Preserving your wealth and maintaining your standard of living are among your highest priorities. Because people are living longer today, the possibility of spending 30 years in retirement requires careful planning and disciplined investing. We can create a plan for monthly distributions from your portfolio designed to preserve your principal. We can also assist you with longevity planning, required minimum distributions, income planning, tax strategies, proper account titling and beneficiaries, multigenerational wealth transfer, charitable giving, as well as asset protection and reallocation.

We take a tax-sensitive approach to financial planning and work with you and your other professional advisors – accountants and tax attorneys – to help minimize the impact of taxes. By developing and implementing strategies designed to lessen or shift current and future tax liabilities, we can help improve your prospects for meeting your financial objectives. In addition to impacting your life today, prudent tax planning can play a large role in the amount of wealth you will be able to someday transfer to your heirs.

While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herein, as financial advisors of Raymond James, we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.

Whether it’s providing income for a spouse, educating children or grandchildren or leaving money to your favorite charity, proper estate planning can ensure that assets accumulated over your lifetime are protected and preserved for the use you have intended.

Giving can not only help the organizations you choose, but can also generate personal tax benefits and advance your wealth management plan. We can help you with solutions that include private family foundations, charitable trusts, charitable gift annuities, pooled-income funds and donor-advised funds.

In today’s often complex marketplace, even the most sophisticated investor is challenged to keep up and respond to changing conditions. By utilizing asset allocation strategies and carefully selected money managers across a diverse range of equity and fixed-income disciplines, our goal is to provide you with an institutional-quality portfolio designed to help achieve financial objectives.

Asset allocation does not guarantee a profit nor protect against losses.

Our objectives are to preserve your wealth, achieve a reasonable rate of return, and counter the erosive effects of inflation and taxes. We know that a proper asset allocation among cash, equity, fixed-income securities and alternative investments can be an effective way to pursue investment goals. We believe the formula for investment management should include the key components of skilled investment research, long-term planning and a well-managed professional relationship.

Asset allocation does not guarantee a profit nor protect against loss. Alternative Investments are not suitable for every investor. They involve substantial risks that may be greater than those associated with traditional investments and may be offered only to clients who meet specific suitability requirements, including minimum net worth tests. There is no assurance that any investment will meet its investment objectives or that substantial losses will be avoided.

If you’ve changed jobs or are retiring, rolling over your retirement assets to an IRA may be a solution. It is a non-taxable event when done properly – and gives you access to a wide range of investments and the convenience of having consolidated your savings in a single location.

In addition, flexible beneficiary designations may allow for the continued tax-deferred investing of inherited IRA assets. We can handle all details for you, including contacting your former plan administrator, opening your new rollover IRA and completing the paperwork.

In addition to rolling over your 401(k) to an IRA, there are other options. Here is a brief look at all your choices. For additional information and what is suitable for your particular situation, please consult us.

▪ Leave money in your former employer’s plan, if permitted
Pro: May like the investments offered in the plan and may not have a fee for leaving it in the plan. Not a taxable event.

▪ Roll over the assets to your new employer’s plan, if one is available and it is permitted.
Pro: Keeping it all together and larger sum of money working for you, not a taxable event
Con: Not all employer plans accept rollovers.

▪ Roll over to an IRA
Pro: Likely more investment options, not a taxable event, consolidating accounts and locations
Con: usually fee involved, potential termination fees

▪ Cash out the account
Con: A taxable event, loss of investing potential. Costly for young individuals under 59½; there is a penalty of 10% in addition to income taxes.

You should carefully consider all of your available options and the applicable fees and features of each before moving your retirement assets.

Asset allocation is one of the most important single determinants of overall investment performance and risk. Choosing the appropriate mix of asset classes can also reduce portfolio volatility. We make asset allocation a key component of our investment strategy, selecting a mix of asset classes that reflects your financial objectives, timeline and risk tolerance.

*Asset allocation does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss.

Family wealth is often concentrated in a single stock or business, either inherited or earned during a successful career. If you’re in this situation, there are many options available beyond simply selling the stock. Although mitigating the risk of a concentrated equity position can be complicated, we can provide a variety of strategies that can hedge, monetize, diversify or transfer the position while managing the tax implications.

Because insurance protects you from the unexpected, it plays a crucial role in your comprehensive financial plan. We provide a wide array of quality insurance alternatives, including life insurance, long-term care insurance and annuities. They can offer an important layer of safety for you, your family or your business.

Through Raymond James, we offer personal lines of credit,* investment accounts with check writing, online bill payment, enhanced reporting and more. We also can assist you in evaluating short-term interest-bearing instruments such as brokered certificates of deposit and cash sweep options.

*The personal line of credit is through a margin account. A margin account may not be suitable for all investors. Borrowing on margin and using securities as collateral involves a high degree of risk, and an investor can lose more funds than he or she deposited in the account. Market conditions can magnify any potential for loss. If the market turns against the investor, he or she may be required to deposit additional securities and/or cash in the account. The securities in the account may be sold by the firm to meet the margin call, and the firm can sell the investor’s securities without contacting them. An investor is not entitled to choose which securities or other assets in his or her account are liquidated or sold to meet a margin call. The firm can increase its maintenance margin requirements at any time and is not required to provide an investor advance written notice. An investor is not entitled to an extension of time on a margin call. The interest rates charged are determined by the amount borrowed. Please visit  sec.gov/investor/pubs/margin.htm for additional information.

Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. are affiliated with Raymond James Bank, member FDIC, a nationally chartered bank. Unless otherwise specified, products purchased from or held at affiliated Raymond James Financial, Inc. companies are not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency; are not deposits or other obligations of Raymond James Bank; are not guaranteed by Raymond James Bank; and are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal invested.

Funding a child’s or grandchild’s higher education can be personally rewarding. We can help you provide for this opportunity with investment vehicles such as 529 college savings accounts and specialized trust vehicles.