You Care About Investment Risk :
Let's face it. If you want a reasonable return on your investments, you must take some risk. Every recommendation that we make, begins and ends with an analysis of its risk profile. We pride ourselves in our ability to identify those risks and steer you clear of them. In addition, we always do our best to clearly communicate each and every risk that you are facing in your own portfolios.
You Care About Fees and Commissions:
A common variable in under-performing investment portfolios is its fees. Nobody has a problem paying a lot for services and products that present great value to them. However, fees can not only diminish the value of having a Financial Planner, but they can also be the source of significant financial losses. At Cook and Associates our investment recommendations are not a function of the fees that they generate.
You Care About Who Your Advisor Works For:
There are many great advisors at other firms. However, at the end of the day it is a fair question to ask: Who does my advisor work for? Advisors are often an employee of their broker/dealer with many layers of management. Those layers of management often generate a lot of pressure on their advisors to sell products which generate more revenue for the company. This type of management can also generate pressure to make unnecessary or uneconomical trades for the purpose of generating revenues. Cook and Associates is an independent advisory firm. When asking who we work for the answer is quite simply, you. If you are our employer, it is in our best interests to do a great job for you and keep in your employ for as long as we can. The most effective way to accomplish both things is to help you make financial decisions that are entirely in your best interests, not ours. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
You Own a Business and Taxes Are Breaking the Bank:
Most retirement plans implemented at small to medium sized companies are cookie-cutter plans that offer very little flexibility in the way of income tax deferrals. There are many tax deferred retirement plan options that are available to business owners. Every single one has its advantages and disadvantages, but there is always a combination that is right for you. The best one is the one that maximizes your personal deductions while minimizing the annual expenses to do so. In order to accomplish that end, we run an exhaustive analysis of a company's employment structure to ensure that they are getting the most suitable option available to them. In addition, we reassess our clients plans as their companies grow and adapt.
You Are Thinking About or Are Approaching Retirement:
We are living longer, living expenses are increasing at unprecedented rates, social security is in terrible shape and company sponsored pensions are going the way of the dinosaur. With all of these variables working against us, we cannot afford to leave the workforce without a plan in place. Cook and Associates can help you put a risk averse plan in place to help give you the highest probability that you will have money left over on the day that you no longer need it.
You Are Currently Retired:
In retirement it is important that we constantly reassess your entire portfolio to ensure that you are walking the safe side of that fine line between comfort and outliving your nest-egg. With many years of retirement of ahead of you, there is no room for guessing. At this point in your life you may want to have a very conservative plan in place and reevaluate it annually. In addition, you may need help implementing a strong fixed income portfolio to help you maintain your lifestyle.
Your Family Legacy Concerns You:
If you accumulate a surplus of assets that you would like to transfer to heirs or charitable organizations, it is very important that you employ the correct strategies. Between astronomical estate tax rates, probate court costs and financial mismanagement on the part of the recipients, the assets that took you a lifetime to amass could evaporate in the blink of an eye. With proper planning, we can ensure that those assets transfer as efficiently as possible and that they help achieve the objectives that leave a legacy which will forever be remembered.