At the Lineweaver Companies, we believe a team approach to coordinating all your financial, legal, tax, and insurance needs helps save you time, money and worry. For example, we had clients who were both close to retirement, and unfortunately the husband had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The first thing we did was to work with them to make sure his pension was triggered in such a way that the wife could receive a greater lifetime benefit - almost a million more dollars than she would have otherwise received. At the same time, in this sort of situation, you have to consider powers of attorney and other basic estate planning documents that everyone should have, like wills, and even if trusts make sense for your particular situation. There were also huge student loan balances of more than $120,000. But, because they kept the loans entirely in the fathers name, when he passed, the debt was forgiven. But what many people dont know is that the forgiveness of debt in this
In our increasingly complex financial world, its important to discuss the need to have an overall coordinated approach when it comes to financial affairs. Think of 11 players going onto the football field, and hiking the ball without taking the time to get into a huddle and have the quarterback call the play. The chances of these guys getting into the end zone are slim. Without overall coordination of your financial affairs, getting into the financial end zone may be difficult for you as well. Most people dont think of all their advisors as a team, but its important to recognize that most of us already have a financial team; we are getting financial advice from a variety of sources. Your financial team is comprised of your different insurance agents, your CPA or tax preparer, your bank, any investment advisors with whom you are working, and your estate planning attorney. Everyone has a financial team, and they all need a Financial Quarterback. Lets look at some potential pitfalls of