Planning Philosophy

Protect

  • Correct amount of insurance to protect your family's lifestyle.
  • 3-6 months of cash in emergency funds and no credit card debt.

Optimize

Target 20%+ savings of income (prioritize retirement funding before college funding).

  • Maximize all free money - 401(k) matching, etc.
  • Utilize tax favored vehicles to pay the minimum amount of tax.
  • Evaluate paying off bad debt.

Grow

Construct a portfolio for risk-adjusted rates of return and to AVOID MARKET TIMING.

  • Tactical asset allocation - modern portfolio theory (i.e., risk & reward).
  • Goals based asset allocation - match time frames of investments and goals.
  • Tax location - strategic location of asset classes for tax efficiency and creative uses of tax favorable vehicles. 

Distribute

Retirement distributions are designed to be:

  • Sustainable throughout retirement - typically beginning at a withdrawal rate at or below 4% for a 25-year retirement.
  • Tax bracket sensitive - use IRA distributions and/or conversions to fill up bottom tax brackets.
  • Multi-dimensional - taking into account Social Security, investments, Medicare, Required Minimum Distributions, annuities, insurance, etc.
  • Hedged for longevity - taking into account long-term care and other risks associated with living a long life. 

Legacy

Our happiest clients live for a purpose bigger than themselves. 

  • Define what matters and be strategic on who/what receives your money. In the end, you can't take it with you, and it either goes to family, charity, lawyers, or the government. 
  • Don't wait till the end to invest in relationships and be charitable with your time and money. 
Growth & Protection

Investment Philosophy

Goals Based

  • Any money needed for shorter term goals needs to be safe, secure, and relatively liquid (Cash & Cash Alternatives).
  • Money that has a 5-10 year time horizon or longer should be in equities.
  • We use goals to decide our allocation rather than market timing. 

Diversified

  • We will use different asset classes (Large Cap, Mid Cap, Small Cap, International, Alternatives, etc.) 
  • Our team may tilt up or tilt down these asset classes as our research dictates. 
  • Depending on the portfolio size, we will use a combination of mutual funds, ETF's, and individual stocks/bonds. 

Tactical

  • Our team may tilt up or down (overweight or underweight) certain asset classes as our research dictates. 

Tax Efficient 

  • Asset location strategy which places tax inefficient vehicles in tax deferred accounts and low tax investments in taxable accounts. 
  • Tax loss harvesting allows for tax losses to be locked in for future use while still keeping market exposure for future upside.
  • Charitable giving strategies are great for the world, and when designed properly, they can also be good for your taxes on your portfolio. 
  • Estate tax minimization means your family keeps more of the wealth you've built. 
Time Tested Investment Approach