What could comprehensive financial, investment, or estate planning do for a family? When we get up from the table and shake hands over the completed plan, what’s true about the family’s financial situation that probably wasn’t true before?
Here are a few potential outcomes to having a complete financial plan:
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If a breadwinner dies prematurely, the family’s lifestyle might not be fatally compromised; they could stay in their home; education plans could remain financially on track; the family’s business, if it owns one, might not have to be sold precipitously at a disadvantageous price.
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Similar outcomes could prevail in the event of a disability.
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The children and/or grandchildren of the family could be able to afford the very best education for which they can qualify, without still being saddled with student loans when they themselves have children.
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The current generation of the family could be able to retire at its own time and on its own terms, with a high degree of confidence that it might never outlive its income, that its dignity and independence might not be undermined by up to three decades of rising living costs.
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The current generation could, if necessary, be able to contribute meaningfully to the support of its parents. Moreover, this generation might never become a financial burden to its children, even if extended nursing home stays are required.
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Even as retirement income rises to offset inflating living costs, this generation’s capital could continue to grow over time, endowing meaningful legacies to the succeeding generations.
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Estate taxation might not force the sale of a family’s important assets (homes, business, etc.). This liability could be funded out of the residual capital, and/or it could be insured.
At the human level these are the things that people really want to accomplish, and don’t know how. A successful financial plan could help you as you travel your pathway of life.
* Examples and outcomes listed above are hypothetical only and are not guaranteed for every situation.