Estate Planning

Planning to properly protect, preserve, and pass along your estate to your heirs can be one of the most vital components of your overall financial well-being.  Leonard Financial Group can work with you to optimize a strategy to meet your long-term goals and needs. Whether you are trying to minimize the impact of taxes or simply guarantee your heirs will receive what you originally planned, we can work with you to ensure your objectives will be met.

IRA, 401k, 403b, TSA, TSP, all qualified retirement plans
Many of you have the majority of your life savings in a qualified retirement plan.  Some of you will need to take income from this account as soon as you are retired, while others will not want to take any income from this account until required according to IRS rules.  In either case, the income taken from this account will be taxable as income.  So, consideration needs to be given with regard to the potential tax liability that will be incurred from the income taken from this type of account.

Some of you may want to consider converting some of your IRA (qualified retirement) money to a Roth IRA, but careful consideration must be given due to the potential tax liability for all the dollars converted.  Do the long term tax-free growth benefits outweigh the short term tax liabilities?  We have proven strategies to help you determine if converting to a Roth IRA may be beneficial to you and your loved ones. Determining when (or if) you should convert to a Roth IRA is an individual decision based on factors such as your financial situation, age, tax bracket, current investments and alternate sources of retirement income. Your unique circumstances help determine what is right for you.

Finally, whether you have an IRA or Roth IRA, legacy planning is an important strategy that will help secure the transfer of your hard-earned retirement savings to family, friends or charities upon your passing.  We will show you how to leave a legacy to your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, while potentially minimizing the tax impact.

Trusts
There are many types of trusts available to accomplish the many facets of preserving the wealth for your loved ones.  For example, you may need a Family Trust to protect your estate from the cost of probate or to double your estate tax exclusion rate.  It is important to understand how and when a trust can be utilized in a financial plan to help protect and preserve the financial assets from excessive taxation.

Life Insurance
Life insurance can be used to provide your family with the financial security they may need in the event of a tragic family loss where the monetary impact on the household or business can be devastating.  Whether you are looking to give your family or business an immediate source of income or to reconcile your outstanding debt, Leonard Financial Group can assist you in adding a life insurance component to your financial plan.

Charitable Giving
Charitable giving is a gracious act providing the beneficiary a wonderful resource to continue their mission to provide for others.  However, it is also a useful financial tool that may be used to offset potential estate taxes that can rob you, your loved ones and charities from the benefit of your life’s triumph.  Leonard Financial Group can integrate a charitable giving strategy into your portfolio to minimize your estate and income taxes.

These materials have been independently produced by Leonard Financial Group. Leonard Financial Group ("LFG") is an independent Registered Investment Advisor registered in the State of Florida. LFG utilizes the custodial services of Fidelity Inc. and Scottrade Inc. Neither Fidelity nor Scottrade have created, supplied, licensed, endorsed, or otherwise sanctioned any content on the Leonard Financial Group website.

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