5 Reasons a Tax & Financial Planning Team is a Must
It used to be that if you worked hard and saved reasonable amounts into retirement throughout your working years, it would grow to provide you with a comfortable living in retirement. If you were retired you could count on a steady revenue stream from bonds and interest bearing accounts. The new economy has changed this and people are now starting to plan earlier and become more knowledgeable about their money in their retirement years. With so many changes in today’s financial environment the approach your financial and tax planning professionals take must also change.
Retirement Strategies
Retirement is about using the money that you have saved to earn enough income through investments to live comfortably without drastic changes to your lifestyle. The key component is earning income off of your investments which used to be fairly simple. Today with record low interest rates, smart investment advisors are using investments other than bonds to insure a reasonable income can be earned. With new strategies to bolster earnings come tax consequences that have to be analyzed to insure the investments are a good overall strategy. Your investment and tax advisor now have to become a team.
Business Strategies
With the burden of saving for retirement being ever shifted away from the government and onto the individual, business owners have to keep retirement in the forefront of their mind. Regardless of age, for many business owners their business will be their largest asset when it comes time to retire. As a part of their financial planning every business owner needs to know how they can convert their business into retirement savings without adverse tax consequences. Your business advisor needs to work with your financial advisor to determine the best course of action.
Tax Law Changes
The tax laws over the past 15 years have changed so many times it is impossible to even count. And lawmakers continue to change the tax laws to raise additional revenues. Each time a tax law changes your overall financial planning strategies need to be reviewed. What may have been the best strategy last year could be obsolete this year. You have to have professionals that are experts in both fields to have a team that fully understands the pitfalls and opportunities.
Estates & Trusts
Many people find it is necessary to seek legal counsel to draft a will or trust to insure that in the case of a tragedy they can fully take care of their loved ones. The problem with this is that most people seek legal advice without a strategy in mind. It does no good to spend your hard earned money on drafting documents if you don’t have a team that understands your overall intent to implement your wishes. It is essential that the members of this team take tax, investing and law into account.
Communication
It is not uncommon to come across people who are currently getting good advice from their lawyer, financial advisor and CPA each time they go and see them but still have problems in one or all of these areas. It comes down to communication. You have to be the intermediary who diligently takes notes and passes information from one professional to the next. Sometimes it just doesn’t get passed on at all because of uncertainty. One firm that can communicate internally about your tax and financial needs and can quarterback all of your financial strategies leads to thing getting done and getting done properly.