Wealth Management for Individuals & Families

Client Background:

A family with young children was the recipient of a significant windfall when the company the husband worked for was offered a “buy out” package during a corporate restructuring.  The complication of several years of stock option grants at various strike prices, pension and profit sharing plan rollover choices and large cash payment combined with the loss of healthcare, disability and life insurance coverage left his family confused and anxious.  They no longer had an understanding of their total net worth, available cash flow, and overall asset structure.

Solution:

To reduce their anxiety, Wealth Strategies Group wanted to give them a clear view into their financial security.  With the resources in The Solution Network™ team (our virtual network of independent tax, legal and other professionals) we prepared:

• An organized chart with their pre-tax / post-tax values, tax implications, cash distributions and restrictions
• A detailed source of their cash flow to replace lost paychecks offset with their expense budget
• A statement of current and projected net worth
• Projection of income tax due
• A replacement package for lost insurance coverage
• Estate summary update

Once our clients had a snapshot of their expenses, income, net worth and tax situation, their anxiety decreased substantially.  Once anxiety was reduced and the path to financial security was understood, The Wealth Strategies Group took our client through The Asset Protection and Estate Transfer Process™.  Their wills were updated to include marital trusts (A/B Trust).  Separate trusts were created for each of their children to assure their education.  In addition, a Qualified Property Residence Trust (QPRT) was created to transfer their vacation home to their beneficiaries with the least amount of Federal Estate Tax (FET) possible.  Life insurance policies were re-titled to Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILIT) to prevent the death benefit from being included in their final estate and potentially incurring the higher Federal Estate Tax on transfer.  This ownership structure greatly reduced their tax liability and will help to deter any frivolous lawsuits that could arise in the future.