Holistic Retirement Planning
At Cravitz Financial & Insurance Solutions, we believe that real financial peace of mind exists when one knows they have a comprehensive financial strategy.
We help to educate our clients, and provide them with the information, and resources they need to take control of their financial future.
We believe a sound financial strategy includes more than just a solid investment portfolio.
It must integrate all aspects of your financial life.
We create holistic financial plans designed to help with the five critical components of retirement planning.
These five areas include:
Income & Social Security Optimization Planning
Many people today will spend 20 to 30 years or more in retirement.
We help you analyze and maximize your retirement benefits including Social Security and any company pension plans so that you can make an informed decision.
We'll also help you understand any income gaps and will incorporate strategies that will fill those gaps.
Investment Management
Investment planning is a key component of a solid retirement plan.
The impact that a significant loss can have early in your retirement years could have a devastating impact on the amount of income you are able to receive throughout the rest of your life.
For those that are retired or nearing retirement, it's crucial to incorporate a risk managed investment strategy that attempts to minimize the downside risk while seeking the growth you need to sustain a comfortable retirement.
As an investment advisor we only make recommendations that are in your best interest to help give you the highest probability of success.
Advanced Tax Planning
There's a difference between tax filing and tax forward planning.
Tax filing is concerned with looking in the rear view mirror and filing taxes for last year.
Tax forward planning has to do with looking at ahead, and seeking to minimize the taxes you'll have to pay over the course of your retirement.
Are you holding the right investments in each account?
When should you withdraw money from your taxable, tax deferred, and tax free accounts?
Should you incorporate Roth conversions? These are just some of the things that need to be considered.
Medicare & Long Term Care Planning
Healthcare costs have continued to increase faster than the overall inflation rate. It's critical to have a plan to pay for these costs.
There are important decisions to be made when it comes to Medicare. As a starting point you need to know when you need to sign up to avoid any penalties.
Also, Medicare doesn't cover long term care costs.
Planning for how you will pay for these expenses if they arise is critical to the success of your retirement plan.
Estate & Legacy Planning
Legacy & Estate planning involves making decisions as to who you'd like your assets to go to after you pass away.
Estate planning also addresses how you want your affairs handled if you are in a position where you are not able to handle them on your own for any reason.
We will work with you and your attorney or can recommend one if needed to ensure any discrepancies between your wishes and your current estate documents.
We will also address any life insurance needs. Even in retirement you might need life insurance.
If you were to pass away would anyone such as your spouse suffer financially as result?
For instance, when one spouse passes away the surviving spouse loses a Social Security check.
If there is enough income from assets outside of Social Security then life insurance may not be needed.
That said, it may be desired to help leave a legacy to children, grandchildren, or a favorite charity.
We do our best work with:
Those who are retired or planning to retire within the next 5 to 10 years.
Diligent savers that don't have a specific plan in place for asset preservation and income distribution.
People who value the help of a professional, and prefer not manage their own personal finances and investments.
Some of the important questions we can answer include:
What's the first step?
Schedule a call to give us both a chance to make sure your financial situation matches our expertise.
Schedule a 15-Minute Phone Call
Have additional questions?
Do You Offer One time Project Fees as an Option?
Unfortunately, we do not. We only work with people that are looking for a long term relationship. Our practice is not set up for short term project work at this time anyway.
How Do You Make Money?
Transparency is a priority for us. As an advisor there are generally three different ways you can structure your business and be compensated. They are fee only, commission only, or both by fees and commissions. We believe that there is a place, and an absolute need for both. We are set up as two distinct divisions. Wealth management is fee only. Insurance is paid through commissions paid by the insurance company.
Can you explain more about how you are compensated? (Wealth Management)
The first division of our practice is an independent investment advisory practice where we work with more traditional investment vehicles such as stock, bonds, mutual funds, ETF’s, as well as some alternative investments all within the context of fee based managed money.
Through a strategic partnership that I’ve formed with Brookstone Capital Management I am able to access their resources, and a multitude of investment options while still remaining completely independent.
I do not receive commissions on investment trades or transactions. Unlike a broker who might get paid when you buy XYZ stock. Then if they recommend you sell XYZ stock to buy ABC stock instead, you wonder are they are only doing this to earn a commission on the trades?
I am paid a set fee based upon the assets under management. I am not paid more or less if or when trades are made.
The fee you pay is dependent upon the dollar amount invested and the strategies selected as a part of the portfolio design. Most commonly the fee is going to be somewhere between 1 to 1.5%.
Can you explain how you are compensated? (Insurance)
The other division is the independent insurance agency. Love it or hate we all need insurance whether it’s for our car, or our home we all need it. We don’t handle that kind of insurance though.
The kind we handle includes life insurance, long term care insurance, and annuities. We are completely independent. If you needed a life insurance policy as example, we would identify the top carriers and tell you the good, the bad, the ugly of each and assist you in getting that in place.
Some advisors have chosen to operate as completely fee only. Often times they will say that by operating this way, and refusing to accept any commissions it removes all conflicts of interest.
However, there are certain products such as the insurance products that I mentioned above that the only way an advisor can be compensated on them is through a commission.
We believe that if someone needs a life insurance policy, or a long term care policy then we'd be doing a disservice by not making the recommendation and helping them get the coverage in place.
We believe there is a place for both investments and insurance in a cohesive financial plan.
Are You Set Up To Meet Virtually and Work With People In Other States?
We work with people across the United States. We also have quite a few clients that are local that prefer meeting virtually. Instead of having to get in a car and drive to our office they can meet virtually from the comfort of their own living room.
Should I Hire Cravitz Financial & Insurance Solutions?
Excellent question.
If you are wanting an advisor that engages in buying and selling stocks on a regular basis with the attempt of trying to predict and time the markets we aren't the right firm for you.
We believe markets as well as the news of the day are unpredictable. Predicting what the markets will do day to day, or if/when interest rates will go up and down is a fool's game.
Instead we focus on things you can control like helping to create a reliable income stream, reduce your taxes, invest smarter, and optimize your insurance.
What Else Should I Know?
We specialize in retirement planning. We aim to ensure you have the money you need, to live the lifestyle you want, for the rest of your life.
We limit the amount of clients we bring on to provide a high level of personalized service and planning efforts.
We are firm believers in technology and invest in it heavily to make the retirement planning process as simple as possible.

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