Services | Mulberry Lane Advisors, LLC

Insurance

Insurance is essential to any comprehensive financial plan. If tragic events like death, disability or critical illness strike, insurance can protect you and your family from undue hardship. Some life insurance policies also provide tax-advantaged savings that you can draw on to achieve goals like buying a house or retiring comfortably.

I have access to a variety of insurance products that can help meet your financial security planning needs. No matter your personal situation—if you’re single or in a family; a professional or a seasonal employee; an executive or small business owner—we will work together to design a customized plan.

Life
Long-term care, disability income and critical illness
Health and dental
Group health benefits

Life insurance

In the event of death, life insurance offers surviving family members increased financial security. As a tax-free lump sum payment, it can pay for final expenses and debts, as well as provide income for the deceased’s dependents.

The advantages of life insurance include:

An instant estate for your loved ones at a time when funds are most needed
Death benefits that are almost always non-taxable for named beneficiaries
Avoid probate costs if you name a beneficiary other than your estate
Potentially offer your loved ones creditor protection through some life insurance plans
Build tax-advantaged capital for retirement purposes or provide liquid savings through some permanent life insurance plans

I can help you select coverage from a variety of life insurance options to meet the needs identified in your financial security plan.

Life insurance can play a vital role in your financial security plan - contact us today to find out how.

Long-term Care, Disability Income and Critical Illness insurance

Help protect one of your most valuable assets – your income – from unexpected events through long-term care, disability and critical illness insurance.

Long-term care and disability income insurance

Income is important for both current financial obligations (e.g. grocery bills and mortgage payments) and for future financial security (e.g. planning for your children’s education or for retirement). Just think what might happen if you suddenly lost your income stream through a long-term illness or disability.

Long-term care and disability income insurance products help protect your ability to earn an income, which can be affected if you are afflicted by a disability or other condition.

I can help you choose the long-term care and disability income insurance products that provide advantages like:

Helping maintain your financial independence, lifestyle and long-term financial security plan in the event your income is impacted by disability
Assist with paying fixed expenses for your business if you become disabled
Support the buy-out of a disabled partner’s share of a business

I can help you tailor your financial security plan so it protects your income through long-term care and disability income insurance. Contact us today to find out how.

Critical illness insurance

Suffering a critical illness is distressing for both you and your family. Help ease the burden through insurance that will reduce financial stresses and can complement disability and life insurance protection needs. By helping pay for the additional expenses often associated with a critical illness or condition, insurance offers you, your family, and if applicable, your business, added financial security—so you can focus on recovery.

The advantages of critical illness insurance can include:

Coverage for up to 22 critical illnesses or conditions
Home-care costs during illness and recovery periods
Even if you’re not disabled from working, you may receive payment
The ability to provide a return of premium benefit (optional)
Individuals who cannot obtain disability insurance in some cases still qualify for critical illness coverage (e.g. a non-income earning spouse)

Health and dental insurance

Depending on your situation, you may or may not be covered under an employer’s group benefits plan. If not, I can help you choose a health and dental plan that can help cover out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses for you and your family. These plans are designed to provide various levels of enhanced healthcare protection, depending on your needs and the stage of life you’re in.

When designing your customize health and dental insurance package, you can choose from an array of services. Options include:

Prescription drugs, which many consider one of the most valuable forms of health coverage.
Paramedical services, ranging from the use of an ambulance to a visit to the massage therapist.
Vision care if you or your family members wear glasses or contact lenses.
Protection while on vacation or a business trip with out-of-country medical coverage.
Access to private or semi-private hospital rooms.
Dental care can include basic dental work as well as a portion of orthodontics, depending on your level of coverage.

Group health benefits

In today’s working environment, valued employees are looking for more than financial compensation. They also want an employer who supports their health, and the health of their families.

For this reason, either by itself or paired with group insurance products, consider attracting and retaining employees with group benefit plans. From traditional health and dental benefits to alternative arrangements like employee wellness programs, group auto insurance or flexible work situations, group benefits help make employees more efficient, productive, and happy. Employers also gain tax benefits, such as premiums that are deductible as a business expense in some cases.

Flexible plans offer employers and employees cost-effective, customized ways to address their needs. Choose from an array of benefits like:

Extended health and dental care coverage, which includes options like prescription drugs, paramedical services, vision care, out-of-country medical coverage, basic dental work and orthodontics
Group life insurance
Group short- and long-term disability insurance
Employee assistance and wellness programs
Alternative group benefits, such as group auto insurance or flexible work arrangements
Group critical illness coverage, to help ensure your employees can survive a critical illness
Benefits plans tailored to specialized employee groups, such as foreign or part-time workers

Asset Allocation

Asset allocation is the process of selecting a mix of asset classes that closely matches an investor’s financial profile in terms of their investment preferences and tolerance for risk. It is based on the premise that the different asset classes have varying cycles of performance, and that by investing in multiple classes, the overall investment returns will be more stable and less susceptible to adverse movements in any one class.

All investments involve some sort of risk, whether it’s market risk, interest risk, inflation risk liquidity risk, tax risk. An individualized asset allocation strategy seeks to mitigate the risks of any one asset class though diversification and balance.

Individual Strategy

When done properly, an investor’s allocation of assets will reflect his desired goals, priorities, investment preferences and his tolerance for risk. Asset allocation is an individualized strategy, so there really is no perfect mix of assets. Each individual’s strategy is built on the careful consideration of the key elements of their financial profile:

Investment Objectives: What it is the investor hopes to achieve using his investment dollars – improve current lifestyle; achieve capital growth; fund a specific goal, such as a college education

Risk Tolerance: This reflects the investor’s comfort level with market fluctuations that can result in losses. Inflation risk and interest risk need to be considered as well.

Investment Preferences: An investor may prefer one asset class over another based on a certain bias or interest towards the characteristics of that class.

Time Horizon: The length of time an investor is willing to commit to achieving his objectives.

Taxation: Investing in a mix of asset classes will have varying tax consequences.

An Evolving Strategy

A sound asset allocation strategy includes periodic reviews.

About the only certainty when it comes to the financial markets is that they will change, and so will your financial situation. Through market gains and losses, a portfolio can become unbalanced and it may be important to make adjustments to your allocation. As people move through life’s stages their needs, preferences, priorities and risk tolerance change and so too must their asset allocation strategy.

Asset allocation, which is driven by complex mathematical models, should not be confused with the much simpler concept of diversification.

Learn more about asset allocation by contacting us today.

Financial Planning

A financial plan is a comprehensive picture of your current finances, your financial goals and any strategies you’ve set to achieve those goals. Good financial planning should include details about your cash flow, savings, debt, investments, insurance and any other elements of your financial life.

Financial planning is an ongoing process that will reduce your STRESS about money, support your current needs and help you build a nest egg for your long-term goals, like retirement. Financial planning is important because it allows you to make the most of your assets, and helps ensure you meet your future goals.

Financial planning isn't just for the wealthy: Creating a roadmap for your financial future is for everyone.

"MOST PEOPLE DON’T PLAN TO FAIL,THEY FAIL TO PLAN"

Retirement Plans

The two simplest reasons to start a retirement plan for your business:

It has a good possibility to save you money in taxes at the end of the year, and
It is good for employee retention and morale.

According to a survey by Glassdoor, employees said health insurance is, by far, the most important benefit they receive from their employer. That’s why employers should offer health insurance as their first company benefit, then add on additional benefits over time.

The top three benefits that make employees the most satisfied, according to Glassdoor’s study, are:

Health insurance
Vacation and PTO
Pension plans, 401(k) & other retirement plans

If Retirement Benefits are a top priority for your employees, it should be a top priority for you. Offering it can help with recruiting and entice them to stay longer at your company.

Health Insurance

There are many benefits you can offer through your business, but there’s one winner that rules them all: Health insurance. That’s because it keeps your team healthy and happy, and it signals that you care about their well-being. In fact, many small business owners agree, even if they aren’t required to provide coverage by the Affordable Care Act. A little over one in four companies with fewer than 50 employees provides health insurance and a promising 22 percent plan to roll it out the next year.

Why do these small businesses cover their employees through group plans, even if they’re not legally required to? Because it’s good for their teams and good for them. If you’re on the fence yourself, here are the top five reasons to offer health insurance:

1. It’s easier than you think

First thing’s first: You don’t have to do this alone. A broker or health insurance advisor can guide you through the whole process. As your go-to agent, they’ll:

Help select a plan that’s right for you and your team, based on your industry and the coverage preferences of all the folks in your company
Set everything up and keep you compliant on an ongoing basis
Be the resident healthcare know-it-all for your employees, so you don’t have to answer difficult questions on all things health insurance

2. It makes your employees happy

The top three benefits that make employees the most satisfied, according to Glassdoor’s study, are:

Health insurance
Vacation and PTO
Pension plans, 401(k) & other retirement plans

If health benefits are a top priority for your employees, it should be a top priority for you. Offering it can help with recruiting and entice them to stay longer at your company.

3. It saves you money on taxes

This is a big one, so we wrote an entire post about it. In fact, employers and employees pay less for insurance when they purchase it as a group.

Savings for employees:
When employees buy health insurance on their own, they have to use post-tax dollars to buy it: They make money, the government taxes that money, and then they take the remaining amount to buy what they need. But when employees buy health insurance as a group, they pay for the insurance with pre-tax dollars which can save up to 30 to 45 percent on their health insurance plans.

Savings for employers:

Here are all the tax savings you get by offering group health insurance:

Employer contributions are tax-deductible
Employer payroll taxes are reduced by 7.65 percent of employee contributions
Employer workers compensation premiums are reduced

Paying for health benefits instead of higher salaries can also save you money because you don’t pay payroll taxes and workers compensation premiums on money used towards health benefits. Plus, your employees may prefer benefits over salary as well. According to that same Glassdoor study, nearly 80 percent of workers would prefer new or additional benefits to a pay increase.

4. It can give you access to more doctors and hospitals

Group insurance networks are often larger than individual networks. That means on an individual plan, you don’t have access to the same doctors and hospitals you would on a group plan. Doctors and hospitals that don’t accept individual plans often charge more for their services and are often more sought out by patients. The network differences vary by state, but in California, individual plans are typically two-thirds the size of group plans. So purchasing a group plan can increase your access to more, and often better, doctors and hospitals.

5. It helps boost employee productivity

A study from MetLife found that 60 percent of employers say offering health insurance has led to higher productivity levels. And according to the CDC, employees who prioritize preventive care — like regular checkups — get more accomplished at work.

As an employer, you want your employees to focus on being their best productive and successful selves at work. Worrying about health insurance drains their energy and time. As you know, health insurance can be a pain to set up. And if your employees are enrolled in individual plans, all of that burden of setting up and managing their plan shifts from you to them.

And there you have it. From building a healthier, happier team to actually saving money, there are many reasons to take the plunge and offer health insurance to your team. Offering health benefits signals that you care about your team, ultimately building a culture of trust.

Business Succession Planning

The death of a partner or major stockholder in a business can have devastating effects on both the business and the deceased partner’s surviving family. The business is concerned with gaining control of the deceased partner’s interest at a fair price so that it can continue operations without interference from the surviving family members. The family members are most concerned with receiving as much money as possible for their interest in the business and for capital that may be needed for estate settlement purposes.

The Need for a Written Agreement

Absent a written agreement, the competing interests of the business and the family members could lead to major conflicts, litigation and possibly the forced liquidation of the business. A buy-sell agreement can ensure that the business interest of the deceased partner will transfer in an orderly manner to the benefit and satisfaction of all parties. With a buy-sell agreement in place, the stability of the business for it clients, employees and investors (or creditors) is more assured.

Key elements of a buy-sell agreement include a mutually agreeable sales price and terms of the sale. The agreement needs to be funded in order to ensure that the capital is available at the time of the death of a partner. Life insurance provides a cost effective means of creating the capital necessary to buy out the interests of the family and establish a reserve for the business to use to continue its operations.

Types of Business Owner Buy-Sell Arrangements

Entity Plan: Under this arrangement, used when there are multiple owners, each of the business owners has a separate agreement with the corporation or partnership as the entity. The entity, per the buy-sell agreement, will buy the deceased partner’s interest at his or her death.

Cross Purchase Agreement: Used in situations where there are two or three owners, a cross purchase agreement is established between each of the owners. At the death of one of the owners, the surviving owners agree to buy a proportionate share of the deceased owner’s interest.

Buy-Sell arrangements are a simple, yet effective way for business owners of privately held companies to plan for the orderly transfer of business interests where two or more owners are actively involved in the business. In addition to securing the needs of the surviving family members and ensuring the continuation of the business, a buy-sell arrangement also ensures each owner that there is a buyer for their business interest at a fair price.

Business succession planning involves legal, tax and personal financial issues. Guidance from a qualified attorney or tax professional is strongly recommended.

For more information on business succession planning, contact us today.

Key-Man Insurance

Key man insurance is simply life insurance on the key-person in a business.

In a small business, this is usually the owner, the founders or perhaps a key employee or two. These are the people who are crucial to a business--the ones whose absence would sink the company. You need key man insurance on those people.

As an employer, you need to make sure you follow IRS guidelines to get the maximum tax benefit from key man life insurance. Generally, the death benefit of a life insurance policy is tax free when the premium is paid with after-tax dollars, although premiums are not deductible.

Call 7325479018 for a Comprehensive Financial Plan!