Financial Solutions

Solutions for you and your family

When it comes to financial matters, it's easy to see where you want to go. It's harder to figure out how to get there. Whether you're saving for retirement, investing for the future, funding a college education or reaching for any of a hundred other financial goals, we can help.




Solutions for your businessFor your business to reach its full potential, you need to understand the financial tools at your disposal. We can apply our expertise to help your business succeed.

A dynamic approach to helping you and your family reach your financial goals

At GCG, we use financial planning tools and resources to help you and your family reach your financial goals. We provide expertise in the six areas with the biggest impact on your personal financial situation, and develop plans and strategies to help you succeed.

We help you identify where you want to go, and show you how to get there, turning financial planning into a powerful force for you.

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Current Financial Position

Understanding your current financial situation is one of the most important aspects of doing financial planning. Your current assets, liabilities, liquidity and cash flow will affect almost every other short or long-term goal that you have.

Many people don’t realize the long-term impact of the financial decisions they make on a day-to-day basis. Your financial needs in the event of a death or disability will be closely related to your current situation, and areas such as income tax liability, asset allocation, estate tax liability, ownership status of assets, and control of assets are all inter-related.

If you already have a good understanding of your current financial situation, congratulations! If you could benefit from a greater understanding of where you stand today, there are numerous ways that you can begin.

Use worksheets to calculate your net worth and track your cash flow. Personal finance programs such as Quicken™ or MS Money™ are also helpful in gaining a better understanding of where you stand today.

For help in identifying strengths and weaknesses in your current financial picture, or for help in developing a comprehensive financial plan, select the "Contact Us" option located in the main site menu at the top of the page. Our Financial Advisors are just a click away!

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Protection Planning

Protecting your family from major financial risks is one of the cornerstones of any sound financial program. Life insurance, disability insurance, health coverage and long-term care insurance should all be evaluated to help minimize your exposure to financial risk.

By working with a knowledgeable Financial Advisor, you can develop a comprehensive approach to assessing your need for additional coverage. To help you get started, click on the Financial Calculators link located in the main site menu at the top of the page.

While there are more complicated systems for calculating your insurance needs, this provides you with an indicator of whether you should consider increasing your life insurance coverage.

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Investment Planning

Managing risk in your investments
Successful investing is based on managing risk — understanding what risk means and using it to your advantage.

Risk refers to the chance that an investment's value or return will be lower than expected. Investments with potential for greater loss are viewed as riskier than those with a lesser chance of loss.

However, the risks associated with investments differ in the long-term compared to the short-term. In the long-term, so-called "risky" investments may offer a greater chance of reaching a financial objective.

Risk Levels
For example, a government bond that guarantees a return of principal and $100 interest after 30 days is risk-free in the short term, since the return will always be $100 regardless of events in the financial markets, if held to maturity. In contrast, common stock may have the potential of earning as much as $200 and as little as $0 and offer no protection of principal.

In the long-term, the picture changes. Based on historical stock performance, risk faced by stocks declines over the long-term. The risk faced by government bonds increases, however, since their long-term returns they offer are frequently outperformed by other types of investments and may not always keep up with inflation and taxes.

The risk and return of any one investment should be viewed in relation to your total investment portfolio — the combination of investments you’re making. If you hold just one or two accounts, you are more exposed to risk than if your money is more widely diversified. Diversification means investing in instruments which behave differently during a given economic situation or time period.

A Financial Advisor can help you determine an appropriate level of risk and diversification for your financial goals, profile and time horizon. Talk to an advisor or representative today about developing a customized investment strategy.

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Tax planning

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Retirement planning

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Estate planning

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Business Solutions
To run a successful business, you need to understand the financial choices available to business owners. At our firm, we apply our expertise, resources and tools to find long-term solutions that can help your business grow and succeed.

 

Business Continuation

 

Benefits for key executives

Planning for changes in ownership

 






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Key Employee Life Insurance
Provides you with the funds you need to keep your business running smoothly when you lose a key employee.

Personal estate planning
Carefully incorporating your business needs into a total estate plan can help you meet estate tax and liquidity needs to preserve the full value of your business for your family and associates.

 

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Business Planning
Develop a strategy to preserve your business and your net worth

Effective business continuation is both an "art" and a science. First and foremost, it is an art. Because the best business plan always considers your unique financial goals and objectives, creativity and customization is required to select and tailor those strategies best suited to meet your specific business continuation and benefit needs.

However, business continuation and benefit planning is also a science. The best business plan should take into account the tax and legal ramifications of the various financial strategies adopted. A Financial Advisor or Registered Representative will incorporate both the art and science of business planning in a program recommended to you.

Using business dollars for personal expenses
These valuable concepts can help:

Split-dollar life insurance
Your corporation can help you pay for your own life insurance by "advancing" your money to pay the annual premium. This low-cost benefit can also be available for key employees.

Disability insurance
Your business can provide you with personal disability insurance — which continues a portion of your salary when you're unable to work — and the premiums (in most cases) are tax deductible.

Section 303 stock redemption
Your business may be able to help you pay estate taxes and settlement costs if your stock is worth more than 35 percent of your adjusted gross estate. Under a Section 303 stock redemption, the business redeems some stock from your estate to produce cash to meet your estate's obligations.

How to use employee benefits to increase income and improve retention of key employees
These concepts can help you get the most out of your benefit dollars:

Disability salary continuation planning
A salary continuation plan can help protect you, your key employees and your business from the financial consequences of a disability. If the plan is funded with disability insurance policies, premium payments are considered tax deductible as a necessary business expense.

Qualified pension and profit-sharing plans
Employee-sponsored retirement programs help employees prepare for retirement and allow them to take advantage of special tax breaks. Any contributions you make to the plan are tax deductible.

Life Rewards
Highly compensated executives are limited in the amounts they can save for retirement in qualified plans. Nonqualified plans are available through Life Rewards and allow associates to enhance their retirement benefits.

Split-Dollar insurance
Life insurance can be provided to select executives at a reduced cost through split-dollar insurance plans.

Golden Executive Bonus Arrangement(GEBA)
GEBA and other executive bonus strategies provide life insurance to employees and give your company a current income tax deduction.

Personal financial analysis
This service helps employees manage their money more effectively and achieve their personal financial goals.

Group insurance
Your business can provide a variety of programs, and the tax deductions generated by the premiums you pay make the cost of these benefits even lower. Medical, disability and life insurance are the three most sought-after programs.

The Art and Science of Business Planning can help ensure the ongoing success of your business.

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Key Person Insurance:
Protect your business against the loss of one of your most vital assets: key employees

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Life Rewards:
Select nonqualified retirement benefits for your key executives

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Golden Executive Bonus Arrangement (GEBA):
A compensation tool designed to reward select executives with cash value life insurance

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Business estate planning:
How to preserve your life's work

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Business continuation planning:
Prepare for the continued success of your business after you're gone.

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Executive Bonus Plans:
Reward key employees with life insurance paid with deductible business dollars

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<>Key Person Insurance:
Protect your business against the loss of one of your most vital assets: key employees

Key people are vital to the success of your business. A Key Person Life Insurance Plan can provide the funds you need to keep your business running smoothly after you've lost a key employee through death or employee turnover.

How Key Person Life Insurance works:

The employer pays premiums for a life insurance policy on the key employee's life. The employer is the owner and beneficiary.

The employer can arrange an Exchange of Insurance Agreement to reduce losses if a key employee leaves prior to retirement. This allows the employer to transfer coverage to a successor.

If a key employee dies, the employer receives the policy's income tax-free death benefit* and can apply it towards business expenses or losses caused by the employee's death.

If you employ anyone whose sudden, unexpected absence would significantly impact your business, consult with your Financial Advisor and other financial professionals about Key Person Life Insurance.

* Subject to the corporate alternative minimum tax for C corporations.

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Life Rewards:
Select nonqualified retirement benefits for your key executives

The benefit program your company offers is critical to attracting and retaining top employees. Qualified benefit programs — pension and 401(k) plans — limit participation by highly compensated executives. A nonqualified plan is a unique benefit designed to attract and reward top executives. Life Rewards, a customized nonqualified benefit program, can strengthen the tie between your company and its top executives.

You can provide Life Rewards for your key executives to:

  • Secure the services of your most influential executives that may impact profitability.
  • Attract new managers.
  • Build loyalty in today's high turnover marketplace.
  • Provide a second tier of benefits to highly compensated executives disadvantaged by qualified plan limitations.

 

Three Life Rewards strategies are available:

Executive Deferral Plan
Allows the executive to defer a portion of base salary, bonus or commissions, which lowers currently taxable income.

Deferred Bonus Plan
Restricted solely to discretionary employer contributions and rewards the executive subject to a vesting schedule you select.

Executive Salary Continuation Plan
Protects against inflation to help your valued executives achieve a comfortable retirement. Funded entirely with company dollars.

Life Rewards offer valuable benefits to key executives:

  • Lower currently taxable income during their working years
  • A survivor benefit for their family
  • Tax deferred growth of retirement assets
  • Parity for executives limited by qualified plan restrictions

 

Who can sponsor a nonqualified Life Rewards plan? Any company can establish a nonqualified Life Rewards plan. C corporations best complement the tax advantages of a nonqualified plan; however, nonshareholders of an S corporation also benefit. Other entities such as a limited liability company, limited liability partnership, sole proprietorship or partnership may also sponsor a nonqualified plan for select nonowner executives.

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Planning for changes in ownership
You can prepare for the problems that can come with a change in ownership by using these techniques:

 

Buy-Sell agreements This is the most common business continuation planning tool. Life insurance funds the agreement, which establishes the value of your business and assures a ready market for your share in the business after you're gone.

 

Financial Planning