FINANCIAL PLANNING
Our objective is to ensure that your portfolio is diversified and aligned with personal circumstances and long-term goals in an effort to achieve the best possible outcome in any market scenario. We will take the time to understand your goals and work to help you enjoy life today while planning for tomorrow – dreams included.
FIXED INCOME
Your financial consultant has access to professionals with Securities America's Fixed Income Group for viewing the inventory of many dealers and fixed income securities. Our fixed income traders assist your financial consultant with client portfolio review and strategies such as bond ladders. This gives your financial consultant easy access to expert knowledge for managing your portfolio.
RETIREMENT PLANNING
Many people are aware of the financial risks they face, yet have done little to address the issues in ways that will make a difference in their long-term financial security. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute in their most recent 2010 study, a little more than half of full-time working Americans (54.4%) participate in a retirement plan. Indeed, even if you have a pension that seems fairly solid, a 401(k) or both, you could still be at financial risk if your overall portfolio is not optimized for performance.
Working with a financial consultant can help ensure that your employer- and non-employer-based assets complement one another, not duplicate. Based on risk profile and time horizon, we seek to maximize performance and reduce risk through overall portfolio diversification. This may include recommendations for adding asset categories like real estate or international funds, where these have a low or negative correlation to other holdings.
We factor into our analyses the costs of health care and long-term care, which include the financial burdens a client may assume in connection with caring for an elderly parent. We also explain the roles of Medicare, Medicaid, retiree health benefits and private health insurance in the overall financial plan.
INSURANCE & ANNUITIES
Beyond traditional insurance coverage, insurance and annuities present a variety of alternatives for supplementing your retirement nest egg and saving for college. By comprehensive review of your current policies, your financial consultant can determine if you’re still on track with your overall financial plan.
Variable life insurance includes an investment account in addition to life coverage. Term insurance, which is usually the least expensive kind, may be available with attractive features such as a guaranteed premium for periods of 10, 15, 20, even 30 years. If your time frame is more than 30 years and you’re worried about estate taxes, own a business or have special needs dependents, you may want to review different types of cash value life insurance policies.
There is a similar array of options for annuities. If you’re about to retire, an immediate annuity gives you an income stream right away. If you have several years to take advantage of the power of tax deferral to boost your savings, a deferred annuity might be a good choice. Whether you will want a fixed or variable deferred annuity will depend on your investor profile and overall retirement plan.
Our broad range of insurance and annuity offerings gives you maximum flexibility for achieving your goals.
According to collegeboard.com, a moderate in-state public college budget for 2011-12 averages $21,447 per academic year. A moderate budget at a private college averaged $42,224.When you multiply these numbers by four, it’s easy to see why it’s important to work with a professional on planning for college expenses.
The good news is there are many ways to deal with the college funding issue at any stage of the game. We advise clients who are planning ahead on potentially higher-yielding investments that can make a big difference in the amount of money they can accumulate for college expenses. Even if a child is on the doorstep of the institution, we can offer suggestions that may go beyond the immediate issue to ease overall financial stress.
ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS
If you are interested in diversifying your portfolio by adding alternative investment securities, a commercial real estate investment trust (REIT) may be an attractive product to consider. A REIT owns and typically operates income-producing real estate. Depending on your investment strategy and risk tolerance, REITs can be a key part of a diversification strategy that seeks to maximize performance while reducing risk.
GLOBAL WEALTH SERVICES
If you are sufficiently diversified at the asset class level – into cash, fixed income, stocks and real estate – you might consider further diversifying within asset classes by adding international investments to the mix. Astra Investment Services offers a full range of international securities for this purpose. We specialize in customizing portfolios that seek to optimize results from cross-border holdings. For foreign nationals, we administer clearing, settlement and tax reporting services to make it easier to handle your financial needs through your bank.
LEGACY PLANNING
Some people are under the false impression that having a will is all the estate planning they need to do. It’s not. Life insurance, retirement planning, asset protection and other factors are intertwined and all play a role in minimizing tax effects and maximizing protection for clients and their heirs. From basic life insurance and asset distribution planning to complicated estate plans and trusts, financial consultants work closely to develop personalized estate planning solutions for our clients.
- Fixed annuities
- Variable annuities
- Life insurance, including Term Life, Universal Life, Variable Universal Life, Single Premium Life, Return of Premium Term, Universal Life with Long-Term Care Benefits
- Health insurance
- Disability insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Wealth transfer strategies
- Charitable and endowment services