Financial Planning
We Help You Plan for a Life of Possibilities
Each of our financial lives is made up of many different parts—from managing cash flow and choosing the right amount of insurance to protect your family … to making sure your nest egg is large enough to cover retirement and putting an estate plan in place.
The complexity is compounded by the fact that our lives are in constant flux. Your financial outlook can change overnight with a career change, the birth of a child, the illness of a family member, or a wage-earner’s retirement. Then factor in the unpredictability of the economy and markets … and, well, the picture isn’t always so simple.
A comprehensive financial plan—and oversight of that plan by the advisors at Estes Wealth Strategies—helps ensure that all areas of your financial life are coordinated and focused on helping you achieve your short- and long-term financial goals no matter what life throws at you.
We develop each financial plan in conjunction with providing asset management services. In our experience, linking financial planning to the actual investment process ensures your plan is immediately put into motion—and continues to be aligned with investment performance over time.
While each financial plan is unique, it will typically cover the following areas:
Net Worth and Cash Flow Analysis. A key part of your financial plan is building an accurate snapshot of your current financial position (balance sheet or net worth statement) and expected future cash flows (income statement). Having these facts in hand enables us to perform more specialized analysis of your financial situation, including goals planning and debt management.
Cash Management and Emergency Funding. Just as important as investing for the future is making sure you have some cash available to cover unexpected expenses or sudden shifts in income. We work with you to determine your appropriate level of cash reserves and how to fund these reserves.
Family Security & Insurance Needs. No one likes to think about bad things happening. But having the right amount of insurance coverage can be the difference between financial confidence and potentially painful economic loss. We perform a risk assessment that helps you determine what type and amount of protection is right for your situation—and can help you fill any coverage gaps.
Retirement & Social Security Planning. Retirement and social security planning are critical components of your financial plan. We work with you to estimate your retirement income sources and needs, factoring in your lifestyle goals as well as uncertainties related to lifespan, health, and inflation. We then develop an individualized retirement plan for achieving your retirement goals and—when you are in or approaching retirement—the income distribution strategies for maximizing net worth and making sure your money lasts as long as you need it.
Education Planning. What parent hasn’t felt at least a little bit panicky about the affordability of higher education for the kids? While we can’t control the future costs of college, we can help you plan and save for them with a state-sponsored 529 College Savings Plan or other education savings vehicle.
Charitable & Planned Giving. If you are fortunate enough to have already met your retirement income needs, you may be considering options for sharing excess assets with charitable causes you care about. We advise clients on charitable giving options and the associated tax benefits.
Estate Planning & Wealth Distribution. You’ve worked hard for the assets you have accumulated in life—and an estate plan helps ensure they are distributed according to your wishes and your loved ones are taken care of after you’re gone. This is an area we can help support by understanding your wishes, assisting with beneficiary designation, working with your estate or tax attorney, and setting up the appropriate trust accounts, insurance policies, or other wealth transfer vehicles. You can also be assured that we are here to help your loved ones through the process of implementing your estate plan after you’re gone.
Investing involves risk, and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected, including diversification and asset allocation.