Estate Planning
Your Plan-Your Story
Estate & Tax Strategy
Financial planning is not just about the numbers on your balance sheet. Your plan tells a story, and each storyteller must know where to begin and end. If a storyteller only wrote or read a few pages in the middle, the story would be difficult to understand.
Successful individuals and families often have a number of professionals who assist with their plan – including attorneys, accountants, bankers, and insurance agents, to name a few. These individuals often operate in an uncoordinated fashion and can each be thought of as an author or storyteller of only part or chapter of the story. Getting these individuals on the same page – or at least putting the pages they right in the correct order – can be paramount to the success of your story.
For this reason, Alpha Principle helps you to fit the pages together in the correct order. By reviewing your complete picture – estate documents, business documents, tax returns, loans, life insurance policies, and other important documents – we can help you see how these interact with your plan and story. We serve as an independent, second set of eyes, which may include the use of former practicing attorneys to answer questions without the need to worry about billable hours.
We can also help coordinate efforts between your various advisors to help you put strategies into action.
Estate Plan Review
Do you know what your wills and trusts say? Can you remember who you have named to act on your behalf under your documents? Are your documents compatible with the assets you have? And, most importantly, does your estate plan reflect the legacy, values, and identity you hope to pass on to your family?
An estate plan review can help you see how all the pieces fit together. Throughout the years, you may have created multiple documents, trusts, and businesses. Seeing how these legal and financial structures interact with each other, and with your goals and intent, is an important component of your estate plan. Getting your house in order doesn’t just end with having the right documents. Maintenance of your plan can involve additional steps, especially when your situation changes.
Alpha Principle can summarize your existing documents and structures and discuss the current status with you. Armed with this knowledge, you are then well-equipped to coordinate changes and maintenance with your attorneys, accountants, and other professional advisors in a more efficient and effective way.
Case Study: The Smith family met with their estate planning attorney many years ago to implement a thoughtful plan. They created wills, revocable trusts, and powers of attorney when their children were just infants and toddlers. As the second of their children was getting ready to leave the house for college, the Smiths thought it would be a good time to dust off their estate planning documents. Read More
Tax Strategy
Change is inevitable – including changes in tax laws. Navigating these changes, and knowing how they affect you, can be extremely difficult even for the most educated and informed individuals and families.
Alpha Principle can be a valuable tax resource. We take the time to explore various strategies to save income and transfer taxes, if and when these savings are consistent with your goals. As an independent and objective resource, we can also help you to stress-test ideas presented to you.
Case Study: The Johnsons followed an annual charitable gifting program, through which they supported their church and a variety of other causes that aligned with their values. Read More
Business Succession Planning
If you own or operate a business of any size, it interacts with your financial, estate, tax, and legacy goals. Whether you plan to sell a business, pass it on to the next generation, or incentivize employees to take over, an understanding of your business structure and options is an important first step.
Alpha Principle can help you understand the bounds of what can be done with your business, and help you formulate a strategy. By reviewing company documents, buy-sell agreements, and other related documents, we can help you integrate your business strategy with your other goals.
And, if you decide to sell, merge, buy, or exchange your business holdings, Alpha Principle can provide a second or third set of eyes where needed.
Case Study: Mrs. Baker had successfully started a business with her two best friends after college. As they started families, the business experienced massive success. They each worried about the effect of estate taxes on the business, and decided to use their lifetime gift tax exemptions to move some of the business into trusts for their respective families. Read More
Conclusion
Successful enterprises often have a secretary and CFO, who work hand-in-hand to keep the house in order. Alpha Principle works with in-house professionals on a fractional basis to fill this role for you, creating a lite version of a family office – often with lower costs and lower administrative burdens.
Note: This service is provided for educational and informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for legal or tax advice. Strategies may require the assistance of an attorney and/or CPA. Alpha Principle does not give or receive fees for referrals to any outside professionals.
Core Service Benefits
Alpha Principle’s robust suite of estate planning services are ready to meet you where you are, from the start of your financial security journey to the estate and legacy considerations of becoming ultra wealthy.
Document Review
We help clients review their existing estate planning documents to ensure their wishes and needs are being met.
Attorney Collaboration
Alpha Principle collaborates with your existing attorney (or we can introduce you to one) to assist in creating or adjusting your estate plan.
Estate Flow
See a high-level overview chart of your estate's potential future value and how it may be distributed upon your passing.
Next Gen Education
A legacy can last for generations, and we are here to help educate and guide your heirs, setting them up for long-lasting and sustainable success.
Giving
Many of our clients find passion in supporting causes they believe in. Choosing the right methods and strategies is important.
Complex Strategies
Estate plans for the ultra-affluent often include (or need) to utilize complex strategies, such as trusts and life insurance. Our team can help you choose wisely.