With the new year around the corner, as part of the continuous effort of adding value to our clients, I would like to introduce a few new resources from both third parties and Global Wealth Harbor that will be made available to clients at a discounted rate or for free next year!
Equity Compensation Software
The bay area is likely the place with the most equity compensation receivers, however participants get education but not guidance from their employers. Though receivers have website for exercising and selling the shares, there aren’t enough analytics to be used to guide them to make optimized decisions.
Like how RightCapital software is used for retirement planning clients, there is a specialized equity compensation software I will integrate into my services for financial planning clients with equity compensation to create a process to track, analyze, process, and present financial plan on equity compensation. StockOptor tracks and organizes employer stock and options, allow me to run valuation (ITM, after-tax, option, time & forfeit etc.) and risk (leverage, concentration, volatility, insight ratios, VaR, goal status and owned share diversification) analysis , run the “what-if” scenarios to establish diversification criteria and monitoring criteria and vesting events, as well as run detailed tax modeling for multi-year optimization for taxes and cash flow.
Of course, like all the other financial planning software, the result of the software’s analysis does not directly rule the financial planning decisions, and the decision making process will still depend on clients’ specific goals and situations, but it could be useful for clients to get organized with their equity compensations and see the bigger picture of how equity compensation affect their financial plan over time with different assumptions - this would be beneficial for long-term financial planning and help avoid surprises. It also helps with better integrating clients' equity compensation planning into the comprehensive financial planning process.
Starting immediately next year, financial planning clients will be able to access the software at a discounted rate as part of Global Wealth Harbor’s financial planning package.
Estate Planning Software
When working with clients looking for comprehensive financial planning that include estate planning, as a financial advisor (as opposed to an attorney) my services are limited to general estate planning education and guidance, and my advice is limited to financial advice. I would refer clients to experienced estate planning attorneys for legal document creating and legal advice. However, many times I found clients have the tendency to keep pushing back working with an attorney, and the common reasons are the significant attorney fee comparing to the services they actual need and the time and efforts they will be spending getting to know and working with another professional. If those are the main reasons that paralyze you from making a move with estate planning, you may be interested in learning more about self-serving software Trust & Will to see if that is an option that will allow you to take a step forward. The software will also allow clients to give me access to review your estate planning progress and documents created so that I can provide relevant financial advice as needed. It can also matches users with a local attorney and has an inexpensive 12-month attorney support plan if you need attorney assistance.
Of course, that the software is not for everyone, if you situation is complex, need customization, need extensive legal advice, or just prefer to have hand holding services, you should work with an estate planning attorney. I will continue to provide referrals to local attorneys as needed. Also, I do want to mention that not one should be excluded from estate planning. State of California does offer free statutory forms for wills, health care, power of attorney, and revocable TOD deeds etc. (https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/wills-estates-probate/legal-documents) for those whose situations are simple and standard. And you should also check to see if your employer offer estate planning benefits to you and some of you may be able to receive free or discounted services. If estate planning is part of your plan for 2025, please do not get intimidated by the fee or process - just like all the other financial planning items on our to-do list, getting started is the first and one of the most critical steps to success!
Starting immediately next year, financial planning clients will be able to access the software at a discounted rate as part of Global Wealth Harbor’s financial planning package.
Global Wealth Harbor’s Friends & Family
Almost all clients have told me they had thought of someone they know would benefit from my services, and I truly appreciated it when clients passed my name to those whom they care about; and I sincerely respected it that my clients would actually follow up with me to see if their friends and family had actually contacted me. However, optimizing financial plan has never been the top priority in people's busy life, and many times people do not have the incentive to make a change until a problem arise. To help clients incentivize family and friends to be proactive with their financial plans, next year each client will receive 3 free meeting for their family and friends – the meeting will include reviewing current financial plan, identify issue with current financial plan and identify missing financial planning subjects, and provide general education on how advisor would approach financial planning subjects of interest. Please feel free to pass this information to those who might be interested. Clients' friends and family who decided to sign up to be clients from this program will receive a discount in fees because they are referred by existing clients.
This friends and family benefit starts immediately next year.
Your Feedback is Welcomed
Below are some projects that are work in progress and will be finalized based on clients' feedback. I appreciate any thoughts and feedback on the following questions:
Would you find it more convenient if our financial planing package has an option to include tax planning & preparation (provided by our CPA partners)?
Would you find the firm's written blog posts and education materials to be more interesting if they are delivered in the format of short videos? If so, what would you consider to be an optimal length?
Is there any financial planning topic that you would like me to do a webinar on?
Do you have any suggestions on client event (offline & online)?
If you are interested in any of the resources above please feel free to contact me, and please feel free to share the resources to those who might be interested in them. Please also do not hesitate to let me know if you have any suggestions and feedback. Thank you for working with me in 2024 and wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season!
*This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice.
*Disclaimer: The software mentioned in this article comes from third party vendors and are separate businesses from Global Wealth Harbor LLC. Despite of the due diligence we conducted on the software, Global Wealth Harbor LLC have no direct control of the products and services of any third-party vendors, and therefore we do not endorse or guarantee third-party vendor's offerings and are not responsible for any issues arising from your interactions with them.