not intended as investment advice. Investing involved risk and there is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful.

Liabilities

Managing your liabilities is as important to your overall financial planning strategy as managing your assets. Planned for and managed correctly, your liabilities need not be a detriment to your financial wellbeing. In many instances, debt can be used as a financial tool rather than something to be avoided. And access to a line of credit can prove helpful in a cash-flow crunch. We can help you understand the structures that can be put into place to manage and mitigate the liabilities you face in your financial life.

A 360-Degree View: Jeff

To help illustrate how we might advise a client on this topic lets pretend that, this half-owner of a design firm is 42 years old. Business was good, but rapid expansion created a cash crunch for his firm as they attempted to finance the expansion internally. This caused Jeff and his partner to reduce their draws substantially. Although expansion was a solid business decision, partner compensation was down for the next several months.

Jeff and his wife built a new house the year before and the mortgage is their only debt. They had to reduce spending and eliminate investment during this cash crunch, which caused much stress – even talk of selling their home.

In such a scenario,a 360 WMG financial advisor would thoroughly vett their situation and suggest that they create a line of credit secured by their home. The line would enable them to maintain their lifestyle during the cash-flow crunch and they implemented a plan to eliminate the debt once the cash-flow crunch was over.

What’s your view?

This is a hypothetical story and not indicative of any specific situations or client. It is presented only as an example and not intended as investment advice. Investing involved risk and there is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful.

Durable Power of Attorney

A durable power of attorney (DPA) gives someone you trust authority to handle your financial and legal decisions if you’re unable to do so yourself. Of course, the person selected needs to be someone who will represent your best interests and you’ll want to clearly discuss with them what their primary role would be if he or she were called upon to act. In doing so, you can help ensure that your influence carries forward in the management of your wealth.

A 360-Degree View: Jackson

In this scenario, lets pretend that Jackson’s parents had been long time clients of 360 WMG and had gone through the Wealth Management Process. After both parents passed away, Jackson and his two brothers inherited the estate and continued as clients of 360 WMG.

Updating Jackson’s estate planning documents, as well as creating an asset allocation for him was an important part of the process. During the estate planning discussion, Jackson revealed he had a Durable Power of Attorney but had named his now deceased parents. In such a situation, Jackson’s 360 WMG financial advisor would urge Jackson to have a new DPOA and other legal documents drafted and executed. Doing so, would prevent the below from happening that has occurred in the past and can occurr to anyone:

We've heard stories from other fellow advisor clients that failed to update their DPOA and legal documetnation to find themselves after a stroke unable to speak and without a DPOA. Without one they would have no agent handle specifically enumerated financial decisions in a manner that Jackson had directed since both his parents who had been named were deceased.

What’s your view?

This is a hypothetical story and not indicative of any specific situations or client. It is presented only as an example and not intended as investment advice. Investing involved risk and there is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful.

Raymond James and its advisors do not offer tax or legal advice. You should discuss any tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.