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What does the term "Financial Planning" mean for me?

It used to be that a "financial advisor" was someone who simply managed your investments. Well, times have changed, and we at OCTO Capital Wealth Management think our clients deserve more. We help organize and simplify the complex by providing financial planning for all of life's needs including retirement, investments, taxes, estate, and insurance.

Our Wealth Planning Review process is designed to help you by focusing on six key areas of your financial life

Goal PLANNING

• ​Have you established goals that will require funding?
• Have you established goals that do not require funding?
  • What are the things you would like to do?
  • What are the things that are important to you?
  • How do you see your life in 5, 10 and 20 years from now?
  • Have you decided on how long you would like to continue working? 
• Establish your financial independence goals and the price to be paid to achieve them
• Determine the purpose and costs of one-time large expenditures including education, vacation homes, or assistance for family members
• Review your annual charitable giving objectives and how they should be funded

INCOME PLANNING

• ​Establish the amount needed to fund each goal
• Review current cash flow and budget needs
• Any changes to cash flow or budget?
  • Do you anticipate any significant expenses in the near future?
  • Did you have any unexpected expenses that impacted your emergency savings?
  • Changes to employment?
• Establish and/or review an appropriate withdrawal strategy in retirement
• Review the cost/benefits of various pension payout options
• Analyze social security income options including those for children under 18
• Determine the amount of portfolio withdrawals to fund expected three-year cash flow shortages
• Have you articulated a life insurance philosophy?
• Assess the living and liquidity needs of survivors and dependants
• Analyze the strategy of maximizing pension income through life insurance

INVESTMENT PLANNING

• ​Have you developed an investment philosophy?
• Define your attitude towards investment risk
• Determine whether the portfolio return objectives are consistent with these attitudes (review Assessment of Acceptable Volatility)
• Determine an appropriate asset allocation
• Determine the mechanics for managing your portfolio and the evaluation of what success looks like?
• Review portfolio performance relative to appropriate benchmarks
• Review investment fees
• Decide accounts to consolidate, transfer, or maintain separately and how they will be handled for policy and advice

TAX PLANNING

• ​Are you proactively engaged in tax planning for you and your dependents?
• Determine optimal asset location
• Understand current and projected earned and/or taxable income for your family
  • If taking distributions, do you need to review or adjust your rate of withdrawal?
• Understand required minimum distributions in retirement
• Evaluate conversions of IRAs to Roth IRAs
• Determine whether tax-loss harvesting is possible and appropriate
  • Determine the cost basis for owned assets
  • Do you have unrealized gains or losses for this year or carryforwards from prior years?
• Review all pass-through income from S-corporations, Limited liability Corporations, or Partnerships
• Determine appropriate levels of withholding and estimated tax payments
  • Were there any surprises on your tax return last year?
  • Will you be receiving any windfalls that could impact your taxes?
  • Do you expect your income to change in the future?
• Review participation and type of company retirement plans
  • Have you maxed out the amount you can contribute?
  • Can you make after-tax non-deductible contributions?
  • Are you taking advantage of any offers? (HSA, FSA's)
• Review all available stock purchase and stock option plans
• Evaluate whether any forms of IRA contributions, rollovers, or supplemental retirement plans on self-employment income are appropriate
• Review gifting opportunities and strategies
  • Have you made or planning to make any gifts this year? (Gift exclusion of $15,000 single or $30,000 MFJ)
  • Do you plan to make charitable gifts? If so consider gifting appropriate securities and/or RMDs from IRAs.

HEALTH CARE PLANNING

• Asses the possibilities of living benefits from existing insurance
• Understand feelings regarding long-term care and evaluate needs
• Review the benefits and drawbacks of asset transference and retitling for long-term care or liability considerations
• Review medical insurance including liability limits, co-pays, Medicare, and COBRA
  • Do you need to review or make changes to any Medicare Advantage or Part D plans? Open enrollment is Oct 15 - Dec 7th, if not in the initial Enrollment Period (aging in) or Special Enrollment Period.
  • Changes to healthcare for the marketplace - open enrollment is Nov 1 - Dec 15

LEGACY PLANNING

• Have you developed a philosophy on wealth transfer?
• Direct proper ownership (including revocable trusts), beneficiary designations, and determine guardians and trustees
• Determine where estate discounting techniques and wealth-transfer entities - Family Limited Partnerships, Qualified Personal Residence Trusts, Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, defective trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, and others- are appropriate
• Determine whether a family meeting should be facilitated and appropriate family governance prepared
• Have you articulated your charitable philosophy or mission statement?
• Evaluate lifetime giving and/or giving at death
• Evaluate charitable lead trusts, remainder trusts, gift annuities, donor-advised funds, and private foundations
• Have you planned for incapacitation, elder care issues, and final planning needs?
• Discuss writing an ethical will as well as recording a video to communicate your values
• Implement power of attorney documents for financial and health care purposes (Review and execute Trusted Contact Authorization(s))
• Establish pre-need written procedures for the family to execute final wishes

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