Skills

Let’s Talk... Insufficient Technical skills

Most people don’t have the technical skills to create and maintain a financial plan, execute an investment strategy or consistently make the right financial decisions.  If they don’t acquire the necessary skill or services, they place themselves and their families at risk.  Here are three examples.

•  No will.  Imagine yourself as the child/executor of your recently deceased, respected father.  Without a will, you face a bewildering and expensive process with no guidance from Dad and possibly the conflicting expectations of your brothers, sisters and stepmother.  Besides sadness, the family environment is open to feelings of disappointment, jealousy, confusion and disharmony because he didn’t acquire the tools and techniques to provide for a smooth transition.
•  Insurance policy review.  Abundant technical planning opportunities exist that can save you money after a policy review by a skilled planner.  Picture yourself as the payor of an expensive insurance policy with a requirement to pay premiums for the rest of your life.  It’s not widely known, but the tax code allows a tax-free exchange that, depending upon your circumstances, could eliminate premiums, bolster your spending power and help protect you against contingencies. Check out section 1035.
•  Building a goal based portfolio requires technical skills beyond the usual risk adjusted diversification attributes. Mapping asset types to the date of explicit individual and family goals increases the probability of achieving goals and can reduce risk.

To protect your family, the starting point is risk assessment and it requires technical skills.  It evaluates how well you and your family are protected against severe economic threats: lost earnings, unplanned expenses, rising taxes, inflation and health care costs, accidents, lawsuits and, of course, market downturns.  Our assessment goes beyond “squishy” discussions of goals, risk tolerance and asset allocation, the foundations of conventional investment planning, and focuses on threats that affect real people: aging parents, special needs children, expensive colleges, weddings, job loss, nagging debt, retirement, legacy...  It’s precise enough to indicate where specialized knowledge is needed…wealth management, trust attorneys, tax specialists, risk transfer experts, etc.

We call our threat assessment, investment and risk transfer process DYNAMIC MAPPING™.  It illustrates where you are, where you’re headed and responds to the threats and opportunities you face.  Let’s talk…I would be glad to discuss how our principles and experience allow you to see your financial situation, manage risk, invest and save time and money.  Contact Usfor a free 10-15 minute confidential phone conversation with, Mike Helgesen*, Founder and President, Sound Financial Services, Inc.

* Mike Helgesen is a Certified Financial Planner® with 30 years of experience helping individuals and small businesses.  He has spoken and written extensively about the proprietary techniques he uses to mitigate risk.

Skill