Wealth Counselor

5 Hidden Client Risks That Demand Your Immediate Attention

How to Steer Your Clients in the Right Direction Estate planning provides your clients with a wealth of opportunities to strategically grow their net worth while also planning for their families’ future comfort and security. Opportunity brings risk, but also the potential reward of deeper, longer-lasting client relationships. Educational Topics for Your Clients That Can Help Your Business What you don’t know can end up hurting your clients, and in turn, limit your ability to secure future business opportunities and retain assets under management. That’s why it’s important to learn about and discuss the potential estate planning risks faced by your clients. When you discuss the value of estate planning and these hidden risks with your clients, you strengthen your professional relationships, build long-lasting trust, and help clients maximize their financial well-being.   Risk 1: Sub-Optimal Insurance Products Problem: Busy clients can put insurance product comparison efforts on the back burner

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What 199A Regulations Mean for You

Posted by Robert L. Arone – Tax-Saving Opportunities for Business Owners Are any of your business-owning clients curious about the new Section 199A deduction? Although the deduction became effective on January 1, 2018, guidance on how it would be calculated was delegated to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by Congress. For months, financial and tax professionals have speculated about various aspects of this new deduction since Congress gave us little concrete guidance to work with. New Developments in August 2018 But on August 8, 2018, the IRS released proposed regulations that answered many pressing questions about losses as well as how to account for multiple businesses. We can now more accurately project or estimate how much of a deduction a client is entitled to. Fortunately, these new proposed regulations introduced many new planning options for your clients. Unfortunately, an overabundance of options can lead to confusion and missed opportunities without

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Preparing for the Rising Costs of Education

Posted by Robert L. Arone – 5 Strategies to Help Pay for a Child’s Academic Future Higher education costs are just that – higher.  The steady increase in educational expenses means your clients have much steeper bills for their children’s college tuitions than they had for their own. To illustrate how stark this contrast is, the average cost of tuition has increased 213 percent in the last 30 years.[1] To make matters worse, there is no end in sight for this trend. It’s understandable that the price of higher education is one of the biggest worries looming in your clients’ minds. A defined goal, such as a large purchase or a child’s educational needs, provides much more motivation to clients than an amorphous, abstract goal. As their financial advisor, you are uniquely positioned to help your clients utilize educational savings tools they may not otherwise be familiar with. Not only will

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Taking Full Advantage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Posted by Robert L. Arone – Key Points to Discuss With Your Clients Like all things, tax laws are constantly changing. An important part of serving your clients is responding quickly and strategically to new developments in the tax law landscape. But at the same time, a knee-jerk reaction is rarely the best course of action—often resulting in unforeseen complications in the future. The best decisions are made by professional teams working together to analyze all angles of a situation to come up with the best strategy in response to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), a historic amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The TCJA affects many Americans in a variety of areas of life, and your clients might not be aware of what its impact will be on their long-term financial plan.  Of course, this law is going on seven months old, but too many

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Which Asset Protection Strategies Are Right for Your Clients?

Posted by Robert L. Arone – How You Can Keep Claims From Threatening Their Property Most of us do not expect to be sued. However, lawsuits are filed every day the courthouses are open. If your clients’ estate plans don’t include adequate asset protection, they could end up losing a substantial amount of their wealth in the event of a claim – even a “frivolous” one. It’s well worth talking to your clients about what asset protection strategies their current plan includes. Many existing plans may need a revamp, while other clients will need to implement a new plan entirely. Shielding their assets and property against legal claims takes sophisticated planning and teamwork. We’re here to help you develop a tailored asset protection strategy for each of your clients. Several issues and strategies merit examination in your asset protection conversation with your clients. Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT): DAPTs can protect

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