No Matter the Stage of Life You're In
You should always consider a well-rounded, coordinated financial strategy. This means looking outside your finances. That’s why, unlike many advisors, we consider a “whole-picture” wealth management approach. This means looking at your situation from a banking, investing, insurance, tax and law perspective. It also means monitoring the entire approach as you move through life — because your life and money moves through The Wealth Cycle.
Think of The Wealth Cycle as life transitions. Most people go through four life transitions of their wealth. The time you spend in each of these transitions will largely depend on your goals and objectives.
The four stages of The Wealth Cycle can be easily described by the following:
Accumulation
What do you think your greatest asset is early in life?
It’s not your newly paid car, nor your first home. It’s not your largest bank account either. It’s you. That’s right. In everyone’s life, their greatest asset is their human capital and their ability to earn money. The more you work, the more you make. The harder you work, the larger your income. This is what we call the accumulation phase of The Wealth Cycle. But what do you do if you can’t make any more money? Or if you find out you’re spending more than you make?
In the Accumulation phase, you should consider things like cash flow, investment options and risk strategies. More importantly, you should be thinking about how all the choices you make align with the goals you set in life. And while goals are important at all stages of your life and The Wealth Cycle, you must remember that your goals may change as your journey evolves. To prepare for that journey, we have the tools to analyze, assess and educate you to accumulate the right way to build wealth.
Protection
Now that you know you are the most valuable asset you have, what are you doing to protect that asset?
Think about it — if your car got totaled tomorrow in an accident, would you have the cash to replace it and buy a brand new one? Most people don’t, and that’s why they have car insurance. Well, this same principle applies to people’s lives. If your ability to earn money as a human is one of your greatest assets to provide the stability you need for you and your family, what’ll happen if you get into an accident? It’ll be devastating, both emotionally and financially.
People often think financial protection means just investing conservatively with their money, but that’s only a small part of it. The largest part of financial protection is investing in yourself – protecting yourself. That’s the second stage of the wealth cycle: the protection phase.
You need to make sure you're protected with the right tools. There are many types of insurance that do this: life insurance, healthcare coverage, disability insurance and more. But how can you be sure about what you need right now? After all, just like your goals, how much protection — as well as the kind of protection — you need could change over the course of your life. Don’t worry. We can work together to ensure you’re insured for the right purpose and stage, both in your life and in The Wealth Cycle.
Distribution
If you’re like most people, you’re saving and investing with a vision of your ideal retirement.
Like most people though, you probably don’t realize that a “perfect” retirement can come with its own set of challenges, especially if it ends up lasting longer than you expected. People are living longer every single day, and the last thing you want is to run out of money in your golden years. That’s where the third phase of the wealth cycle comes in: the distribution phase.
A proper distribution plan means taking out and spending your money in the most effective way possible. To do this, you’ll need to know your investments inside and out. Not only that, but you’ll also need to know how the market affects your investments, how to best use your company’s retirement plans, how to calculate medical costs, how to choose the right Medicare, how to pick the correct Social Security options and more. The second to last thing you want, however, is to spend the rest of your life trying to figure all of this out. Instead, let us take care of that for you, so you can enjoy the longest vacation of your life.
Transfer
Once you’ve lived your retirement the next question comes.
“What do I do with what I have left?” That’s why the last stage in The Wealth Cycle is the transfer stage. It’s the point in your life where you want to leave a legacy behind. After all, every end is just a new beginning. And when you transfer your assets to those who are important to you, that’s what you’re giving them — new beginnings. We wish we could tell you that every beginning is easy, but just like every other stage of the wealth cycle, even giving involves a well thought out transfer plan. With the right plan, you can transfer your assets in the most risk- and tax-efficient way possible. This means having peace of mind while providing the gift of wealth to your loved ones, family and/or charities.
We can do this by working closely with you and your future beneficiaries. This way, you can feel confident in the proper management of your assets. And above everything, you can rest easy knowing your intentions have helped your loved ones enter into their own wealth cycles.