Sheehan & Company - Bulletin - Articles: Is your Financial Plan in Order?

For many of us, the tragic events of September 11 were a wake-up call to reassess all of our financial planning and insurance coverage. Watching the towers of the World Trade Center crumbling has caused many Americans to re-examine some aspects of their financial lives. You may be asking yourself, "What would happen to my family if that happened to me?" This leaves many of us wondering how to best protect our families in these uncertain times.

There are a number of steps we can take today to insure our families are properly protected and our assets are distributed to our loved ones in the most tax efficient manner.

This would include having a properly drafted will, which conforms to the changing tax laws and properly takes advantage of the applicable credit available to each of us. Property passing under the terms of a will needs to be properly titled, careful coordination between the will and property ownership should be reviewed to ensure the terms of the will are carried out. If your will is over a year old, it should be reviewed to make certain it conforms to recent changes in the estate tax law. Durable or springing powers of attorney should be in place, as well as a living will and a health care proxy.

Business owners should review their buy/sell agreements and review the adequacy of the funding arrangements, as well as the methodology to be used in valuing a business in the event of death, disability or retirement.

Retirement Planning - Are you on target to retire, what level of income will your current retirement assets provide? What effect will this have on your standard of living now and in the future?

Planning for investment risk - This is a very expensive lesson most of us have learned by having a portion of our assets in the equities markets. After enjoying the double, and in some cases, triple digit returns in the late 90's, not having properly diversified portfolios caused many to give most or all of our portfolio growth back. Properly managing risk can help in achieving your long and short-term goals and reduce taxes.

Besides the risk we take in the stock market, we are all exposed to a host of other factors that could quickly erode our wealth. Lawsuits/creditors, liability claims, death, disability, long term illness, property loss or theft and taxes. A comprehensive review of your risk portfolio will uncover these deficiencies.

Estate planning is the process of distributing your assets, to the people you intend to receive them, in the most cost effective manner. When properly planned, the cost and delays of probate are avoided, tax deferred assets can retain their characteristic for one or more generations, a favorite charity may benefit, liquidity to pay anticipated estate taxes would be available, and a business interest would pass smoothly without putting a strain on operating cash flow and the stock falling into the hands of a unintended third party would be avoided. Children are protected from being unintentionally disinherited, and the survivor has a team of trusted advisors in place to ensure a financially secure future.

With our process, and team of qualified professionals, we stand ready to assist you in safeguarding your assets, and protecting your loved ones.

We encourage you to call your Sheehan Service Partner today, to discuss how you may begin the process of designing a sound financial plan.