Financial Planning
Scott W. Burch is a non-traditional financial and wealth advisor, starting his career with American Express Financial Advisors in 1989. Sage Investment Group is an independent firm specializing in financial planning and advanced tax reduction strategies for both high net worth individuals and businesses, working closely with select CPA’s to help them offer more proactive and comprehensive planning to their clients.
Whether you have a substantial tax bill and need it reduced, 401k/IRA to rollover, an existing portfolio to better manage, risk mitigation needs or income to sustain, we can help. You may need to establish or update a wealth transfer/legacy plan or reduce expenses to increase business income – we can assist with all through our Virtual Family Office consortium.
Investment Planning
As an initial step, we at Sage Investment Group evaluate each client’s current holdings to determine how appropriately they meet the desired objectives. These might include financial products for retirement income, education, charitable or other gifts, survivor income, or financial independence. Next, we create a strategy designed to meet the client’s individual needs and goals.
Our client portfolios are primarily diversified among private account managers, carefully selected to fit the client’s needs. We also may utilize other financial products that include mutual funds, stocks, bonds, ETFs, annuities, or other vehicles. Additionally, our tracking and monitoring services keep clients informed of their portfolio’s performance and its relation to industry standard benchmarks.
Retirement and Income Planning
Retirement planning today has taken on many new dimensions that never had to be considered by earlier generations. For one, people are living longer. Longer life spans have created several new issues that need to be taken into consideration when planning for retirement.
Transitioning from earned income to distributing an investment portfolio can be a difficult psychological shift for some individuals. Therefore, we assist clients in determining the appropriate retirement income sources, and whether their assets should be sold or reallocated.
Our financial modeling services can help clients determine the amount of inflation-adjusted income that will be necessary throughout their retirement. We also determine the distributions from qualified retirement plans, such as 401(k), IRA or pension funds, in order to help coordinate income needs.
We also assist clients in making important pre-retirement decisions, such as IRA rollovers, lump sum vs. annuity elections and survivor pension options when applicable.
Longevity Planning
When planning for longevity, we typically focus on the potential need for assisted living and long-term care because of the potential for critical or catastrophic illness, and the appropriate survivorship income should one spouse predecease the other.
Assisted living and long-term care can be a very challenging and confusing topic for the average person to try and understand. There are many different types of long-term care planning that can be implemented. Long term care is one of the most overwhelming issues that you or your family may face in your lifetime. This piece of the financial planning puzzle is often the most overlooked and costliest in terms of emotionally, physically and financially exhausting.
The most important piece of information that we can share with our clients is that everyone’s assisted living and long-term care plan should be custom designed. We all have different potential needs, values and beliefs.
Planning for survivorship income too is oftentimes overlooked when retirement income planning is discussed. The loss of a pension or Social Security Benefits if one spouse were to pass away could have a significant impact on the surviving spouse. We take the time to explore all the options to help ensure you have a solution in place if it is needed.
Estate Preservation and Legacy Planning
For some people, financial planning is mainly concerned with how best to go about building a nest egg, and how to make it last through retirement. But for many, there is a desire to ensure their estate delivers benefits beyond their own retirement and produces a legacy even after they have passed.
In the event of death, life insurance offers surviving family members increased financial security. As a tax-free lump sum payment, it can pay for final expenses and debts, as well as provide income replacement for the deceased’s dependents.
Making plans for the transfer of an estate after death involves much more than drafting a will. It involves coordinating beneficiary designations; titling assets and coordinating various entities, such as family limited partnerships, family owned businesses, charitable foundations and trusts.
Estate preservation and legacy planning can play a vital role in your overall financial plan. Together with your estate planning attorney, we can help you put a strategy in place to help meet the needs identified in your financial plan - contact us today to find out how.
Please note that Sage Investment Group and its representatives do not give legal or tax advice. You are encouraged to consult your tax advisor, attorney, or estate planning professional.
401(k) Self-Directed Brokerage
At Sage Investment Group, we may have the ability to professionally manage your 401(k) while you’re still at your employer.
By utilizing the “Self-Directed Brokerage” option within your plan, your assets remain at your current custodian (Fidelity or Vanguard, for example), yet you can allocate all or a portion of your 401(k) managed outside of the limited options your plan offers. Not all plans have this option, but we can let you know and help you add it, if available.
Charitable Giving
A Donor-Advised Fund is a simple way to pass on your values and assets to the next generation. Regal Charitable can help you fulfill your philanthropic goals and create your legacy through our Donor-Advised Fund Program.
Along with Regal Charitable, we will work with you to help create a customized giving plan to support qualified charities. You will benefit from a charitable tax deduction while allowing your investments to grow tax-free. We offer customized solutions and guide you through the sometimes difficult process of transferring your assets while sharing your values with your heirs and/or benefactors.
We are proud to team with organizations like Gift Planning Services, LLC, and Renaissance Charitable Foundation. Through a rigorous planning process, we outline your goals, desired outcomes and construct a plan that has the desired outcome for you and your benefactors.
Our hope is to serve you and your family, corporation, academic institution, and/or charitable organization with helpful information. Thank you for taking the time to explore the benefits of gift planning.
How To Get Started
If you’d like to receive more information about our tax preparation and planning services, please contact us to setup a quick introductory call to see how we can help you.