Services

Financial Planning Services

Retirement Planning 

We follow the CFP Board’s processes and guidelines for financial planning and advice. This involves reviewing information from the client, including: investment statements, tax returns, estate planning documents, insurance policies, Social Security statements, and pension documents. We perform retirement analysis using various software tools and develop a set of projections and recommended actions for the client. 

Tax Reduction

Taxes are usually your largest expense during your lifetime, both while working and in retirement. It is also the area in which careful planning can achieve significant savings for you, and thus help them stretch your retirement savings and improve the likelihood of not outliving your assets. Because of that, we make understanding and implementing tax mitigation techniques and strategies a major focus of our practice. Tax laws are continually changing, and we stay current with those changes to position our clients to reduce their taxes now and throughout their retirement. CWS participates in the Ed Slott Master Elite IRA program.

Estate Planning

As financial advisors, we are in the best position to understand your financial situation and legacy wishes. While it requires an estate attorney to create estate documents, we can recommend approaches to be included your estate documents, including different types of trusts. We work with your estate attorney to ensure that your estate plan meets your needs.

Medicare and Social Security

The timing and choice of a Medicare plan at your initial enrollment is important, as you have options then that might not be available later. We help you select the plan that fits best with your health and financial situation. Similarly, the timing for claiming Social Security will affect your lifetime income. We use software tools along with our knowledge of the Social Security benefits rules to help individuals and couples make the most appropriate choices.

Insurance

Managing the risk of unplanned events and situations that would be devastating to your finances is why insurance is a necessity. We examine the policies that cover your possessions, potential liabilities, and income to ensure that they provide sufficient coverage for you and your family. Certain types of insurance have tax advantages that can be used to augment your retirement planning. We help you use them to your best advantage.

Investments

Your financial assets are a key element to achieving your lifetime goals. How those assets should be invested at any given time depends upon your age, your income needs over time, your health, your risk tolerance, and expectations for the financial markets.  After assessing your overall goals and financial situation, we can make suitable recommendations on an investment strategy, which includes asset allocation, asset location (for tax efficiency), tax category allocation goals (taxable, tax-deferred, tax-free), and products that can provide income throughout your retirement.