Personal & Accumulation Planning
Step One: Philosophy Meeting
Why do you work? What is your TRUE PURPOSE for money? What do you want to achieve with your resources?We clearly define the goals that you would like to achieve during your lifetime. It is this list of goals that will guide the rest of your planning process. Once we know where you want to go we share our philosophy on the financial world.
Step Two: Data Gathering & Analysis
We collect and organize the important information in your financial life. We will then populate your Living Balance Sheet®, giving us a clear starting point to assess your finances.
Step Three: Asset & Income Protection Analysis
A thorough analysis of your Protection domain. We provide an assessment of how well you are protected from a number of risks, and discuss how those exposures could affect your other financial domains. We then develop an Action Plan to address those threats and mitigate the risks.
Step Four: Cash Flow & Investments
We examine your current cash flow in relation to the goals you laid out in the Philosophy meeting. This serves as a basis of comparison to measure the effectiveness of other potential strategies. We will weigh factors like protection, flexibility, risk tolerance, taxes and inflation as we simulate various cash flow strategies unfolding across your financial timeline. We then discuss the best investment options based upon your unique situation.
Step Five: Implement & Review
The best plan that is not executed is useless. Therefore, once the optimal strategy is agreed upon, we will narrow our focus to the tactical changes needed to implement the strategy. Once the plan is in place and running, we Review & Revise the plan as necessary.
Retirement & Distribution Planning
Thirty years ago most people retired with a pension and Social Security - and confidence that they'd never have to worry about income in retirement. Today retirees must rely on the assets they've accumulated during their working years to provide income during their golden years. But how do you turn assets into cash flow that will last as long as you do during a retirement fraught with risk and uncertainty?
We have been answering these questions for our clients for years using a process that is different from other investment professionals. While others may focus on maximizing returns and taking more risk, we focus on how to maximize the income from your assets while decreasing your risk. This requires a balance of both art and science - providing streams of income that last for clients despite the uncertainty of not knowing how long they'll live, what the stock market will do, what interest rates or taxes will be, whether they'll get sick along the way, or if unexpected liquidity needs might arise. While the financial landscape is different today, the hope of a confident retirement doesn't have to be.
Business Growth Planning
STEP 1 - Schedule a Checkup
Every pharmacy and every pharmacy owner is unique, and thus our process is designed to flexibly accommodate each owner's unique vision for their future and fact pattern in the present. In order to provide an accurate and customized proposal for the type of planning your situation requires, our process beings with a complimentary consultation around your current business planning goals and the basic data required to populate the four domains of your Pharmacy's Balance Sheet.
Step 2 - Run a Diagnostic
No matter how you plan your personal finances, an increased business value can help to make the outcome better for you. That said, there are four interdependent financial domains that impact your current and future business value. Your Business Balance Sheet will allow you to see your business in one view, so that you can clearly assess how different financial strategies will affect its value.
Step 3 - Treatment Plan & Implementation
After determining an area of focus, we will evaluate potential solutions, measure them and provide you with recommendations. When we have determined a course of action, we will help you coordinate with tax and legal professionals if needed to execute the recommendations.
Client Centered
For the pharmacy owner, all roads lead to Exit Planning. Eventually, you will leave your pharmacy - the question is when, to whom, for how much, and on what terms? Our experience has taught us that in each unique pharmacy owner situation, there is a specific process of discovery, strategy, and implementation that can help lead to the best possible result when it comes to realizing the full value of your life's work:
What Do You Want?
The answer to this question is about many things - how much do you want in post-exit cash flow? When do you want to exit?
Sell for Highest or Lowest Value?
Really, this is a question about who you plan to sell the business to. If it's an Outside party, the goal is typically to sell for the highest possible price. If it's an Inside party, the goal is actually to sell for the lowest possible price. Either approach requires up front planning to put the right pieces in place for when the time comes.
Do Your Employees Act Like Owners?
A critical, but often overlooked, aspect of a successful exit strategy is locking up key employees who will serve as a bridge from old ownership to new. This continuity is critical for the success of both parties and can be assured by taking the proper steps to motivate key personnel to act like an owner without you actually giving up any ownership.
Is Your Exit Strategy Synced with Your Retirement Strategy?
The amount of cash flow needed in retirement creates constraints on the terms of your business exit strategy, and vice versa. Coordinating retirement distribution strategies with the exit strategy is paramount, and the sooner the better.
What about Your Estate Plan?
How will the business exit strategy impact your overall tax and estate plan*? It's critical that you are prepared in advance to deal problems that could be created because of your success, especially when it comes to the need for liquidity and the desire to treat all family members "fairly", given that "equally" is not always an option.
*Guardian, its subsidiaries, agents and employees do not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Consult your tax, legal, or accounting professional regarding our individual situation.