Financial Planning & Investment
Management

The Foundation

What is a Financial Plan?

As fiduciary financial planners serving Ann Arbor and southeastern Michigan, we build each plan around you. A financial plan is a strategy to help you reach your goals. Through data gathering, analysis, and guidance, we create a road map that leads you to financial comfort during your life while allowing for the efficient transfer of assets to your heirs. Financial planning is an ongoing process driven by your changing needs and goals.

A financial plan includes macro considerations, such as:

• —Asset allocation planning: A series of asset classes and allocation strategies that seek to help meet your needs, based on your risk tolerance and investment objectives.
• —Education planning: College savings and education planning topics, such as student loans and financial aid.
• —Retirement income planning: The development and refinement of a distribution plan for your nonworking years.
• —Estate planning: Practical guidance necessary to coordinate your estate planning and wealth transfer needs.
• —Tax planning: Coordination with you and your tax professional to minimize your tax liability.
• —Trust planning: Choosing from a range of trust strategies to help meet asset protection and wealth transfer goals.

The Building Blocks

What is Portfolio Management?

The financial plan is one piece of the puzzle — the road map that outlines your goals — that opens the door to the investment opportunities that help you pursue those goals. Portfolio management is typically carved out as a separate service due to its distinct and complex nature.

How we ultimately shape your investment portfolio is based on a collaborative effort, and the result is something we monitor regularly. Considerations include:

• —Risk tolerance: What level of risk are you comfortable with?
• —Investment monitoring: What type of attention does your investment require?
• —Investment selections: Where would you like to invest?
• —Contributions: Will you contribute over time or make a single up-front investment?
• —Charitable giving: How might your philanthropic goals affect your investments and tax situation?
• —Advanced insurance planning: What safety nets will your investments require as your assets and responsibilities grow?

What does a financial planner do?

A financial planner helps you organize the full picture of your finances — cash flow, investments, retirement, taxes, estate, and insurance — into one coordinated strategy aimed at your goals. Rather than focusing on a single product, the work is about how all the pieces fit together and adjust as your life changes.

What is the difference between financial planning and investment management?

Financial planning is the road map — it defines your goals and the strategy to reach them across every area of your finances. Investment management is how your portfolio is built and monitored to support that plan. The two work together: the plan sets the direction, and the portfolio helps you pursue it.

Do I need a financial advisor if I am already saving on my own?

Saving is a great start, but a comprehensive plan looks beyond the balance in your accounts — coordinating taxes, retirement income, estate considerations, and risk so your savings work toward the life you want. Many people benefit most from an advisor precisely when they have built assets and the decisions grow more complex.

How does financial planning work at Legacy Wealth Partners?

We start by getting to know you and your goals, gather and analyze your full financial picture, and build a plan we then monitor and refine over time. Our initial consultation is complimentary.