Services Provided - Salem Heights Financial

Services Provided

Provide assistance to individuals and families in defining their life goals and the underlying financial plan to help them achieve their goals. This may be the development of a complete financial plan or a project which addresses a specific need or question. Whatever your needs we will work with you to find the best alternative for your situation.

Services include the following:

Planning for Financial Independence
Retirement Planning
Cash Flow Analysis/Debt Management
College Funding
Risk Management/Insurance Needs Analysis
Estate Planning Needs Analysis
Investment Planning/Investment Management
Income in Retirement
Buying a First Home/Second Home/Small Business

We also provide Second Opinions and Financial Check-ups for the do-it-yourselfer as well as seminars and workshops focusing on financial
education.

Financial Independence should be the cornerstone of any plan.
What is financial independence? You define what it is. Being financially independent provides you with the ability to do what you want to do. It may include, but is not limited to, retirement planning, changing careers, volunteering, or putting flexibility into your life - working less, playing more (i.e., traveling).
Financial Independence is what you want it to be.

Retirement Planning is or should be of major concern to most people.

Will I have enough money to retire? Will my money last throughout my lifetime? How much should I be saving? We work with people to identify their plans for life in retirement and what those plans might cost. We can then prepare a plan through investment and savings to work towards that goal.

Cash Flow Analysis/Debt Management can be two sides of the same coin. Understanding how you are spending your money can lead to better financial decisions. We can help you analyze your spending patterns to increase your savings or reduce your debt more quickly.

College Funding helps to identify the issues and options in planning for financing your children’s education. There are a wide variety of investment alternatives and strategies today for funding education.

Some of the options include:

Coverdell IRA	529 Plans	Parental savings
Savings Bonds	UGMA accounts

For most people there is not one right choice, but a combination of plans.

Risk Management/Insurance Needs Analysis helps to answer the question – What insurance do I need to protect my family and how much do I need?

Most Common Types of Insurance:

Life
Home Owners
Automobile
Umbrella
Health
Long-Term Care
Disability
Medigap

Estate Planning Needs Analysis facilitates development of a plan to ensure that your family will be taken care of during a very stressful time.
Minimum Requirements:

A will: This is the bare minimum needed. Without a will, state law will determine who gets your assets. If you have children, the state can “choose” their guardian as well if you die intestate (without a will).
A durable Power of Attorney: This designates an individual who will manage your affairs should you become incapacitated.
A living will: This indicates what you want to happen should you not be able to make that decision. It should include naming a health proxy to see that your wishes, as stated in your living will, are carried out.

It will be necessary to work with an attorney and maybe an accountant to develop a complete Estate Plan.

Investment Planning/Investment Management focuses on asset allocation, diversification and risk. These are the basis for building a solid portfolio. The goal is to develop a portfolio that will help you achieve your financial goals with an appropriate level of risk.
Assets include:

Cash – money market funds; short-term CDs; savings accounts.
Fixed Income – long term CDs; bonds, treasury and corporate; high yield bonds; preferred stocks.
Stocks – domestic, growth, value, international.

We can manage your investments if that is what you choose.

Income in Retirement may require as much or more planning then pre-retirement planning. Issues that must be considered:

How much income do I need? What are my available sources of income?
Should I invest all or most of money in “safe” investments?
When should I begin taking Social Security? Early at 62? At full retirement age? Or possibly later? If I work part-time, does it have any impact on my social security?
What must I know about the Required Minimum Distribution from my IRAs and why this is so important.

Buying a First Home/Second Home/Small Business are important goals to many people. It is key to know how much money is needed and what type of financing would be most appropriate. We can help you through the financing alternatives to help make these goals a reality.