First Financial Resources services
Services for individuals
A consultation with David Isaacson can benefit people with a variety of needs:
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Young families
• Encouragement to obtain basic wills and related documents, especially to protect the children.
• Review of insurance they already have, either directly or through their employer.
• Discussion of low-cost term insurance to cover debts, loss of income, and education expenses (usually with
term insurance, but sometimes with combination plans if wealth creation is desirable).
• Explanation of the need for spousal insurance and help in setting the limits.
• Discussion of salary continuation (disability) insurance to protect
the family’s largest asset—their ability to earn a living.
.Widowed and single women
• Encouragement to review basic wills and related documents, especially to protect their children.
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Review of insurance they already have, either directly or through their employer.
• Discussion of life insurance for the long run—often an issue if there is the need or desire to provide for loved ones.
• Discussion of disability and long-term-care insurance
—key objectives to insure quality of life.
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Career executives
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Encouragement to review basic wills and related documents, especially to protect the children.
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Review of the insurance they already have, either directly or through their employer.
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Coordination of personal and business benefits, with an eye toward filling gaps such as shortfalls in disability insurance.
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Discussion of wealth creation and retirement objectives.
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Sophisticated estate planning, which may include trusts or deferred compensation.
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Discussion of long-term-care insurance as a corporate benefit, if possible.
.Pre- and post-retirement planning
• Encouragement to update basic wills and related documents, especially to provide for spouse.
• Review of insurance they already have, either directly or through their employer.
• Focus on the question, “Do I have enough assets to retire?”
• Focus on income and distribution planning: “Should I be making annual gifts? How much do I want to leave to my children?”
• Focus on estate tax issues: “Are they fully covered? Are existing plans up to date and well administered? Are my trustees still viable and willing?”
• Focus on the future: “What is the legacy I wish to leave, and what is the best way to accomplish this beyond simply giving money to my children or to charity?”
• Focus on a contingency plan: “If my retirement funding is sound, do I have a similar ‘account' to provide tax-free money to support my quality of life if I should become disabled and require custodial care? What is the status of my long-term-care planning?”
• Focus on funding retirement: “If I no longer need one or more existing life insurance policies, does it make sense to convert the insurance from an ongoing expense to a current windfall in the form of a tax-favorable, lump-sum payment from a firm that may wish to purchase my policy?” (back to top)
Services for business owners and professionals
• Encouragement to update wills and related documents, especially to protect spouse and children.
• Review of insurance they already have, either directly or through their company.
• Discussion of asset protection, as well as buy-sell agreements or funding of stock-redemption agreements.
• Tax-deductible insurance to provide the firm overhead income protection in the event of disability of a principal or key person.
• Supplemental retirement income planning and overall retirement income planning.
• Audit of IRA and corporate retirement plans.
• Use of tax-deductible dollars to cover personal needs, such as uninsured medical or dental expenses.
• Installation of a tax-deductible long-term-care plan of insurance for at least the owner and his or her family.
• Succession planning or preparing a business for sale.
• Review of all key-person issues, as well as employee benefits in general, regarding design, cost, and administration.
• Review of corporate documents to insure that all benefits, including sick pay, for the owner are being handled (and insured) in the most efficient way possible. Also, a review to see that employee benefits are being carried on the books properly and that year-end phantom income is being administered properly. (back to top)
Services for CPAs, attorneys, and investment advisers
• Consultation and collaboration on behalf of joint or prospective FFR clients.
• Backroom support and obtaining answers to insurance-related questions.
• Access to documents: While not allowed to practice law, FFR has over 5,000 legal document drafts that are all created by attorneys for use by tax practitioners.
• Workshops: David Isaacson is experienced at, and willing to provide, in-house workshops to discuss how our practices overlap and how other practitioners may use insurance as a way of building their own practices.
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Services for other insurance brokers
• We are willing to work with select brokers on a joint-case basis.
• We will often be able to meet or exceed the compensation offered by most brokerage houses.
• Compensation sharing will depend on a number of factors to be determined in advance. FFR has no interest in developing a large stable of broker relationships, but would prefer to work deeply with just a few. (back to top)
The insurance approval process: An underwriting guideline
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