Jeff’s latest book, Financial Planning Basics, has just been released and is now available on Amazon.com.
When asked why he decided to write about financial planning, Jeff first began by saying, “We have working relationships with some pretty great financial advisors and planners, and the last thing we want to do is second guess them. This is because we already scrutinize and vet the advisors we work with to make sure that they are taking care of our mutual clients the way they deserve.”
Jeff went on to explain: “But not all of our clients work with these advisors, and some clients simply come in on their own without a referral from their financial professional. Jeff added that it often makes him wonder why their advisor didn’t make sure that they had a good estate planning professional to help secure the assets they are supposedly helping to protect and grow.
- Their investments are far out of alignment with the concerns and goals they express to us.
- Based on their age, their investments may be grossly aggressive or entirely too conservative, but no one has explained the difference.
- They don’t really understand even the basics of the investments they have.
- They don’t really understand even the basics of other investments they might want to consider.
For these reasons, Jeff wrote Financial Planning Basics, so that our clients and the general public will have available a plain English overview of the main investments out there, the different levels of risk associated with each, and what each “tool” is designed to address.
The book addresses numerous financial questions. Are variable annuities horrible? For many situations, the answer might be yes, but for the right situations it can be exactly what is needed. What about investing in the stock market? It all depends, but it is not the right type of investment for a hundred percent of our clients’ money for one hundred percent of the time. And almost certainly the composition and breakdown of investments should be examined and possibly changed over time to suit the needs of maturing clients in or nearing retirement. And ALL of it, every single piece, needs to work with your estate plan.
“Another thing I was extremely frustrated with was there were no “non-textbooks” out there that I felt were appropriate to give an unbiased review of the whole financial planning world of possibilities,” he said. “There were plenty of books about how great annuities were and the impact they could have on families (and they can be great vehicles), but they weren’t put into perspective. Then there were other books about how great the stock market was for even average investors, but I also saw little that addressed a main goal I see which is to have at least part of a nest egg COMPLETELY safe from risk. Financial Planning Basics gives what I feel is a good overview of what is out there, an approach to periodically and systematically address planning goals, and find ways to match assets with those goals, even if it takes several professionals to provide them the exact mix of investments right for their plan.”
Our office is now also starting to assist our clients in running through a basic financial planning process to uncover their goals if their financial advisor was not the person who referred them to us. “As I said before, added Jeff, “we take great pains to make sure that the advisors we are working with and who are sending us clients go through the same or a similar process anyway, so we don’t want to waste anyone’s time.”
If a financial overview plan is something that you are interested in, then please let us know. My business, separate from the law office for these purposes, is The Care Assistance Center, LLC. It can be reached at 919-518-8237. We can then send you a pre-appointment package with the book and arrange a time to go through this process with you. If you are interested in the book Financial Planning Basics, it is now available for sale at www.PlainEnglishAttorney.com.