Identifying and measuring the risks to which you are exposed is the first step in creating a plan to achieve your goals.
Risks manifest themselves in a number of ways and are not always easily identified. We will work with you to develop a comprehensive strategy to mitigate, manage, or eliminate risks. Whether it’s protecting what you have worked so hard to accumulate so you can lead a well lived life, or carrying out your wishes should fortune turn against you, we consider risk management the key to secure your financial well being.
Insurance Analysis
Your house is destroyed or damaged in a hurricane or fire; you are disabled, or sued. Is your financial future secure? Such questions should be thoroughly analyzed before misfortune arrives. Insurance planning is the foundation upon which a safe and secure financial house is built.
Analyzing and assessing risk sheds light on what is unknown. Once risks have been identified you can choose with our help to:
- Accept the risk.
- Avoid taking the risk in the first place.
- Reduce the risk through proactive planning and risk mitigation.
- Transfer the risk (usually to an insurance company) and pay a premium.
- Most likely a combination of the above will result in the ideal cost benefit ratio.
At Thompson Creek our unique fee-only approach to insurance provides a welcome respite from the biased, high pressure, commission driven culture of the insurance industry. Our advisors provide an unbiased analysis of your risk exposures and your coverage. We then develop a plan to put in place the appropriate coverage, reduce your costs (including eliminating or drastically reducing commissions on life insurance where possible and appropriate) and provide ongoing review and management of the policies.
The ongoing review and management is a key, and typically neglected, aspect of insurance. Risks change, opportunities change, your life changes. Home, auto and other property and casualty policies need to be appropriately matched on an ongoing basis to the changing value of what they insure. New policy structures and pricing become available. Life insurance premiums, cash values and dividends need to be managed over time to maximize the policy’s value, ensure policy viability while keeping premiums as low as possible and necessary to achieve the goals of your plan.
Please take the time to thoroughly investigate our unique fee-only approach to life insurance and its many advantages.
Asset Protection
MDS is an affliction that affects many young adults each year. Most likely, they are well adjusted and mature enough to handle everyday life. However, you can't control who they marry, hit with your car, or encounter a liability suit you never imagined. There are very simple preventative measures to combat MDS (Maturity Deficit Syndrome).
People of significant means are always potential targets for lawsuits and extensive liability. In addition there are high risk occupations that are catnip to our legal system. Obstetricians, surgical specialists, anesthesiologists, CEOs and CFOs of public companies, to name a few.
What can be done? Some of your options might include:
- Put your assets in your spouse’s name
- Stuff your retirement plans
- Liability insurance checkup
- Certain types of trusts
- Avoid the risky part of your profession
The possible strategies are numerous. Determining an appropriate combination of strategies takes time and diligence. We are here to help you so that you can enjoy your life knowing your future is as secure as possible.
Concentrated Stock and Option Positions
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Don’t bet all of your money on one horse. If your horse wins you are a genius. If someone knocks over the basket you just have broken eggs.
Investors in such former titans as Citigroup, Lucent, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Enron, and WorldCom have experienced the devastating shock of seeing the once mighty and seemingly impregnable collapse.
We can help you navigate the complex psychological and tax implications of reducing the risk to your net worth that concentrated positions and employee stock options create. We can use creative techniques to deal with concentrated positions. The costs and benefits of hedging strategies need to be assessed. The timing, investment and tax considerations of options need to be analyzed. Usually a combination of strategies is necessary.
If you’d like to talk further with us about your unique situation, please contact us today. There is no charge for any initial discussions.