“The end result is a comfortable retirement in which one’s assets are guarded against undue risk and the peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that loved ones will be well taken care of.”
What is Sandhill Wealth Management?
Sandhill Wealth Management is a Windermere, Florida, and a Winter Park, Florida, financial firm, led by President David Gulacsy.
Whether you are experienced in the world of financial matters or are just starting to build your portfolio, David Gulacsy can help you every step of the way.
Sandhill Wealth Management realizes that an effective, comprehensive wealth management plan can have a truly transformative effect on a person’s financial situation. In addition to making a complete assessment of a client’s entire situation, the right wealth plan begins by formulating and implementing a uniquely-devised group of strategies. It’s also essential that any plan, once put into action, allows for regular review and updating of all the client’s financial goals.
Clients who seek wealth management services are typically looking to accomplish a trio of long-term goals. Those goals include not only wealth accumulation through asset growth but also wealth protection via carefully managed risk. The third piece of the strategic puzzle is the creation of a legacy or the transference of wealth.
Our Process
Evaluating a Client’s Current Financial Situation
The first step of any wealth management plan is the assessment phase. This crucial prelude to strategy-making involves making a detailed inventory of everything of value in a client’s possession. Evaluating the assets means creating an accurate, specific listing of the current market worth of real estate, securities, vehicles, partnership stakes in businesses and more.
Without this granular understanding of a client’s holdings, further planning is blocked, and it would be pointless to examine personal and professional goals that are the final part of the evaluation phase of the wealth management process.
Creating a Goal-Oriented Plan
Any goal-based financial plan must, by definition, begin with the process of identifying the goals themselves. There are as many different kinds of goals as there are people but most wealth plans include provisions for common aspirations like planning for a comfortable retirement, purchasing a home, building an emergency fund, paying off debt, providing for planned educational expenses and setting money aside for travel plans.
The crux of creating a plan based on financial goals is knowing what the goals are and putting them into some semblance of an ordered priority.
Managing Assets
In a sense, the nuts-and-bolts of wealth planning is the asset management phase. After the initial assessment and goal-setting chores are complete, it’s time to build a portfolio that achieves the stated goals. That means attending to asset allocation, making sure to diversify the portfolio as needed, paying attention to risk tolerance thresholds that are within the client’s comfort zone, planning for periodic cash flow and setting regular dates on which the portfolio will be re-balanced.
Developing Tax Strategies
No wealth plan is worth its salt unless it takes taxation laws into account. In order to build wealth efficiently, the planning process must make smart use of tax strategies related to IRAs, 401k plans, estate taxes, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, municipal bonds, various kinds of annuities, Roth conversions and the new rules governing 529 plans, which now cover K-12 tuition expenses in addition to college costs.
For clients with larger portfolios, tax strategies are of paramount importance and are often the centerpiece of wealth management efforts.
Addressing Risk Management
Everyone has a different tolerance to risk. Even individuals who are minimally risk-averse still need risk management components in their wealth plans. Personal and professional insurance are two of the most common pillars of risk management. Estate planning is another key activity that helps to lower portfolio risk by employing nuanced tax and legal strategies aimed at preserving assets and transferring them at the appropriate time.
Reviewing Goals and Analyzing Investments
Regular, planned feedback is an indispensable part of the wealth management process. That entails quarterly and annual reviews of results to make certain that goals are being met and any new laws have been taken into account. No plan is set in stone. Periodic reviews are also a time for frank discussions about any goals that might have changed, estate plans that need adjustments and perhaps even an altered risk profile, based on client preferences, of course.
Educating Clients
Professionals who work in the wealth management field need to educate clients about the trade-offs between risk and reward. Additionally, as economic and market conditions change, it’s essential for professionals to inform clients about how those changes might impact the wealth management process.