The Wealth Counselor Archives - Ross Law Firm Ltd.

How to Avoid a Basis Management Disaster

08/17/202006/03/2014 by Report from Counsel

Many of us in the legal, financial and accounting worlds discover our new clients’ well-intentioned, yet disastrous, plans after the fact. The widow has already transferred her house into her children’s names or an inherited IRA is drained to pay for a Porsche. Observing the lost planning opportunity and the financial fallout is universally gut wrenching.

To help get the message out and to illustrate the transformation you provide to clients, you are welcome to use the below facts and scenarios in your own educational materials, presentations and conversations. Consider this a “red flag” list of income tax pitfalls and opportunities so you can be your clients’ (and their beneficiaries’) basis management hero.

Trusts Solve Client Needs and Add Value to Wealth Plans

08/17/202011/15/2013 by Report from Counsel

Some think that trusts are used only for end-of-life planning. Trusts, however, are like wrenches: they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, each particularly suited to a particular need. Some are for wealth accumulation while others are for wealth preservation, and still others are designed to protect future generations. In this edition of The Wealth Counselor, we look at some of the kinds of trusts that can be employed to deal with particular client concerns and needs and how they fit into a client’s overall wealth accumulation and preservation plan.

Identifying Hidden Financial Risks Creates Sales Demand

08/17/202011/11/2013 by Report from Counsel

The world changes; clients’ circumstances change; motivations and interests change. As these changes occur—often gradually—“hidden” risks emerge that can significantly deteriorate future wealth if left unattended. By “hidden” risks, we mean exposures of which the client or potential client is likely to be unaware. Identifying hidden risks in an education-based marketing program delivers an important service to your marketplace and, with this knowledge, provides you with a gateway to meaningful conversations about the added value you can deliver to prospective clients.

Key Takeaways:

From the past several years, people understand the devastating impact of unmanaged financial risks.
A client’s changing circumstances, needs, and aspirations open holes that allow hidden risks to creep in.
Identifying the variety and impact of these hidden risks provides the opportunity for thoughtful and informed risk-management discussions.
Presenting these hidden-risk categories as an education topic offers the practitioner a platform to secure new clients, particularly those that have hidden risks but have been lulled into thinking that “everything is fine with their plan” by their current advisor.

Planning for Blended Families: Part II – 3-Step Counseling Strategy for Blended Families

08/17/202011/11/2013 by Report from Counsel

It is vital for each member of the advisory team to understand the roles of the other members in meeting their client’s needs. Therefore, in this issue of The Wealth Counselor, we will focus on how the estate planning attorney uses the initial interview in a blended-family situation.

Blended-family clients often require advanced planning strategies and products but are also likely to have relationship conflicts brewing that can complicate matters. Therefore, the attorney must have a counseling strategy that will obtain all the information needed to devise an effective financial or estate plan. Some of what the attorney does in these situations will sound familiar. Other things may not because they tie in to the uniquely confidential legal relationship that only exists between attorney and client or doctor and patient.

Planning for Blended Families: Part I – Intake Process

08/17/202008/15/2013 by Report from Counsel

The “blended family” comprises a fast-growing segment of US households. Whether an attorney or investment advisor, fine-tune your intake or initial interview process to determine the desirability of representing a blended-family client, assess the accepted client to determine your counseling strategy, and hit the ground running with the information you need to begin strategy planning.

As noted, attorneys face different client engagement issues than advisors and CPAs. This content seeks to illuminate the client-discussion topics but not to precisely define the boundaries between the planning perspectives.