Financial Planning

Life is full of milestones, and one of the most critical of those events is retirement. Most endure a lifetime of hard work, sacrifice and planning to prepare for this inevitable opportunity to live life on their own terms. Still, with fluctuations in the stock market, changes in the economy and the ever changing landscape of legislation the importance of having a balanced and diverse approach to preparing for and living in retirement is critical.

The challenge is there is not one solution to a confident retirement, there are a multitude of options that could result in various scenarios of success. Today, your retirement goals and aspirations matter more than ever, because without a clear and decisive plan of action it will be difficult to achieve the results you seek. Supplemental sources of income in retirement such as social security and other government programs remain fluid in their application.

We specialize in assisting individuals and families as they work to alleviate the noise and confusion that retirement planning can create. Unfortunately simply contributing to your 401(k) alone is no longer enough. Pensions have become a thing of the past, and a determination of who besides yourself you plan to support during your retirement is critical.

The strategies and tactics available to you are vast, but with our time-tested financial planning process to support the creation and development of your retirement income plan the solution for your situation will be clear.

Our services in this area include, but are not limited to:

• Establishment of Retirement Requirements (Age, Location, Lifestyle, Recreation, Dependents)
• Comprehensive Funding Needs Calculation
• Current accumulated retirement resources
• Time weighted analysis of resource value
• Retirement Gap Analysis
• Opportunities Analysis to meeting funding needs
• Give and Take Appropriations - What do you have to have, and what would you be willing to give up
• Retirement Plan of action

One of the most difficult challenges in life is planning for “unforeseen” events. As part of their strategic planning process, many corporations create contingency plans. Why don't families follow the same steps? Typically, they are just too busy with their day-to-day activities. And, often, discussions about risks involve unpleasant topics.

The goal of personal risk management is straightforward: to understand the risks that could prevent you from meeting your goals and the options for addressing those risks, and then create strategies to minimize their impact.

Our services in this area include, but are not limited to:

• Properly review and choose employee benefits so they are consistent with your financial plan
• Make sure that the insurance companies you select are and remain financially healthy
• Help you understand insurance company ratings so you can select an insurance product from an appropriate company
• Understand the different types of life insurance and the most appropriate type(s) for you to purchase
• Make sure that your spouse and children won't suffer and will remain financially on track if you predecease them
• Analyze your available choices when long term care is chosen
• Make sure you can pay for long term care when your spouse or you need it
• Review potential costs of health care after retirement when you no longer have employer-provided health insurance
• Manage the impact of a short or long term disability on your family's financial goals

Please note that when it comes to financial and insurance product placement, Trinitas operates in an “open architecture” mode. This means that they do not have to represent any one firm’s products - they have the ability to search industry-wide for the most cost effective products that fit your situation and are most compatible with your financial plan. We are your advocates.

Being a business owner is more than a full-time job, it's a lifestyle choice. Those who do it well embrace every aspect of the experience and the responsibility. Many of the business owners we work with rarely take the day off, often can be found working on the weekend, and are always looking for the next opportunity to expand or diversify. That's why it is not surprising that most business owners have an innate fear of relinquishing control in the most meaningful aspects of their lives - their business, their family and their finances.

We specialize in helping successful business owners create financial balance and purpose, driven by their own vision of the future. Business owner planning is very different than traditional personal financial planning, and thus brings to the forefront a whole new universe of financial opportunities for effective change that can drive the business, the owner and their family to new levels of success.

From necessary partnership agreements and golden handcuff contracts, to the complex transfer of assets to family members outside of the enterprise, we specialize in planning for the unique planning circumstances that face every business owner at every stage of their business development process.

It is our goal to simplify the business owner planning process to its essence empowering business owners that work with us to do what they do best, make sound and appropriate decisions to move their enterprise and their financial situation forward.

Our services in this area include, but are not limited to:

• Strategic Analysis: Where the business is today
• Business Partner Assessment and Goals
• Buy or Sell Analysis
• Business Continuation Planning
• Key Player Contingencies
• Personal Economic Impact Assessment
• Family Business Viability Plans
• Sponsored and Key Person Retirement Plans

A college education is among the most important milestones in a child's life. Advanced guidance is critical to determine and understand which college savings strategy is suited for your family. As independent advisors, we have many options available to assist you in this area. Our education funding planning helps to identify an appropriate strategy based on your family's unique situation. The sooner you start planning, the better prepared you will be to meet the challenges the future may present. For many families, paying for college today has the potential to significantly decrease retirement income later. Although funding a child's college education is an expensive proposition, it need not be an impossible one. Proper strategies can be implemented even when the student is still in high school.

The goal of education funding planning is straightforward: to manage the after-tax cost of college for the family.

Our services in this area include, but are not limited to:

• Select the appropriate investment vehicles for college savings
• Manage the impact of financial market volatility on college savings accounts
• Lessen the impact that paying for college will have on your other financial goals

Knowing there is "more to life than money" is a cliché we embrace, because it is only through systematically giving back that those who find meaning in charitable pursuits are able to affect a lasting and notable impact on the world. Isolated gifts, although important, don't create the meaningful ongoing working capital and endowments that many charitable organizations depend on for their survival.

We welcome the aspirations of many of our clients to create a living legacy through good works of financial generosity during their lifetimes or upon their passing. The benefits of such structures impact not only the individual contributing the gift, but their family often over multiple generations. In turn, their estate, and tax treatment are also altered in a positive sense. Finally, for many of our clients these charitable planning actions publicly bring to light their commitment to a cause, objective or need that is currently unresolved in the world. By involving themselves through their gifts and generosity they often also achieve a voice within the organization or endowments they support.

There are numerous financial planning and giving options in the area of charitable planning that allow an individual, estate or business to make a meaningful impact on the charities they support. Many of these strategies are little known, as they exist through channels that most are unfamiliar with unless they've explored this area of structured giving previously.

Our services in this area include, but are not limited to:

• Charitable Goals and Objectives Analysis
• Lifetime versus Estate Gifting
• Charitable Remainder Trusts
• Outright Gifts to Charity
• Asset Gifting Strategies