Financial planning is the process of identifying your goals and objectives, analyzing your resources, designing the most appropriate strategies to reach your goals, making the changes needed, and evaluating the results. Financial planning is most effective when all aspects of your financial life (such as assets, cash flow and taxes) are considered on an integrated basis. This allows you to identify all the variables at play and to evaluate alternative strategies and their consequences.

At Focus, our financial planning services are tailored to meet your specific needs. We may recommend a comprehensive planning engagement to review all aspects of your financial situation or we may find that it is more appropriate to limit our consulting services to address a specific planning issue.

The goal of financial planning is not to burden you with data
collection, nor to overwhelm you with details. It is to identify concrete courses of action so that you can achieve your goals.

All planning engagements begin with an initial exploratory meeting of one hour or less. This meeting provides an opportunity for you to evaluate our staff and our services, and allows us to determine if we can bring value to your situation. There is no charge for our time, and we will quote you a fee for the proposed planning engagement at this initial meeting.

Once we agree to work together, we will identify the information that you need to gather for our analysis. The time frame will vary depending upon the complexity of the situation, and the degree of implementation that we are engaged to provide.

Focus Wealth Management is a “fee-only” firm. We charge a flat fee for planning services that will be quoted at the beginning of our engagement. Our fees are based on the complexity of your situation and the type of planning services you need. Fees generally run from $2,500 for a straightforward single-issue analysis, to $5,000 or more for comprehensive planning

Choosing to retire without knowing if you will have enough money…evaluating an employer severance package…struggling to make sense out of your retirement plan distribution options…figuring out what kind of lifestyle you can have after work…worrying that you will outlive your money…

Retirement planning has taken on a whole new look. Due to our extended life expectancies, very few people retire to a life of inactivity where they sit out their years “rocking on the front porch.” Rather, many fifty and sixty-year-olds wish to leave the demands of their current jobs and start the new career that they have always dreamed of. They are young and healthy enough to envision an active future spent with family and friends, while continuing to pursue professional interests. We like to think of this period as a renaissance – the beginning of a new and fulfilling life.

Our planning process encourages you to think about this new phase in your life, by posing various questions for your consideration –

Where do you want to live? Would you like to help your family, either financially or by spending more time with children and grandchildren? What activities do you wish to engage in – both paid and volunteer? When do you want to partially or fully retire?

Once you have an idea of what your future life might look like, we explore the financial implications of the various scenarios with you. We identify your assets and sources of income, as well as your expenses and reserves needed to manage potential risks.

We will help you construct and manage the most effective investment portfolio possible. Once retirement begins, we will help you establish a sound and realistic spending policy to best utilize and preserve your investment assets.

Fees for retirement income planning for the recently retired, or a Retirement Readiness Assessment for the pre-retiree, start at $2,500.

Worrying about the care of your family after you are gone…feeling anxious about leaving too much, too soon, to your children…being afraid of making costly mistakes…

Estate planning is an essential component of everyone’s planning. We spend time with you to understand your wishes and concerns regarding the disposition of your assets.

Estate taxes are not the only threat to your heirs’ financial security. Having a will is often not enough to prevent substantial erosion of your life’s work. We provide advice on issues including property ownership, asset protection, distribution strategies, and charitable giving plans. Our clients want to pass their values on to the next generation, not just the value of what they own. We spend the time necessary to explore the dynamics of your family and can help to communicate the estate plan to your heirs, if you wish. Our work will help you organize your affairs now, making it easier for those you leave behind.

Working closely with your attorney, we will help you implement your estate plan.

A carefully designed estate plan is a gift you leave your heirs.

Post-divorce planning

With 50% of marriages ending in divorce, many individuals will be faced with envisioning their life as a single person after the divorce is final. Once you have a property settlement agreement, we can assist you with post-divorce planning to help you manage your investments and determine if your new situation will require adjustments to your lifestyle.

Coping with the death of a spouse

Immediately following the death of your spouse, you will be faced with decisions that will have a significant and lasting impact on your future financial well being. In the period following your spouse’s death, you will be flooded with paperwork and likely feel pressured into making financial decisions quickly. It is important to do things one step at a time, at a pace that feels comfortable for you. We can help organize your affairs, identify any problems or issues, and prioritize the decisions that must be made.

We are not afraid of the emotions that loss brings. As
professionals, we know what things must be done now, and what can
wait. You can rely on us to help you through this difficult time.

Today’s executive compensation packages include much more than a high salary. In fact, the selective benefits offered are often worth more than the paycheck. Employer stock options alone have been worth millions to those who managed them wisely.

Focus will help you fully understand your total package, including the deferred compensation components, such as incentive and non-qualified stock options, restricted stock bonus plans, top-hat SERPs, Rabbi trusts, split dollar plans, and so forth. Our customized modeling process will assist you in evaluating the future benefits, forfeiture risks, intricate tax implications, timing considerations, and diversification issues in order to take full advantage of these valuable benefit programs.

Focus can help you analyze current and projected cash flows, obtain appropriate valuation services, explore selection of entity type and evaluate the net after-tax proceeds of various transfer or sale methods. We work hard to understand the family dynamics involved with multi-generational business ownership. As your advisors, we will help you sort through all the issues and personalities involved to make wise and equitable decisions regarding the transfer of your business.

Life insurance can be a powerful financial tool. It can also be one of the most complex, and expensive, contracts you will ever buy. As a fee-only firm, Focus does not sell insurance; however, we have extensive experience in reviewing and analyzing insurance policies and proposals. If you are considering the purchase of new life insurance, or trying to determine if you should keep the policies you now own, our objective advice can help you make a fully informed decision. Insurance consulting services are offered on an hourly fee basis or as a component of comprehensive planning.