Frequently Asked Questions

CFP^® means certified financial planner^™. certified financial planner^™ practitioners are required to complete coursework in five different content areas which include: retirement, insurance, estate, investment, and tax planning. Once all five courses are completed with an acceptable level of competency, the individual is eligible to take the CFP^® Board Exam. Many professionals compare the CFP^® Board Exam to the Bar Exam or the CPA Exam in terms of difficulty. Yet, passing the exam is not enough as the candidate must possess at a minimum a Bachelors Degree and also have three years of experience in financial planning or a related field before the he/she can be licensed to use the mark. The CFP^® Mark is licensed by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards in Denver, Colorado and Washington, D.C. Working with a certified financial planner^™ practitioner guarantees that you are working with someone who has a high level of expertise in the field of financial planning and, equally, is held to a fiduciary standard of care.

The best way to find a Retirement Planner that you can trust is to seek a referral from a friend or associate who is happy with and being well-served by the person he or she uses. When selecting a financial advisor look specifically for someone who is a Certified Financial Planner^™ Practitioner and has a fee-based or fee-only business model. This will help ensure that you are dealing with someone who is a professional, operating in a fiduciary capacity and not trying to earn a commission by selling you a product. CFP^® practitioners operate in a fiduciary capacity - they always put the best interests of their clients first - and are held to the highest ethical standards.

Another way to find a Retirement Planner you can trust is to use the referral websites of Financial Planning Association (FPA) www.fpanet.org or the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc (www.cfp.net). FPA is the membership organization that represents most CFP^® practitioners, while the CFP Board is the governing and licensing body of all CFP^® professionals.

Under limited circumstances you can withdraw money from certain accounts and avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty. It is important that you work with your Certified Financial Planner^™ or tax accountant to confirm that you qualify for one of the exceptions prior to taking a distribution.

• For a Qualified Plan, exceptions to the 10% early withdrawal penalty are:
1. Distributions upon death or disability of the participant;
2. Distributions after separation from service that are part of a series of substantially equal periodic payments over the life of the participant or the joint lives of the participant and the beneficiary;
3. Distributions after the participant's separation from service, provided the participant reached age 55 before separating from service;
4. Distributions to a non-participant under a qualified domestic relations order
5. Distributions not exceeding deductible medical (determined without regard to whether deductions are itemized);
6. Certain distributions by ESOPs of dividends on employer securities;
7. Distributions made on account of the IRS's levy against the participant's account;
8. Qualified hurricane distributions;
9. Qualified reservist distributions; and
10. Certain loans from the Qualified Plan.
• For an IRA account, all of the exceptions listed above apply, except #3. There are also some other exceptions to the 10% early withdrawal penalty that apply to IRA's only:
1. Distributions used to pay medical insurance premiums of unemployed individuals;
2. Distributions used to cover qualified education expenses for you, your spouse, child or grandchild;
3. Distributions of up to $10,000 in your lifetime to cover First-Time Homebuyer Expenses; and
4. Distributions representing the return of non-deductible contributions.

Your portfolio is reviewed at least three times per year to make sure it is line with your designed allocation. We will also review your portfolio when you deposit or withdraw cash, if we change the overall allocation, or if an investment in your portfolio no longer meets our criteria. Though your Portfolio is reviewed thoroughly at least three times a year, we review each Investment Manager we use in our Practice and for your Portfolio at least every 2 weeks and more thoroughly each month. All Managers are reviewed thoroughly each year and compared to their peer group and the indices. Between these comprehensive Manager reviews, we will also undertake a review if there is a change in Investment Manager, etc...

We manage your investments by carefully allocating them among many different asset classes to help provide you with investment diversification. Your portfolio is carefully monitored and quarterly reports are sent to you to update you on the performance of your portfolio.

• During our annual economic and forecasting meeting, we determine what percentage of portfolios to allocate to various asset classes such as international, large US stocks, small US stocks, commodities, real estate, bonds, etc...
• We review all asset classes at least quarterly and the current approved list of investments as compared with other investments in the same asset class or peer group at least every two weeks.

We generally sell investments when they no longer meet our investment criteria or your needs. The proceeds are normally invested in a suitable replacement. Furthermore, throughout the year and at year-end in taxable accounts, we will harvest tax losses if available, as well as evaluate the impact of capital gains distributions on your portfolio, possibly avoiding such distributions if necessary.

No, typically we do not require discretion over your investment accounts as this is a collaborative process with input from both of us. When you first meet with us, depending on the complexity of your financial planning process and the services you ask us to perform, we will provide you with a recommended portfolio for your review and approval. When changes are required and we need to make these changes quickly, we will consult with you over the phone. However, if there is no urgency, then we will consult with you at a scheduled review meeting. Once these adjustments are made to your Portfolio(s), the Custodian (Raymond James) will send trade confirmations to you for verification.

Yes, whether the markets are moving up or down, we are working diligently to manage your money in accordance with your Financial Plan, your Investment Policy Statement parameters and, more importantly, your goals and objectives for the future. Your Portfolio(s) may decline because we have set up a program for you to withdraw funds systematically from your account or because of adverse market conditions. We want your Portfolio(s) to grow, however we also want to help preserve your investments in a down market; therefore, we design plans to help be sure your investments are properly allocated and diversified to reduce your concentrated exposure to volatile asset classes. We are here to advise you for the long run to help meet your current and future spending goals.

Asset allocation and diversification does not assure a profit nor protect against loss.

Every client has full access to all of the firm's resources. Although, a client may select a "primary planner," all planners are involved in helping the client achieve his/her financial goals. Clients may request to work with any of our planners at any time.

When you have enough money to meet your long term goals. Of course the age you can retire is contingent upon a number of factors such as life expectancy, the level of income desired during your retirement, your current age, the amount of money you have saved, future inflation rates, projected investment returns and the amount of money you plan to contribute to your retirement fund/401(k). This is a tough question to answer as it is unique to everyone who walks this Earth. Through a collaborative planning process we will strive to help answer this question for you with utmost faith that your goals and aspirations can be fulfilled.

The type of business you are in and your goals and objectives will determine the retirement plan most suitable for your business. Your company's demographics will also factor into which retirement plan is most appropriate, including the average age of your workforce, salaries, etc. We specialize in designing retirement plans for small to medium businesses and professional offices.

Yes! Descant Financial Partners, has a dedicated professional who works with individuals and corporations to help set up or improve existing 401(k) plans. Joey Descant, who has over 25 years of experience in Retirement Planning and Retirement Plan design and maintenance, will help you set up or review your 401(k) plan. Call Joey, at 318.445.1666 to discuss any retirement plan design questions you may have.

Joey can help you simplify and coordinate the administration of the plan, as well as provide educational services and personal investment counseling for your employees about the plan.

In addition, Joey will design a custom investment portfolio for your plan in order to help meet your company's 401(k) plan goals and objectives. He will also help you manage your plan and trustee responsibilities. If you have a retirement plan in place, Joey can help negotiate cost concessions and investment options with your current provider and third party record keeper. Joey can also help improve your plan services and design - without changing investment vendors. We currently work with most every bundled provider from American Funds to Vanguard, and TPA based plans with other providers / custodians.

The amount of life insurance you need depends on the promises you have made or wish to make to your loved ones. We can help determine exactly what amount of life insurance you will need to fulfill these promises.

You only need enough life insurance to cover any promises you have made. For example, if you have children to educate or a mortgage to repay you will need life insurance to keep these promises to your loved ones. Likewise, and equally as important, you will need to consider the replacement of your income should you not be here to enjoy this with your loved ones.

We can help determine exactly what amount of life insurance you will need to fulfill your promises. The appropriate amount of insurance is the difference between the amount of assets you have already accumulated and the amount of assets needed to meet your commitments. The type of life insurance you may need can range from term insurance to a more permanent type of insurance depending on your individual circumstances.

* These policies have exclusions and/or limitations. The cost and availability of life insurance depend on factors such as age, health and the type and amount of insurance purchased. As with most financial decisions, there are expenses associated with the purchase of life insurance. Policies commonly have mortality and expense charges. In addition if a policy is surrendered prematurely, there may be surrender charges and income tax implications. Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the insurance company.

Other forms of insurance that may be useful to you include, but are not limited to: disability, long-term care, health, liability, home and auto. Having adequate coverage in each area is an important part of staying on track to meet your financial goals.

The estate planning documents you need depend upon your specific circumstances. However, most estate planning documents generally include a will, trust(s), medical directives, durable powers of attorney, and HIPPA documents. It is advisable to work with an estate planning attorney to draft the appropriate estate planning documents you require.

Taxes can be saved in a variety of ways ranging from simple measures such as, reviewing allowable deductions, gifting appreciated stock, maximizing contributions to an IRA or a qualified retirement plan, to more complicated strategies such as reviewing your business structure or employing family members.

One of the most popular college savings vehicle in place today is a 529 College Savings Plan. Each State has their own 529 Plan and the benefits vary by State. However, there are many other savings vehicles such as the Coverdell Education Savings Account (ESA), custodial accounts and other accounts that can be useful when saving for college.

We can help guide you in choosing the right account for your education funding needs. Also, we will happily calculate the savings required for your child's education based on expected rates of return, years and type of education to be funded, and inflation of college costs.

However, rule number one is save for retirement first, children's education second. You will potentially spend millions of dollars in your retirement and hundreds of thousands of dollars on your child's education. Your child has many years ahead of him/her to pay college debt at reasonable rates, however, upon retirement, you are out of time and you better have saved enough money.

Start saving for your children's college education as early as possible. You will need to determine what type of college you would like your children to attend and how much of the cost you are willing to support. Two to three years prior to your child starting college, you need to learn about FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), and college funding from federal sources, state sources, and scholarship programs. Do not pay for scholarship search engines. They are free. Visit our college planning page or call us at 318.445.1666 and for a list of Internet resources that can be used in your research.

The person scheduling your initial appointment will set your appointment with the planner that best fits your needs. However, you have the option of choosing the planner with whom you would like to work with. At DFP we work as a team, which helps to ensure that all of your planning needs are met. Our primary goal is to provide you with the best client service possible.

We hold ourselves out as operating in a fiduciary capacity. Everything we do must be in the client's best interest. We are placed in a position of trust. You trust us to do what is best for you, and that is truly what governs our firm. Every question that arises in our firm is answered by first asking ourselves the question, "What is best for the client?"

Descant Financial Partners, is a fee-based financial planning firm that has been serving Central Louisiana clients for over 25 years. The revenue of our firm is derived from professional fees we charge our clients for services rendered much like a physician, lawyer or accountant. Rarely if ever do we recommend any other means of compensation for the professional services we provide. We strongly believe in fee transparency and will always disclose to our clients and prospective clients the professional fees for services requested of us prior to our engagement.

In the first year we recommend meeting three or four times. Thereafter, we allow you to determine how often we meet. For some people, annual or semi-annual meetings are sufficient, while other people prefer quarterly meetings. We can meet in person or by phone. The bottom line is, if you feel the need to talk with us, call us and schedule a meeting. If we need to talk to you, we will call or email you to set up a meeting to discuss your situation.

In terms of follow up, generally we will verbally check with you bi-monthly to make sure all financial planning assignments have been completed or implemented and will provide you with an updated checklist should that be necessary. As part of our planning initiatives, we will arrange meetings for legal or tax consultation or implementation if you desire us to. We will also accompany you to these meetings or we will arrange for them to be here at our office. We set a schedule of tasks that need to be accomplished to fulfill your planning implementation, and periodically follow up to measure your progress or whether you are running into any stumbling blocks that we can help you overcome.

As Financial Advisors, it is important to us that you accomplish your goals. Consequently, the quarterly reports and planning updates we provide are designed to help show you where you stand on the road to meeting you goals.

There are a couple of ways that you will know if you are on track to reach your goals:

• From a financial planning perspective, we periodically update your financial plan. It is best to update your financial plan every three to five years depending on how much your life circumstances have changed. These updates will help re-establish or confirm your goals and strategically determine the most efficient way to meet your goals while incorporating any new planning techniques available.
• From an investment management perspective, the trend line chart in your quarterly report will make it very clear whether you are on track to reach your goals. The trend line is a cumulative report that compares your current account balances against your projected account balance as determined by your target rate of return. Your trend line target rate of return is typically driven by your planning goals. In other words, your financial plan will determine the rate of return you need to achieve to reach your goals. The trend line is based on this target rate of return.

Many employer retirement plans have fairly limited investment options available to employees. These limitations protect the employer from liability. From the employee's standpoint, such narrow investment choices may limit your ability to reach your retirement goal. By rolling your 401(k) to an IRA in your name you can further diversify your portfolio in accordance with your goals or help sustain it through a rocky market.

Sometimes it might be advisable to roll your 401(k) to your new employers plan or leave your 401(k) at your former employer altogether (there are new rules that allow you to withdraw money from your 401(k) between age 55 and 59 � without incurring the 10% early withdrawal penalty). You should always check with your advisor before initiating a rollover to make sure that a rollover is appropriate given your specific circumstances.

A rollover is typically initiated as a result of retirement or separation of service from your Employer. Therefore, it is considered a life-event and should be considered within the context of a Financial / Retirement Planning engagement so the appropriate election is made based on your goals and objectives for the use of these resources. You can avoid taxes by opting for a direct rollover (aka Trustee to Trustee transfer).

Not all employer plans accept rollovers.

Once you have contacted our office we will gladly send you our information packet. This packet includes the biographies of our financial advisors, a fee schedule and a confidential questionnaire. When you are ready to set up your complimentary appointment, please call 318.445.1666 or Contact Us.