Advanced Planning

During the 20+ years that Rather & Kittrell has been serving clients, we have found that wealth preservation is the number one reason successful families seek our services. Typically, when someone goes through a major life transition, he or she wants to know that the money associated with that transition will last. Once we’ve answered that question, we move on to the non-investment related areas of comprehensive advice. We call this advanced planning.

Though investing tends to attract attention and prompts discussion, it’s the less headlining topics that can really make a difference in someone’s overall financial well-being.

Taxes touch just about every part of our lives. Our income, our purchases, our investing, even our homes and land are all taxed, sometimes quite frequently. Mitigating these taxes now and in the future is a way to enhance cash flow.

Wealth transfer planning ensures that our heirs are taken care of. That might mean a comprehensive estate plan including wills, trusts and medical directives but it can also mean coordinating conversations with other family members. Preparing your estate is only half the equation. The other half involves preparing your heirs.

Wealth protection involves various types of insurance and asset titling with the goal of protecting assets from life’s inevitable challenges such as health-related issues, accidents or even questionable third parties.

Finally, everyone has causes they are passionate about and some want to make sure their resources are impacting those causes in the most meaningful way. There are numerous ways to support those causes; however, some are more tax-efficient and advantageous than others. Using different tools and techniques to maximize those gifts means there’s more money for organizations to use and likely more tax-reductions to the donor.

Topics like these don’t occupy the majority of headlines or conversations at parties, but if executed well, the planning associated with each can bring ample peace of mind.

Jeff Hall, CFP®, CIMA®, CKA® is a Partner and Senior Advisor with Rather & Kittrell.