Services
Portfolio Management
We will develop an investment plan that is right for you and your family. This will take into account your tax situation, risk tolerance, cash flow needs and your age resulting in an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) which dictates what a suitable investment is for you and your family.
Our investment philosophy includes the following:
Proper Sector Allocation
Diversification
Risk and Volatility Appetite
Adherence to Client Suitability
Short and Long Term Performance Expectancy
Once your plan is designed and implemented, we regularly review your portfolio internally and make changes where appropriate. This might be due to our investment outlook or changes in your personal or tax situation.
We can help determine the right decisions for you, your family, and your business.
401k Recommendation:
Often times, an employer will offer some variation of a contribution/benefit plan. Most commonly this is a 401k; however we have experience with most employer provided plans. We take the time to assess your options for these types of plans and make recommendations on investment options within what we determine to be the best plan available for you.
This process could include identifying:.
Whether to contribute to a Roth 401K or a Traditional 401K.
Whether to convert to a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.
How should you invest your company retirement funds?
What should you do with your company stock options?
401k Management:
Additionally, we have extensive experience in the creation, implementation and management of a variety of these types of plans, providing not only a benefit to your employees but a number of sizeable benefits to you as the business owner as well.
Retirement Services
The most important issue to most of our clients relates to when they will be able to afford to retire and how much money can they afford to spend during retirement.
We build, assess and advise on retirement projections for our clients based upon:
Reasonable assumptions for investment rates of return
Cash flow needs
Tax rates
Life expectancy
Performing this analysis allows us not only to determine when you can retire, but also how aggressive or conservative we should structure your portfolio in order to reach your retirement objectives.
Estate Planning
This is a critical area from both a personal and a tax standpoint. We work with you to develop and implement a plan on how you want your assets handled after your death and then make that plan as tax savings oriented as possible. With marginal estate tax rates currently peaking at 40%, failure to do proper estate planning can be an expensive mistake.
Tax Planning
With credentials in the tax as well as in the investment area, we are able to provide you with tax strategies as well as portfolio management. There are very different tax consequences investing within your personal portfolio versus your retirement portfolio, as well as withdrawing funds from your personal portfolio versus your retirement plan. Additionally, utilizing the right type of educational funding can provide a sizeable tax savings opportunity.
We can help you determine or consider:
What level of retirement contributions you should make
Tax consequences of what you contribute.
The best way to fund educational costs
Tax Return Preparation:
Like it or not, we all need to file annual tax returns. By allowing Essex to manage your portfolio, and help with your tax planning, there are economies of scale that allow us to prepare your returns at a cost savings to you.
Educational Funding
We help our clients provide for ensuring that funds will be available for their children’s or grandchildren’s higher education. The plan might include the creation of custodial accounts, direct gifts to family members, Section 529 plans, etc.
In designing a plan for you, we take into account:
Your tax status
Your level of income
Flexibility desires
Attitudes towards family members
There is no one right approach for everyone
Risk/Insurance Analysis
Insurance Analysis
Insurance plays an important role in one’s financial plan. While we do not sell any insurance products, we are able to help you analyze and determine the proper types and amounts of coverage you need to make sure your financial objectives are met, even in the event of premature death or disability.
Loan Analysis
While we do not provide any loan services, obtaining the best mortgage possible is a very important aspect of financial landscape. We help figure out what type of loan is best for you and help you obtain the best interest rate possible.