FINANCIAL SERVICES
Attahjundwe Obiajulu, CFP®, CLU®, CLTC – Private Wealth Advisor in New York
Our goal is always to construct a financial roadmap specifically tailored to each individual or family.
Since no two people are the same, no two financial plans will ever be the same.
They are unique, just like the people with whom we work.
Take a look at the different financial services available below:
RISK MANAGEMENT
A big part of keeping your dream alive is making plans to protect the financial situation of your loved ones, particularly your dependents. We believe that sound planning begins by building a strong base of financial security. Our group has access to a full spectrum of insurance products designed to help you manage the risks of premature death, disability and health care. We can provide guidance in choosing the type of coverage that is appropriate for you and your family, including those available through your employer. Insurance products offered through LPL Financial or its licensed affiliates.
Disability Income Insurance
- Disability income insurance provides supplemental income to an individual whose earnings have been impacted due to an accident or illness. If you’re an individual employee, disability insurance may help replace part of your income until you get back on the job. If you’re a business owner, coverage may help pay day-to-day operating expenses if you’re unable to work. It also helps provide funds to purchase a disabled partner’s share of a business through a buy-out agreement or compensate for profits lost and expenses incurred if replacing a disabled key individual. Disability income insurance is typically identified as one of three variations – partial disability, recurrent disability or total disability – and is designed to replace part of your income until you are able to return to work.
Generally, partial disability pays a portion of the total disability benefit to you if you are unable to perform one or more of your occupational duties because of disability. This provision is built into some disability policies or is available as a rider with others. Recurrent disability describes situations where a disability occurs, you recover for a short period of time, then experience a recurrence of the same or related disability. Usually, “total disability” considers you totally disabled if you are unable to perform the important duties of your occupation due to injury or sickness, aren’t working in another gainful occupation and are under a physician’s care.
Definitions of types of disabilities and coverage provided vary according to the provisions of a particular disability policy. Long term care insurance can provide added reassurance in the event of a disabling illness or injury. Likewise, individual life insurance can help you plan for your future, making sure you have enough income to provide for loved ones or even the continuation of a business after you’re gone.
Life Insurance
- Life insurance is often purchased to replace income that potentially can be lost with the death of a wage earner. The life insurance policies work from the same basic idea – they help protect the financial security of your family in the event of your untimely death. You pay the insurer “premiums” and the insurer promises to pay your beneficiaries a death benefit when you die. At that time, your beneficiaries receive the death benefit in effect at the time of your death.
Universal life offers flexibility. The amount of premiums may vary as long as the available cash value is sufficient to cover the costs of the policy. You also can opt to increase or decrease the amount of the death benefit while the policy is in force. Variable universal life is designed with the flexibility of a universal life policy together with variable investment options. The cash value varies with performance of an underlying portfolio of subaccounts. You select how to allocate the net premium among investment options (subaccounts) offered. Subaccount values fluctuate with market conditions. Whole life is traditional life insurance. Premiums are guaranteed in the policy for the entire time the policy is in force. You accumulate a cash value, but the insurance company determines the interest rate credited to the cash value. Term life insurance is purchased for a specific term of years: one, five, 10 or longer. If you die during the term, your beneficiaries receive the death benefit. But, if you’re still living when the policy expires, coverage ends and there is no payout.
One thing is true for all types of life insurance – the younger you are and the healthier you are when you purchase life insurance, the less it will cost you to own a life insurance policy. You should consider your life insurance needs when major events occur in your life such as marriage, the birth of your children or a business startup.
Long Term Care Insurance
Long term care insurance provides you with day-to-day assistance when a serious illness or disability renders you unable to care for yourself, whether physically or cognitively, for a lengthy period of time. This long term care can be provided at home or at nursing, assisted living or alternate care facilities. Long term care insurance can help provide a sense of security. You can gain maximum protection against the potentially high costs of long term health care while helping to preserve your resources.
Decisions about long term health care are seldom easy. You’ll need to consider several basic factors in making your choices for long term coverage. Your eligibility and long term care rates are based on your age, sex, health type and amount of coverage selected. An effective long term care plan can be tailored to suit your needs with supportive protection benefits such as home health care protection. This is when a home health care aide cares for you up to eight hours a day and your primary care giver, such as a spouse or a child, cares for you the remainder of the time.
In addition, you may want to consider inflation protection, which ensures that your benefits keep pace with nursing home costs. For an additional premium, inflation protection offers an annual increase in benefits. You may wish to consider partnering your long term care plan with a disability insurance plan, as well as life insurance coverage, to provide a well-rounded protection plan.
Please keep in mind that insurance companies alone determine insurability and some people may be deemed uninsurable because of health reasons, occupation, and lifestyle choices. Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the issuing company.
Variable Universal Life Insurance/Variable Life Insurance policies are subject to substantial fees and charges. Policy values will fluctuate and are subject to market risk and to possible loss of principal. Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the issuer.
Riders are additional guarantee options that are available to an annuity or life insurance contract holder. While some riders are part of an existing contract, many others may carry additional fees, charges and restrictions, and the policy holder should review their contract carefully before purchasing. Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the issuing insurance company.
RETIREMENT INCOME PLANNING
Financial independence during retirement is a goal that many of us desire but rarely plan for adequately. We can estimate what you need to maintain your current lifestyle at retirement. Any company-sponsored retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, savings accounts, and other sources of income are evaluated. Then, an effective, step-by-step strategy is determined, taking advantage of current tax laws and suitable investment vehicles. Creating a strategy can help set the stage for a comfortable retirement.
Establishing your retirement plan with Gateway Financial Partners means investment flexibility. You have the ability to select and then reposition your portfolio holdings to satisfy ever-changing personal and economic conditions. The selection of self-directed retirement accounts includes:
Traditional IRA – An account established and funded by individual contributions or an individual retirement plan transferred from another financial institution.
Rollover IRA – A retirement account funded by distributions received from an employer’s qualified pension or profit-sharing plan upon termination of employment.
SEP-IRA – A retirement account established and funded by employer contributions.
INVESTMENT PLANNING
Your specific investment decisions will depend on several factors: your age, tax bracket, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, investment time horizon and investment goals. You may want to consult an advisor regarding designing a portfolio that is appropriate for you and your risk tolerance.
You’ve heard the old investment adage, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” It’s good advice. A diversified portfolio should be at the core of any well-planned investment strategy. While a worthy goal at any age, it’s especially desirable as your net worth grows over the years. The basic purpose of diversification is to reduce risk and volatility. It’s primarily a defensive type of investment policy. Depending on your investment goals and tolerance for risk, your strategy may emphasize one type of investment over another. But overall, your investment plan should be diversified. That’s because no single type of investment performs best under all economic conditions. A diversified program is capable of weathering varying economic cycles and improving the trade-off between risk and return. Of course, diversification cannot entirely eliminate the risk of investment losses. Diversification offers returns which are not directly related over time and is intended for the structure of a whole portfolio to help reduce the risk inherent in a particular security.
Diversification also means not tying up all your funds in long-term investments. You’ll need to keep a certain amount easily accessible — that is, in money-market accounts, savings accounts or short-term certificates of deposit (CDs) — for on-going expenses, emergency needs, and short-term goals such as saving to buy a car or pay taxes. And through dollar-cost averaging, a process of buying stocks and bonds from time to time instead of all at once, you can spread the risk over both good and bad markets. Using this investment method involves continuous investment in securities regardless of fluctuating price levels of securities. Therefore, investors should consider their financial ability to continue purchasing through periods of fluctuating price levels. Dollar cost averaging does not ensure a profit and does not protect against a loss in declining markets. Diversification is also important because CDs are FDIC-insured and typically offer a fixed rate of return while investments such as stocks and bonds are not FDIC-insured and their value will fluctuate with current market conditions.
All investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.
Please keep in mind that insurance companies alone determine insurability and some people may be deemed uninsurable because of health reasons, occupation, and lifestyle choices. Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the issuing company.
Gateway Financial Partners and LPL Financial do not provide specific individual tax or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor.
LONG TERM CARE
What are your plans for when your health changes and you can no longer take care of yourself?
If a family is required to provide long term care for a loved one at home; sometimes the costs are more than dollars and cents, they are higher.
More Americans are living longer largely because physicians, surgery, and medications are contributing to longevity in a very positive way. However, the fact that many people are living longer does not negate the fact that many are also spending more of their elder years in long term care facilities or being cared for at home by family members.
There are several factors that must be considered when dealing with the high cost of nursing care for a loved one in an extended care facility or in a home environment. Many people believe that one of two government programs, Medicare or Medicaid will immediately step-in and pay for an individual’s long term care in a long term care facility. The fact is that each of the government programs pays something but there are specific circumstances that govern what will be paid and how much will be paid and when it will be paid.
The critical mistake that many individuals and families make is to underestimate the costs of long term care and overestimate the amount of public funding available to pay those costs.
In addition, it is easy for healthy individuals to assume that they will never require long term care. The “I’m invincible” component plays a large part in this type of thinking. However, the world changes dramatically when cancer, heart disease, or a stroke enters the picture.
Thinking about and preparing for an illness or severe accident that may place an individual into a position that requires long term care is frequently difficult at younger ages.
The solution to funding the high cost of long term care in the future must be shouldered by each individual because of the low probability that government funding will be available. Therefore, long term care insurance is the most obvious choice because it addresses two primary goals A) long term care expenses are paid either for care in a facility or at home, and B) a person may not have to liquidate all of their assets in order to pay the costs. In the end, having the right long term care insurance brings peace of mind to families.
Please keep in mind that insurance companies alone determine insurability and some people may be deemed uninsurable because of health reasons, occupation, and lifestyle choices. Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the issuing company.
What you do today determines your direction, your prosperity and your future.
I am here to help you work towards your financial goals!
Private Wealth Advisor in New York