Financial Services to Grow and Protect Your Wealth

 AT The BAB Group LLC, WE PARTNER WITH OUR CLIENTS TO PROVIDE FULLY COMPREHENSIVE, CLIENT-CENTRIC INVESTMENT PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION TO HELP THOUGHTFUL INVESTORS LIVE FOR TODAY WHILE BUILDING FOR TOMORROW. 

As CPAs, Investment Advisor Representatives and Wealth Management Specialists we focus on finding the right approach for you and your situation that is both tax advantaged and strategic to meet your income and retirement goals. 

 Retirement income plans are not just for the wealthy. As you near retirement, the traditional strategy has been to move growth-seeking products to more conservative fixed-income products. This may have worked fine back when retirement was only expected to last five to ten years. 

These days, however, people are living longer. It’s not unusual for someone retiring at age 65 to live to age 90 or longer. Consider that you may need to plan for your nest egg to last potentially 25 to 30 years.

Time doesn’t stand still, and neither does money. That’s why you can use time to your advantage when investing for wealth accumulation. The longer you invest, the more time your money must compound interest. 

As retirement gets closer, the mix starts to matter more than the growth rate, and what's right for you depends on your time horizon, your income needs and your tolerance for risk — which is why we plan first.

However, given recent lessons learned in stock market investing, it is important to remember that more conservative retirement plans typically have only a portion of the assets invested in the stock market. 

Other allocations should be set aside for more conservative investments and/or secured income contracts. After all, the last thing you want to do is lose wealth during the next market correction.

Tax rules change, and the bill you pay in retirement depends on decisions you make now. That’s why it’s important now, more than ever before, to incorporate tax planning into your portfolio and all of your financial decisions.

Investing in a tax-deferred vehicle means your money will compound interest for years, unfettered by income taxes, allowing it to earn interest at a faster rate. While very few investments avoid taxes altogether, many allow you to defer paying them until retirement – when you may be in a lower tax bracket.

In recent years, we’ve seen that aggressive and conservative products, both domestic and global, can move in tandem with one another. In other words, we have experienced market scenarios in which there is very little safety anywhere—even for diversified portfolios.

Twenty-first century asset protection calls for more than strategic asset allocation alone. Product allocation — pairing market-based investments with insurance-based vehicles that carry contractual terms such as a floor, a buffer or a guaranteed income stream — is one way to manage the risk of poor returns early in retirement. Each vehicle carries its own costs, limitations and surrender terms, and any guarantees depend on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.

Diversifying retirement assets across both types may improve your chances of meeting income goals over a long retirement, though no approach removes the risk of loss.

Solely focusing on the growth of your portfolio is only solving half the retirement equation. The costs associated with a chronic illness or disability poses the biggest liability to every retiree in the U.S. and can be devastating to one's financial plan. However, traditional insurance options have discernible drawbacks, mainly in the form of expensive lifelong premiums and no guarantee that you or your family will ever use the benefits. In response, most people decide to "self-insure", leaving all their assets susceptible to the costs of a long-term care scenario. We can show you how asset-based coverage repositions money you already have, rather than committing to lifelong premiums — subject to the terms of the policy and the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.  

 Estate planning is simply determining (while you’re still alive) where your assets should go after you die. Without a properly structured estate plan, your wishes may not be fulfilled, and your loved ones could be hurt both emotionally and financially.

While the concept is simple, the vehicles, planning, and implementation process can be rather complex. Because of the constantly changing estate tax laws and emerging vehicles to help you protect and transfer your assets effectively, it’s important to work with experienced estate planning professionals who stay current in this field and advise clients on a day-to-day basis.  

Section 1031 lets an investor defer capital gains tax on the sale of investment real estate by reinvesting the proceeds in a like-kind property. The gain is not erased — it carries forward in your basis until a later taxable sale. Doing it properly takes strict timing and documentation: replacement property identified within 45 days, the exchange completed within 180 days, and the proceeds held by a qualified intermediary. Families have used the rule for decades to defer capital gains and manage the tax impact of real estate passing to their heirs. We can walk you through the requirements and provide turnkey 1031 exchange solutions.

 Thanks to new prescription drugs and medical technology, people are living longer than ever before. However, one drawback to a longer life is the greater possibility of outliving your savings – creating even more reason to develop a retirement income plan designed to last a longer lifetime.

A significant investment loss in the years just prior to and/or just after you retire can have a devastating impact on the level of income you receive over the course of your life. In fact, the earlier a loss occurs, the greater the chance of depleting your retirement savings.

We can help you design an income plan incorporating insurance and investment vehicles to create opportunities for long-term growth as well as secure income throughout your retirement.

There are many different types of trusts, and they can be complex to set up and execute. However, a trust can be a very flexible and advantageous means to transfer your assets in the future. Some trusts also provide current benefits, such as tax deferral and/or deductions.

Life insurance isn't for those who have died—it's for those who are left behind. When shopping for life insurance, consider needs such as replacing income so your family can maintain its standard of living, as well as paying for your funeral and estate costs. As a rule of thumb, you should seek coverage between five and seven times your gross annual income. As far as the various types of policies go, they can generally be placed into one of two categories: Term and Permanent.

Term insurance generally provides coverage for a specified period and pays out a specified amount of coverage to your beneficiary only if you die within that time period. You pay the same amount of premium from the first day of the policy until the term ends. Permanent insurance, on the other hand, does not need to be renewed. A permanent insurance policy will stay permanently in effect for the rest of your life so long as premiums continue to be paid. Permanent policies can also build cash value as a tool for tax-advantaged income in retirement.

 When you change jobs or retire, there are four things you can do with the money in your employer-sponsored retirement plan:

• Leave the money where it is
• Take the cash (and pay income taxes and perhaps a 10% federal penalty tax if you are younger than age 59½)
• Transfer the money to another employer plan (if plan allows)
• Roll the money over to an IRA

Rolling over from one qualified plan to another qualified plan allows your money to continue growing tax deferred until you receive distributions in retirement. We can help you determine if a rollover is the right move for you, and the best vehicle to help conserve and grow your rollover assets.