Posts Tagged ‘Financial Planning’
What to Ask Your Financial Planner in this Turbulent Market
Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on November 11, 2008 – 7:20 pm -Wathcing the news today and they quoted a Kiplingers article that offered some questions to ask your financial planner during these turbulent times. Those questions were:
- How have your investments performed?
- How do your investments meet time horizons?
- What adjustments have been made due to the turbulent economy?
- How and when will the planner provided feedback and updates?
Posted in Estate Planning, Financial Planning | 1 Comment »
Planning For Your Future is a Team Effort
Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on October 15, 2008 – 10:40 pm -
Planning for clients at our firm is not done with a lone ranger approach. We recommend to our clients that they should have a team of professionals to ensure that they meet their estate planning and financial goals. So who should be your teammates?
As you go through your life, you may have an accountant, a banker, a financial planner, an insurance agent, as well as your family. Each of these people have a role to play in helping you make your estate planning decisions.
Your accountant or CPA will be aware of your tax situation and many of your decisions involving estate planning include issues of estate taxes. If you have a business, your accountant will be familiar with its structure and profitability, enabling you to make plans for exiting your business, either by selling it or leaving it to a family member. If living trusts are set up as part of the estate plan, your accountant will need to prepare the trust tax returns. If you give gifts to family members and others during your lifetime, your accountant may need to file gift tax returns, depending on the size of the gifts.
Your banker is familiar with the amount in your bank accounts, in whose name they are in, and whether any of the accounts have “pay on death” designations. All of this information is important when talking to your lawyer about your assets and which assets are part of your estate.
Your financial planner is the person who is informed about the rest of your monetary assets – your stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, and your children’s college funds. These assets, plus your bank accounts, are the core of the wealth that you wish to transfer to your family and loved ones. Your financial planner needs to know what your plan will be and he/she will be the one changing the names on the accounts to your living trust or to your heirs.
Finally, if you have a spouse or children that you are supporting, then life insurance should be part of your estate plan. Life insurance provides immediate cash after you die, cash that will replace your income. If your spouse can work, and your children are grown up, then you may not need life insurance. But, if you do have life insurance, your insurance agent can be helpful in updating your beneficiary designations after you create your estate plan.
Our firm understands that each of these professionals plays an important role for your estate planning needs. If any of these roles are not filled we can get you connected with a professional that will fit well on your team
Tags: Estate Planning, Financial PlanningPosted in Estate Planning, Financial Planning | No Comments »
EDIE the Estimator helps you with your FDIC
Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on October 15, 2008 – 9:52 pm -
EDIE the Estimator
The FDIC has came out with a webpage that hels you calculate your FDIC coverage for you deposit accounts. In this turbulent time, this type of information is key. In addition to consulting EDIE, it is probably a good time to contact you financial adivsor, financial professional to make sure you have a plan to weather this storm that is sending investment portfolios south.
To use EDIE, go here.
Tags: Bailout, Estate Planning, FDIC, Financial Planning, NewsPosted in Estate Planning, Financial Planning, News | No Comments »
How to Avoid Michigan Probate
Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 1:38 pm -
A common desire of our clients is to avoid the Michigan probate system. There are a few ways to do this, typically the most organized way is through a well funded living trust. However, there are other strategies, which are not mutually exclusive, and should be used in addition to a well funded revocable living trust. The other strategies are:
- Joint Tenancy Bank Accounts
- Pay on Death Beneficiary Designations on Bank Accounts
- Beneficiary Designations on Annuities
- Beneficiary Designations on Savings Bonds
- Beneficiary Designations on Life Insurance
- Beneficiary Designations on Pension Accounts
There are pitfalls to be wary of when using these strategies, for example you do not want to create a taxable event or open yourself up to liability of creditors and predators by sharing ownership of any accounts. These are issues we cover with our clients during our planning meetings.
Tags: Estate Planning, Financial Planning, Living Trusts, Michigan ProbatePosted in Estate Planning, Financial Planning, Living Trusts, Michigan Probate | No Comments »
Bank That Money?
Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 2:25 am -
I was having a discussion with a contact the other day regarding the failure and collapse of the IndyMac Bank. What I told him was that the FDIC insures up to $100,00 of an deposit account. Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, IRAs, etc are typically insured up to $250,000 per person. However, it is the person’s aggregate deposits and not the individual account balances that are insured, therefore any amount over $100,00 deposited at a single bank will not be covered.
Posted in Financial Planning | No Comments »
