The Total Alignment™ Comprehensive Wealth Review

Independent. Customized. Well-Researched. Informative.

The Total Alignment™ Comprehensive Wealth Review is designed for individuals and families who, often as a result of experiencing a life event, require expert assistance in collecting, organizing and re-evaluating their financial situations. For these clients, our team will retrieve, review and synthesize all financial information and documentation – including insurance policies, tax returns, wills and trust agreements, employment benefits, investments and current and expected cash flows. The end benefit enables clients to make informed financial decisions that will save them excessive costs and worry in the future.

Common life events that often require a Comprehensive Wealth Review include the following:

  • Death, Disability, Injury or Severe Illness
  • Purchase, Sale, Construction and/or Financing Related To Real Estate
  • Marriage, Separation or Divorce
  • Inheritances and Financial Windfalls
  • Employment Changes and Executive Compensation Vesting Analysis
  • Lawsuits, Property Damage and/or Identity Theft
  • Retirement and Social Security Elections
  • Birth and/or Adoption of a Child
  • Beginning, Transferring and/or Selling a Business
  • Planning for College

For those individuals who have experienced, or anticipate experiencing, one of these major life events, the Total Alignment™ Comprehensive Wealth Review will identify a client’s overall financial strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to clarify the most optimal financial decisions moving forward based on that client’s stated objectives and risk tolerance.

The development of the financial plan commonly takes approximately 20-30 total hours of our time and about 30-45 minutes of our clients’ time over a time period of 3-6 weeks, with the meeting for the financial plan presentation thereafter commonly requiring approximately 2-4 hours. The process from initial engagement through the delivery of the Comprehensive Financial Plan & Analysis typically involves the following specific steps:

  • Upon initial engagement, an experienced Wealth Associate will collect various documents and account information from third parties pursuant to an optional signed letter of authorization.
  • After documents and information are reviewed and organized, all information that was retrieved and organized is then confirmed with the client, along with that client’s risk tolerance and overall planning objectives.
  • Once the client’s information and objectives are confirmed, our team will then create the client’s current “base case” scenario based on information obtained from tax returns, insurance policies, wills, trust agreements, investment holdings, expenses and other documents and information obtained.
  • After “base case” reports are constructed, various “what if” scenarios are then prepared based on hypothetical scenarios that the client has requested to consider and that our assigned Senior Wealth Advisor wishes to “test”.
  • Finally, after any final outside research is completed to help assess all possible alternatives, our dedicated Senior Wealth Advisor will then deliver his or her observations and recommendations to the client in an unbiased and comprehensive written financial plan that includes a detailed personal balance sheet, cash flow projections through life expectancy, income tax details, insurance summaries, estate flow charts and various hypothetical scenario reports.

Common problems and issues uncovered in the Comprehensive Wealth Review include the following:

  • Unclaimed Income Tax Deductions or Credits
  • Excessive Insurance Premium Costs for Unneeded Insurance Coverage; Inappropriately Low Deductibles
  • Inadequate Insurance Coverage Given Exposed Risks and/or Lifestyle Behaviors
  • Failure to Retain Critical Tax, Legal and Insurance Records; Failure To Inform Others Of Where To Find Such Documents
  • Expenses Exceeding Current and Projected Income Level(s) and Current and Projected Asset Base(s)
  • Unnecessarily High Projected Estate Taxes Based On Faulty Estate Structuring; Unused Exclusions, Exemptions or Discounts
  • Estate Distributions and Estate Management Designations That No Longer Align With Current Intentions
  • Failure To Seize Benefits from 83(b) Election(s), Net Unrealized Appreciation, IRA Conversion(s) and/or Other Tax Elections
  • Undue Expected Estate Settlement Costs and Delays Due To A Failure To Structure Assets In Non-Probate Form
  • Excessive Legal Risk in Owning Rental Properties And Other Assets In One’s Personal Name; Inappropriate Asset Titling
  • Failure to Refinance Debt(s) at a Lower Current Rate and/or in a More Appropriate Debt Structure
  • Neglected Automatic Recurring Expenses No Longer Needed
  • Excessive Fees Paid To Advisors That Do Not Relate To Corresponding Value
  • Unnecessary Portfolio Risk Given Current Market Conditions and Risk Profile
  • Failure to Timely Enroll in Medicare and/or to Claim Other Benefits; Failure to Properly Analyze Social Security Elections
  • Tax-Inefficient Investments Held In Tax-Inefficient Vehicles (Or Other “Asset Location” Problems)
  • Uncertain Risk Exposures Due To A Failure to Check Credit Report(s) and/or Remove Public Information
  • Excessive Time Spent on Researching, Calculating or Organizing Financial Matters

With our advanced financial planning software, expert wealth advisors and extensive network of outside advisor resources, we are able to identify and source solutions to these problems. And since our entire business is based upon legitimate and objective financial planning, with specific prohibitions on receiving commissions in our founding documents, our clients can be sure that our Comprehensive Wealth Review is legitimate, unbiased and specifically designed not to acquire assets under management and not to sell insurance or any other financial products.

To learn more about our Comprehensive Wealth Review, as described in one approach as the “Ultimate Dress Rehearsal,” please see our 2-minute video here.

Total Alignment Wealth Advisors is an independent, fee-only financial planning and multi-family office wealth advisory firm. Total Alignment was founded by a group of clients to provide a fully transparent and unbiased family wealth advisor to perform services typically beyond the scope of services other advisors were providing. We are proud to be able to offer our multi-disciplined expertise, superior research, proactive diligence and unique client-centric structure to enable our clients to make informed financial decisions. Our comprehensive analysis, advanced financial planning technology, expert advisors, extensive network of resources, and informative “what if” hypothetical projections have reduced risks and excessive costs for our clients, in addition to saving them time on matters that they would otherwise have to manage themselves. We welcome an opportunity to learn more about your situation and whether Total Alignment would be a fit for you. We can be reached by e-mail at info@totalalignmentwealth.com or by phone at 212-913-9110.