Total Alignment® Periodic Financial Reviews

Independent. Customized. Well-Researched. Informative.

The Total Alignment® Periodic Financial Review is most appropriate for those who require independent expertise in collecting, organizing and analyzing their financial situations from a comprehensive viewpoint – but only need this service on a periodic basis.  This may be prompted by the occurrence of a life event as a one-time service every six months or every year, or may just be part of a periodic “financial check-up.”  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.  From there, various hypothetical scenarios will be constructed based on stated goals.  The end benefit enables clients to make informed financial decisions that will save them excessive costs and worry both now and in the future.

Circumstances that often call for a Periodic Financial Review include the following:

• Retirement and Social Security Elections
• Death, Disability, Injury or Severe Illness
• Purchase, Sale, Construction and/or Financing Related To Real Estate
• Presence of Assets at Multiple Accounts and/or Institutions
• Marriage, Separation or Divorce
• Inheritances and Financial Windfalls
• Lack of an Overall Financial Plan and/or Consolidated Viewpoint
• Employment Changes and Executive Compensation Vesting Analysis
• Lawsuits, Property Damage and/or Identity Theft
• 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® Periodic Financial 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 15-30 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 Periodic Financial Review include the following:

• Failure to Retain Critical Tax, Legal, and Insurance Records and Adequately Track Financials
• Expected Cash Deficits Due to Current and Projected Cash Outflows Exceeding Current and Projected Cash Inflows
• Excessive Insurance Premium Costs for Unnecessary Insurance
• Unnecessary Portfolio Risk Given Current Market Conditions and Risk Profile
• Inadequate Insurance Coverage Given Exposed Risks
• Unclaimed Income Tax Deductions or Credits
• Unnecessarily High Projected Estate Taxes Based On Faulty Estate Structuring at Death
• Unused Wealth Transfer Tax Exclusions, Exemptions, or Discounts
• Estate Distributions and Management Designations No Longer Align With Current Intentions
• Failure To Seize Benefits from 83(b) Election(s), Net Unrealized Appreciation, IRA Conversion(s), 1031 Exchanges, and/or Other Tax Elections
• Inappropriately High or Low Insurance Deductibles
• Failure to Optimize Social Security Elections
• Undue Estate Settlement Costs, Probate Delays, and Hassles on Surviving Family Members Due To Inappropriate Asset Titling
• Excessive Legal Risk in Owning Rental Properties And Other Assets In One’s Personal Name
• Failure to Refinance Debt(s) at a Lower Current Rate and/or in a More Appropriate Debt Structure
• Excessive Fees Paid To Advisors Not Justified By Value Generated
• Failure to Timely Enroll in Medicare or to Optimize a Medicare Supplement or Other Health Insurance Policy
• Tax-Inefficient Investments Held In Tax-Inefficient Vehicles and Other “Asset Location” Problems
• Failure to Check Credit Report(s) and/or Remove Public Information
• Excessive Spending Time Researching, Calculating, or Organizing Financial Matters Without Efficient Resources or Support

With our expert wealth advisors, advanced financial planning software, 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 Independent Financial Reviews are 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 Periodic Financial Reviews, 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 inquires@totalalignmentwealth.com or by phone at 212-913-9110.