Individual Solutions

Risk Management

A sound financial plan must address the insurance coverages you, your spouse and family members may require.

• . Life insurance is used to pay for funeral expenses, repay outstanding debts, make charitable donations and provide living expenses for surviving family members. It can also be used to cover estate taxes and probate fees to enable your estate to be liquidated in the most appropriate manner.
• . Disability income insurance is to help partially replace income of persons who are unable to work because of sickness or accident. In terms of its financial effect on the family, long-term disability can be just as severe as death. Disability income protection can come from several sources: social insurance programs, employer-provided benefits, and individually purchased policies.
• . Estate planning and other care considerations - As you age, and in the course of your overall estate planning, it likely will be important to plan for potential expenses associated with prolonged physical illnesses or disabilities that reduce your ability to accomplish day-to-day tasks. These types of situations may require additional support, such as ongoing care at your home or for extended periods away from home. Assessing the costs and feasibility of maintaining care at home as compared to care outside of the home also likely will be an important consideration for individuals and estate plans. As these costs can be significant and can become a prolonged family expense, planning should take place as early as possible to help prepare to address them. While some governmental assistance could be available through such programs as Medicaid, these types of programs typically offer more limited benefits and assistance. Consequently, planning for an extended period of care should be considered a key component of most estate plans.

Asset Management

Every investor is unique, and investment advisory services provide you with professional investment advice and a personalized investment strategy. Whether you're seeking a tailored, professionally managed portfolio, or the convenience and simplicity of a diversified mutual fund wrap program, your investment choice should focus on meeting your financial goals. During this process, you should consider current and future growth objectives, income needs, time horizon and risk tolerance. These considerations form the blueprint for developing a portfolio management strategy. The process involves, but is not limited to, the following important stages.

• . Ease of pre-designed mutual fund portfolios
• . Set investment objectives
• . Develop an asset allocation strategy
• . Evaluate/Select investment vehicle

Some benefits of managed portfolios include:

• . Ensure college expenses are properly planned -- include tuition, room and board and living expenses. Factor in an inflation rate for the rising cost of tuition. Should you consider planning for post-graduate studies? Do you expect your child/children to receive scholarships or financial aid?
• . Providing access to top-tier investment management professionals.
• . Tailored portfolios to meet specific investment needs.
• . Ownership of individual securities - allowing for significant flexibility in controlling tax exposure.

Retirement Planning

The amount you will need in retirement depends on the age you plan to retire, your desired retirement lifestyle, how long you expect to live and the rate of return that you expect to earn on your investments. Social Security and employer-sponsored pension plans will probably provide less of what you will need than they did for your parents.

Consideration should be given to one or more of the following strategies when trying to maximize your retirement income:

• . Clearly prioritized retirement goals and objectives
• . Retirement at a later age
• . Saving more
• . Spending less during retirement
• . Invest to earn a potentially higher rate of return on investments while still feeling comfortable with the level of risk involved
• . Liquidation of non-cash assets
• . Social Security
• . Maximize contributions to qualified retirement plans
• . 401(k) and IRA rollovers*

*When considering rolling over the proceeds of your retirement plan to another tax-qualified option, such as an IRA, please note that you may have the option of leaving the funds in your existing plan or transferring them into a new employer’s plan. You may wish to consult with your new employer, if any, to learn more about the options available to you under your plan and any applicable fees and expenses. You may owe taxes if you withdraw funds from the plan. Please consult a tax advisor before withdrawing funds.

Financial Planning

Qualified Eagle advisors provide personalized financial planning to our clients that is specific to several variables including their income, risk tolerance, values, and family. We work with each client to identify and prioritize their goals, explore options, establish effective strategies, construct and execute a plan, and assess the performance of the plan and make adjustments as needed.

Education Planning

Education planning for your children can be a major financial consideration. Planning early allows you to take advantage of the time value of money and help minimize the savings requirement.

Consideration should be given to one or more of the following strategies when trying to maximize your college planning:

• . Prioritize your education objective with your insurance needs, retirement needs, major purchases and current income needs.
• . Develop an effective savings strategy that considers asset allocation and takes advantage of education plans.
• . Consider the various education funding options:
  • . Qualified State Tuition Plans (also known as 529 Plans)
  • . Uniform Transfer to Minor Accounts (UTMA)
  • . Uniform Gifts to Minor Accounts (UGMA)
  • . Coverdell Educational savings accounts
  • . Prepaid tuition plans

Estate Planning

What you value may be more important than what you own. To follow through on your commitments -- to yourself, your family, and your ideals -- you need to think ahead. A personalized estate plan is important in helping to protect your family and your legacy. A well-constructed strategy can help address your specific estate planning needs including:

• . Minimizing income and estate taxes
• . Transferring wealth from one generation to the next
• . Developing charitable gifting strategies
• . Aligning existing portfolios and retirement accounts with your estate plan

Charitable Giving Planning

Gifting strategies may be used as a means of distributing your estate and effectively reducing estate taxes upon death. Most taxpayers can accomplish significant estate planning objectives simply by taking advantage of lifetime giving which includes making maximum use of the annual exclusion, lifetime use of the applicable exclusion amount and lifetime taxable gifts.