fbpx

Financial Planning in Scottsdale

Are you retiring soon? Already retired? We focus on 401(k) rollovers, 72(t) calculations, RMD's, investment management, annuities and life insurance to get you on track and keep you on track.

Scottsdale Financial Planning Services

Your financial needs can vary at different stages in your life. As part of the IQ family, you are welcome to meet and discuss strategies to keep your plan on the move.

Smart portfolios are diversified portfolios. No competent advisor would ever recommend you put all your eggs in one basket and invest all your principal in one place. It’s such an obvious thing that we often don’t even really stop to think WHY diversification is so critical to a well built financial plan. But the reason is simple: Diversification helps create a balance between safety and maximized potential gains.

IQ Wealth Management can provide individualized, comprehensive financial planning, advanced income planning, tax-favorable wealth accumulation for you and your family, asset protection for business owners and medical professionals, and wealth preservation strategies. We can also confidently refer you to professionals offering tax preparation, tax analysis and legal work. Here is a list of the services we offer in the IQ Wealth Network:

  • Income Planning
  • IRA & 401(K) Rollovers
  • Retirement Planning
  • Tax Planning
  • Roth Conversion
  • Life Insurance
  • Annuities
  • Wealth Accumulation
  • Asset Protection
  • Long Term Care Protection
  • Estate Planning
  • IRA Legacy Planning
  • Trusts
  • Probate
  • Charitable Giving Strategies
Steve

Meet Steve

Have a no-cost, no obligation conversation with an experienced adviser and fiduciary.

Steve only accepts 6 to 12 new clients per month in order to serve each with optimal attention and personal service.

Free Retirement Readiness Review

To arrange your free review, please contact(480)902-3333, or email: [email protected]

INCOME PLANNING
Thanks to healthier lifestyles, new prescription drugs and medical technology, people are living longer than ever before. However, one drawback to a longer life is the greater possibility of outliving your savings—creating all the more reason to develop a retirement income plan designed to last a longer lifetime.

The IQ Wealth Management investment philosophy is to start with income planning and work toward more opportunistic investments only after the income gap is filled on a solid basis.
A significant investment loss in the years just prior to and/or just after you retire can have a damaging impact on the level of income you receive over the course of your life. In fact, research has shown that the earlier a loss occurs in retirement, the greater the chance of depleting your retirement savings.

We can help you design an income plan which integrates insurance, annuity and investment vehicles to create opportunities for long-term growth as well as to guarantee income throughout your retirement—in a tax favorable manner.

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability of this information to his/her situation.

IRA & 401(K) ROLLOVERS

When you change jobs or retire, there are four things you can do with the money in your employer-sponsored retirement plan:

  • Leave the money where it is
  • Take the cash (and pay income taxes and perhaps a 10 percent federal penalty tax if you are younger than age 59½ )
  • Transfer the money to another employer plan (if the plan allows)
  • Roll the money over into an IRA

Rolling over from one qualified plan to another qualified plan allows your money to continue growing tax-deferred until you receive distributions in retirement. We can help you determine if a rollover is the right move for you, and we can help find the best vehicle to help conserve and grow your rollover assets.

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability of this information to his/her situation.

For a review of Required Minimum Distribution Rules, click here

WEALTH ACCUMULATION

Time doesn’t stand still, and neither does money. That’s why you can use time to your advantage when investing for wealth accumulation, using the compound effect.

The longer you invest, the more time your money has to compound itself. By earning interest on your principal, and interest on your interest, money can multiply more quickly.

If your portfolio has not fully recovered from losses in recent years, your first reaction may be to consider a more aggressive allocation to make up for lost ground and get back on track to accumulating wealth. This is known as playing “catch up.”

While it may be tempting to “swing for the fences,” a steady attack of singles and doubles is the proven road back. Moreover, for stock market investments to truly work, much time is needed—fifteen to twenty-five years or longer.

The same investment strategy that got you to retirement may prove to be a portfolio’s undoing once retirement actually arrives. After all, the last thing you want to do is lose ground again during the next market correction. You will never regret putting together a well-built, rock-solid plan for preservation and income.

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability 

ASSET PROTECTION

In recent years, we’ve seen that aggressive and conservative products, both domestic and global, can move in tandem with one another. In other words, we have experienced market scenarios in which there is very little security anywhere—even for diversified portfolios.

Twenty-first century asset protection calls for more than just strategic asset allocation. Product allocation—buying instruments that can protect your assets from negative returns early in retirement—is generally considered a more effective means of protecting assets.

In retirement, when funds are withdrawn rather than added to savings, there are new risks to protect yourself against. The key risk is known as Sequence of Returns risk.

Diversifying your retirement assets among a variety of vehicles—both insurance and investment oriented, depending on what is appropriate for your situation—may offer you the best chance of meeting your retirement income goals throughout your lifespan.

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability of this information to his/her situation.

TAX PLANNING

In the US, we have entered an environment of rising taxes. That’s why it’s important now, more than ever before, to incorporate tax planning into your portfolio and all of your financial decisions.

Investing in or purchasing a tax-deferred vehicle means your money will compound interest for years, unfettered by income taxes, allowing it to earn interest at a faster rate. While very few investments avoid taxes altogether, many allow you to defer paying them until retirement—when you may be in a lower tax bracket.

While tax deferral can help defer taxes, it also defers the tax calculation. For some taxpayers, up to 30 percent of their

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability of this information to his/her situation.

ROTH CONVERSION

Many savvy investors are moving as much of their IRA money to Roth IRAs as the law will allow, as they realize government debt may well lead to more taxes in the future. Compounding your gains in your traditional investments also means you are compounding gains in your future taxes. You are postponing the tax, not eliminating it. IQ Wealth Management maintains an experienced team in the area of Roth conversions. Our system makes it simple, seamless and safe.

Many savvy retirees are also gaining traction with a growing area of financial planning: overfunded cash value life insurance. Ask us for a calculation of how this program may work for you.

Retirement Planning

Retirement income plans are not just for the ultra wealthy. As retirement nears retirement, the conventional, traditional strategy has always been to move growth-seeking products to more conservative fixed-income products, such as bank CDs and treasury bonds. This may have worked fine back when retirement was only expected to last five to ten years, and interest rates were paying 6 percent. These days, however, people are living longer. It’s not unusual for someone retiring at age 65 to live to age 90 or longer. On the flip side, bank accounts and treasuries are paying from near zero to two percent. Taxes may continue to rise. Many retirees now find they have a serious income gap, or could have one in the future. A retirement plan that guarantees* lifetime income with sustainable cash flow, and is tax-deferred may be the answer. At IQ Wealth Management, our team is preservation-minded and our investment philosophy is income-driven. The old retirement model of sipping martinis and playing croquet is over. You want to live an active life, do things, see things and spend time with people you care about. We’ll help you support the lifestyle you want.

*Life insurance and annuity product guarantees rely on the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurer.

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability of this information to his/her situation.

Life Insurance

“Overfunded” Index Universal Life (IUL)

While term life insurance policies typically don’t offer investment options because their purpose is simply to pay a death benefit while the policy is in force,  permanent life insurance policies offer the growth of cash value which may be withdrawn. Some also offer the option of setting aside a part of the premium payments in accumulating funds to be used in other manners before death. In fact, some policies with potential growth linked to market indexes may generate very strong accumulation on par with investments, without exposure to market risk.

How can life insurance be considered an accumulation vehicle? As the cost of insurance goes down, and life expectancies increase, certain life insurance policies can now offer potential gains linked to market indexes with accumulation not available in the past. Couple that accumulation potential with favorable treatment by the IRS when guidelines are met, and many are finding that retirement planning can be anchored with “overfunded” cash value life insurance. It is critical to work with a knowledgeable advisor. With proper guidance from the team at IQ Wealth Management, you may be able to create a source of greater accumulation and more tax-favored income, while at the same time providing exceptional protection for your spouse and/or family.

Maximum Benefit Life Insurance—for your heirs and family

Life insurance isn’t for those who have died—it’s for those who are left behind. When shopping for life insurance, consider needs such as replacing income so your family can maintain its standard of living, as well as paying for your funeral and estate costs. A common rule is that you should seek coverage between five and seven times your gross annual income. As far as the various types of policies go, they can generally be placed into one of two categories: term and permanent.

Term insurance generally provides coverage for a specified period of time and pays out a specified amount of coverage to your beneficiary only if you die within that time period. You pay the same amount of premium from the first day of the policy until the term ends. One form of policy is also popular, known as “Return of Premium” term life insurance. The name says it all—if you live past the term, you are entitled to receive all of your paid premiums in full. Permanent insurance, on the other hand, does not need to be renewed. A permanent insurance policy will stay permanently in effect for the rest of your life so long as premiums continue to be paid.

Joint Life

While most life insurance is based on one person’s life, many couples want to ensure that more is left to heirs after both have passed away. Because the risk is spread to two lives rather than one, Joint Life can buy significantly more death benefit for the same dollar.  In addition, several top-rated companies offer distinctive policies which can refund premiums paid after a set number of years.

Long-Term Care

As the oldest Baby Boomers begin to wind through their 60s, one of the biggest concerns may not be outliving income, but outliving good health.

For seniors, home health care can cost $50,000 or more per year1, and nursing home care can run as high as $80,0002. Does your retirement income plan account for this kind of possibility? Would you be prepared for twice that number as a married couple?

Considering that you have to exhaust virtually all of your financial means before Medicaid will pay for long-term care and neither your group nor major medical insurance will cover long-term care, it’s critically important to plan ahead and protect yourself from the negative effects of these costly expenses.

We can help evaluate your situation and determine if purchasing a long-term care insurance policy may be the right move to help insure your financial future.

1 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, 2010
2MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs, 2009

ESTATE PLANNING

Estate planning is simply determining (while you’re still alive) where your assets should go after you die. Without a properly structured estate plan, your wishes may not be fulfilled, and your loved ones could be hurt both emotionally and financially.

While the concept is simple, the vehicles, planning and implementation process can be rather complex. Because of the constantly changing estate tax laws and emerging vehicles to help you protect and transfer your assets effectively, it’s important to work with experienced estate planning professionals who stay current in this field and advise clients on a day-to-day basis.

IRA LEGACY PLANNING

IRA accounts have become one of the largest types of assets inherited by beneficiaries. If you don’t anticipate needing your IRA money in retirement, you may wish to consider a legacy planning strategy to reduce taxes and increase the payout your beneficiaries will inherit upon your death.

A properly structured IRA may provide your beneficiary(ies) a regular stream of income while leaving the balance of IRA assets invested for tax-deferred growth. The result may yield substantially more money paid out over the course of your beneficiary’s lifetime. We can help you evaluate your financial scenario to determine if IRA legacy planning may be the best means for ensuring a long-lasting inheritance for your heirs.

TRUSTS

There are many different types of trusts, and they can be complex to set up and execute. However, a trust can be a very flexible and advantageous means to transfer your assets in the future. Most trusts also provide current benefits, such as tax deferral and deductions. Unlike a will, a trust will avoid probate upon your death. To learn more about trusts and how they may benefit you, please consult a qualified estate planning attorney that specializes in these matters.

PROBATE

Probate is the potentially lengthy and costly legal process that oversees the transfer of your assets upon your death. If you do not create a will or set up a trust to transfer your property when you die, state law will determine what happens to your estate. This is called probate or “intestate.” Without a will or some other form of legal estate planning, there is the chance that some or all of your property may go to the state instead of to your family.

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability of this information to his/her situation.

CHARITABLE GIVING

Creating a charitable gift giving plan may provide you with multiple tax breaks: an income tax deduction, the avoidance of capital gains on highly appreciated assets and no estate taxes on the charitable contribution upon your death.

With the increasing tax environment we expect in the U.S. in coming years, there may be compelling reasons to integrate philanthropy into your financial and estate planning.

Neither the Company nor its agents or representatives may give tax, legal, or accounting advice. Individuals should consult with a professional specializing in these areas regarding the applicability of this information to his/her situation.