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The foundation of every Lovell &
Associates
client relationship is an initial Financial Plan, the scope of which we
define together with our clients to suit their particular
circumstances, goals and objectives.
Comprehensive
Financial Planning
A
comprehensive Financial Plan will encompass
all
aspects of your financial life. The plans purpose is to assist
you in maximizing the use of
your available financial resources to
assist you in achieving your specific goals and objectives.
The
probability of achieving those
goals is
greatest when the Financial Plan integrates
the funding of those goals
with effective wealth management, specialized tax planning, and estate
planning.
A
Financial Plan will change with you and a good financial advisor will
build a long term relationship
with you to address your changing
situation and to advise you of key changes in things like investment
strategy and tax law changes, etc.
It's cost effective... proper Financial
Planning pays for itself over and over again through saved taxes,
increased investment income, avoidance of financial pitfalls, better
management of cashflow and debt.
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A
comprehensive Finanical Plan may address some of
the following areas:
Strategic Tax Planning
Personal Tax
Preparation
Retirement Planning
Risk Management and
Insurance Analysis
Savings &
Investment
Estate Planning
Specialized Services
for Small Business Owners
Cross Boarder Planning
Strategic Tax Planning:
Taxation is a major
factor in most Canadians' lives. This is especially
true if you have a good income and a portfolio that generates
additional income or growth as well. Our experience is that even
retired
individuals are heavily affected by taxation (because they have income
but none of the corresponding employment-related deductions and
credits).
Controlling taxes
and taking a proactive approach to personal taxation
is absolutely essential.
Tax planning
involves a close examination of your current and past tax
situation as well as your current portfolio, income situation, and
assets, meshing your situation with our knowledge of the Income Tax Act
and developing a long term strategy to employ both one time
and ongoing tax savings. There are no "one size fits all" tax
plans. The best solutions for you depend on your own specific
situation.
Frequently we find
this type of planning to be highly cost effective. The planning
pays for itself over and over in the form of
ongoing tax savings, year after year.
Personal Tax Preparation:
One of the key
services we offer to clients on an ongoing basis is preparation of
their annual income tax. We believe that using our tax
preparation
services offer clients some very key advantages:
- Marc and Rob Lovell personally prep, prepare
and review all
returns personally. Your returns are never handled be a student
or
trainee as is the case with some other firms. Further, this means
that
someone that is familiar with your own personal situation and who is
highly experienced with taxation and legislation is preparing your
returns.
- Rob or Marc take the time to sit down with you
one on one to
review your return in detail and explain your situation in simple terms
and even offer suggestions to improve your situation where possible;
- Having your planner prepare your returns allows
us to carefully
review your situation and determine if and where we can make
improvements to your tax strategy on an ungoing and regular basis.
Retirement Planning
Chances are if you
are nearing retirement or even if retirement is
several years into the future there are several questions which are
creeping into your head relating to your retirement:
Will I be able to
retire and at what age?
How much will I
need to be able to comfortably retire?
What about benefits
and other like needs in retirement?
Is my savings plan
on the right track towards my retirement goals?
How will my pension
and employment benefits mesh with my personal
portfolio in retirement?
What will my taxes
be like in retirement?
How do I put it all
together to know that I am headed in the right
direction?
Retirement Planning
will provide you with a lot of direction and some
well thought out answers to these questions.
Retirement
Planning involves a lot of listening to you and understanding your
retirement goals. We make conservative assumptions and run
projections and analyse based on
your current situation. We then compare those projections to your
expectations and goals and determine the best way to move forward and
if you are on the right track. Typically we find this type of planning
addresses alot of the questions above with some very concrete answers
and provides clients with the ability to ensure that they are on the
right path to a successful retirement.
Risk
Management and Insurance Analysis
Here we can
evaluate your current insurance coverage and ensure that
you have a proper coverage based on your situation. Here we
consider three things: first, do you have enough coverage (too much
perhaps); second, is that coverage cost effective; and, finally, is the
coverage the right type of coverage and is it with a quality company.
Risk Management
involves considering risks and factors that you might not
otherwise consider:
- If you die, what happens to your family?
- What if you become disabled?
- What if you become critically ill or need care
in a nursing home?
- Other risk factors that might be very specific
to your own specific situation (e.g. owning a business, a second
marriage, etc.).
Planning
ahead and addressing the risk factors inherent in your own personal
situation can provide realistic solutions to manage those risks to
avoid what could be devastating consequences.
Very
frequently we find that clients have the wrong type of coverage or
their existing coverage is very expensive or not with a qulaity
company.
Having an
independent advisor that works for you (who is not trying to sell you
insurance) can help to optimize your Risk Management Plan and ensure
you
are covered in a cost effective manner.
Savings and Investments
Working with
leaders in the industry we can ensure that you have in place an
appropriate Savings Program and work to manage your investments in a
timely and orderly fashion. We look for broad trends in the
markets
and actively manage accounts in co-operation with our network of
brokers and dealers to ensure that your portfolio receives the proper
level of attention and service.
Often, clients that
have a broker or investment advisor view us as a great addition to
their team of advisors as we can provide
additional tax or management expertise (meaning you hang on to
more investment income after taxes).
Many clients
benefit greatly from our assistance with budgeting and cash flow
management. We also provide our clients with access to our
Network of
firms that provide their services at a reduced rate as a courtesy for
our clients. This allows us to assist clients greatly with
anything
from shopping for a new mortgage to financing a major purchase at a
preferred rate.
Estate Planning
Estate Planning is
the process whereby your affairs are arranged to ensure the orderly
transfer of your assets to your chosen beneficiaries and ensuring that
your
estate is distributed the way you want it to be.
Proper Estate
Planning also ensures that your assets and affairs are arranged in a
manner so as to minimize estate costs and taxes at death.
There are
usually five parts to a proper Estate Planning. Just like the
pieces of a
puzzle each piece must be designed to fit the objectives of your entire
Estate Plan. These pieces are:
- Last Will and Testament
- Life Insurance Program
- Powers of Attorney for Personal Care
- Powers of Attorney for Property
- Proper asset structure
Dramatic
increases in probate fees and user fees for probate court along with
the looming possibility of a provincial or federal estate tax in Canada
make this
type of planning important in order to minimize or eliminate these
costs.
Estate
planning ensures that your assets are distributed to beneficiaries in
the manner that
you desire while ensuring costs are minimized. This keeps more
money and assets in the hands of your family.
Estate planning
will provide you with piece of mind and ensure the following:
- That your affairs are in order and relatively
easy to handle upon your death
- That you have appointed someone to handle your
affairs for you and carry out your wishes
- That you have appointed someone to make
decisions about your health care if you are unable to do so yourself
- That your beneficiaries will receive
funds and that taxes and fees on those funds will be minimized
- Should you have a family business, Estate
Planning will ensure a proper succession plan to keep things going upon
your death.
Typically
Estate planning is highly cost effective as having such a plan in place
will generally save a family a substantial sum of money upon
death. This is yet another example of how proper planning pays
for
itself over and over again.
Planning for Small Business Owners
Small business
owners are faced with a unique set of circumstances. There is
much benefit to a small business owner completing some
comprehensive Financial Planning.
For a business
owner, a proper Financial Plan will address the following:
- minimizing the total taxes paid both on a
personal level and at the corporate level through a strategic Corporate
Tax Plan;
- providing solutions to the
unique risk factors faced by self-employed individuals;
- ensuring a proper succession plan is in place
for the business should a key person die;
- looking at key strategies for retirement
(selling the business, or finding alternative management)
- Cash flow management and bugeting assistance
- Corporate Tax Preparation /Personal Tax
Preparation
- Structuring of Corporations or other forms of
business as applicable
Cross-Border
Planning
Whether you
work in the US and live in Canada or you are considering a cross-border
move, there are many things you need to
consider from a tax and Financial Planning standpoint:
- the overall tax consequences of your move;
- the paperwork and documentation that must
be filed with CRA and the IRS;
- the best way to manage your investments
and benefits within both countries;
- personal and/or corporate tax returns are
you required to file.
Since our
principal financial planner has vast experience and education in the
realm of tax law in both the US and Canada as well as tax treaties,
we are aptly qualified and experienced to handle any tax situation
between the US and Canada on both a personal and corporate level.
For more
information on our planners please go to the our
firm
section
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Disclaimer
& Assorted Legal items:
All written content on
this site is for information purposes only. No client or prospective
client should assume that any information presented and/or made
available on this Website serves as the receipt of, or a substitute
for, personalized individual advice from Lovell & Associates Ltd.
which can only be provided through a formal advisory relationship.
Please see the "Contact Us" section for
information on contacting Lovell & Associates Ltd.
No information on this website is intended to be legal advice. You
should consult your legal counsel for advice regarding your particular
circumstances.
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all rights reserved, please no reproduction or reuse of materials
written or otherwise is permitted without the expressed and written
consent of Lovell & Associates Ltd.
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