How We Work
How We Work
Playfair Planning believes every client deserves a Financial Road Map® tailored to their lifestyle, financial situation and long-term goals.
What is the planning process like?
We get to know our clients to discover their deepest values and what is most important to them. Once this critical information is captured, we outline the steps that will be instrumental in helping our clients reduce taxes, protect their assets, plan their estates, and select the most appropriate insurance to protect their families.
- Clients talk with Kim - a conversation that helps us discover their values and goals.
- We denote the steps that will be instrumental in reducing taxes and potentially protecting assets.
- We address tax issues, estate planning, and insurance selection.
Cash Flow and Debt Management
Properly managing your cash and debt is the foundation of financial stability and independence. Maintaining the appropriate reserve and cash flow needs will allow you to meet your goals.
- Accessing capital when needed.
- Using surplus assets effectively.
- Leveraging and eliminating debt on a customized schedule.
Asset Consolidation
In an attempt to diversify their investments, families often set up the same type of investment accounts with multiple financial institutions. They believe that this is an effective way to reduce risk.
Actually, diversification is about how your money is invested, rather than where it’s kept.
Instead of diversifying your investment, setting up multiple same-type investment accounts can actually have an adverse effect, as it makes keeping track of your investments a lot more difficult.
Other reasons to simplify your life by consolidating your assets are:
- Lower Costs: You’re likely to pay a higher cost when you open investment accounts with multiple financial institutions.
- Streamlined Administration: Fewer tax forms and accounts statements make it easier to keep track of your investments.
- No Duplication of Investments and Efforts: The odds are high for duplication of investments (i.e. less diversification) and efforts when you have multiple advisors since our efforts aren’t usually coordinated.
- Simplified Estate Settlements: It becomes easier for your executor when they only have a single point of contact.
- Easier and More Efficient Retirement Planning: It becomes easier for your advisor to devise an efficient strategy of optimizing your retirement income when they have a better understanding of your various income sources.
Education Planning
All families, regardless of means, need to plan. Don’t forget about merit-based scholarships. Because these are not predicated on financial need, but rather on the student’s scholastic and other achievements, they can become a major source of financial assistance. FAFSA, or its counterpart, the College Scholarship Service (CSS) form, is required in order to be considered for most merit-based scholarships. Playfair assists families with college readiness from early years.
Executive Benefits Review
A benefits package is typically worth around 30% of your salary. Health insurance, retirement savings options, disability insurance, life insurance, legal services, and in-office wellness perks. Some of these benefits may require you to pay premiums for coverage. Others are free and may actually save you money, either by reducing your spending elsewhere or by offering tax-advantaged savings options. We evaluate your benefits package, and weigh each benefit based on how valuable it is to your family — and not just in the financial sense.
Business Planning
From retirement plan administration to succession and contingency strategies, our innovative plans make it simple for businesses to invest for their future. We offer built-in features to help business owners manage their fiduciary risk and reduce administrative responsibilities and expenses. Enjoy clear and transparent pricing so it’s easy to forecast and validate plan costs.
Financial planning for business includes:
- Selecting the best entity tax classification to minimize taxes.
- Splitting the income between members of the family.
- Funding personal and business retirement accounts.
- Reviewing insurance coverage.
- Planning for business succession.
Safety Review
All insurance policies will be reviewed whenever there are changes in your financial situation that could affect your insurance needs. We will review each policy to make sure that you have the right types of insurance, for the right amounts and at the right prices.
Our goal is to mitigate your:
- Risk of Lawsuits: There are various ways to ensure the protection of your assets.
- Risk of Market Volatility: The best way to counter the threat of market volatility is diversifying your investments.
- Risk of losing Income: Unfortunately, serious illnesses and disabilities are a part of life and can befall anyone. Purchasing long-term care and critical illness insurance can protect your family from the risk of permanent or temporary income loss.
Income Tax Planning
During the last two months of each year Kim will do serious income tax planning for you with two objectives in mind:
- Seeking ways to reduce taxes.
- Making sure there are no "surprises" come next April.
Estate Planning
Once every five years or sooner if warranted, we will review and update your estate plan with the objective of:
- Getting the maximum out of the gifts you make to charity
- Planning for vacation and investment property
- Establishing a plan so your money can be passed on to your heirs tax efficiently
- Creating a structure that will bring your heirs closer together, as opposed to many estate plans which create animosity and conflicts about the money, after you're gone
- Preparing your heirs and instilling financial responsibility in your children
But the most compelling reason is the one that draws client after client to our door: we deliver what we promise. That's why people choose us as their life advisor. That's why people plan with Playfair.