Assistance to Loved Ones

An important aspect to consider when reviewing the seven pillars of financial planning is your desired level of family assistance.  This may include planning that takes care of those you care about, your activities that impact them, and working directly with your family members as part of our Legacy Package.

By planning to assist your loved ones, you prepare for a variety of situations that can occur during your lifetime.  This may include caring for children or grandchildren, helping adult children and other family members, paying for or contributing to college, making major purchases, changes in marital status, caring for aging parents, advice during bereavement, and even providing for the care of a loved family pet.  Below we cover some of the more popular ways to offer assistance to loved ones.

Activities Included in Family Assistance

Legacy Package. If you care about them, we care about them. We specialize in generational planning and offer children and grandchildren a place as legacy clients.  We’ll meet with your family members to help answer questions about planning. When the time comes, we’ll walk them through the bereavement process through:

• Guidance on the executor’s checklist
• Guidance on the survivor’s checklist
• Review of any tax implications from distributions

Advice on Funding College. Providing family assistance in funding the education of a loved one may be a dream of yours and there are a variety of ways to accomplish this goal. We can help you provide future opportunities for your college-bound family members through education savings accounts like  529 college savings plans, a UGMA/UTMA custodial account, and other avenues like a Roth IRA.

Advice on Elder Care. If you are among the “sandwich generation,” managing senior living options and elder care for an aging parent, spouse or close friend can present difficult challenges.  We work with you to create strategies for managing the day-to-day affairs and medical decisions of those not mentally or physically able to do so.

Estate Planning Services. We’ll advise you on the implementation and proper use of estate planning tools including wills, trusts, HIPPAA, financial and medical P.O.A.s, and the selection of executors and trustees. For instance, benefits can include:

• Accompanying clients to estate planning meetings and interface with the estate attorney on your behalf
• Offering probate guidance and trust review
• Reviewing ownership and beneficiary designations on your accounts
• Helping with insurance policy distributions and IRA distributions
• Providing advice on charitable gifting during life & charitable inclinations at death

Providing for the Care of a Pet. If you are worried about a fur baby, you can formally plan for the care of your pet in your estate planning.  With a pet trust, a pet owner can designate an individual to care for a pet after his or her death and provide funding for the pet’s ongoing care.

Help With Handling an Inheritance or Windfall. Whether you or a family member gains an inheritance of money, material assets like a house, a big lottery win, or some other windfall, the steps are generally similar. We help you:

• Carefully consider any strings that may be attached to the windfall
• Adjust your current financial plans
• Anticipate business partnership schemes and hard-luck stories from family and friends
• Seek professional advice for tax implications

Just knowing that you are prepared to help those that matter most to you can be a comfort.

*Based upon your advisor’s participation, program access to these tiered services is not guaranteed.

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