- + Discovery
- + Investment Consulting Services and Asset Management
- + Qualified Plan Design and Administration
- + Fiduciary Services for 401(k) Plans
- + Privately Held and Family Business Consulting
- + Estate Planning, Gift Tax and Charitable Giving
- + Insurance Analysis and Wealth Preservation Techniques
- + The CLC eWealth Zone
Discovery
For personal financial planning as well as business consulting, our services begin with an in-depth Discovery Process designed to identify and prioritize both short-term and long-term objectives, uncover obstacles that could block your progress, and pinpoint issues of greatest concern. Our professionals will meet with you and your partner—in life or business—to determine if you are both on the same page. And, if not, we will help you find middle ground. A series of fact-finding exercises and personal meetings will bring greater clarity to your current situation, your future aspirations and your readiness to achieve them. Through this shared exploration, we will develop a realistic framework for all subsequent planning, help you make wise choices, and ensure that all decisions and strategies are consistent with your goals and values.
Investment Consulting Services and Asset Management
At Carolyn Lloyd-Cohen LLC, clients’ portfolios are designed to address their specific income objectives, growth-versus-liquidity requirements,
risk tolerance and tax concerns, as well as personal values and attitudes toward wealth. And because we understand both bull and bear markets,
the opportunities they offer, and the strategies that work, we can help you navigate volatile markets, while never losing sight of your
overall financial objectives.
Our capabilities are strengthened by our affiliation with NFP Securities, Inc., a registered broker-dealer, whose professionals provide the first
layer in our multi-layer due diligence process. NFP also offers immediate access to leading-edge investment analysis tools and technologies,
a broad range of best-in-class products, and a wide choice of innovative investment strategies. NFP Securities is a member of the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and registered and qualified to
do business in all fifty states.
Qualified Plan Design and Administration
Through Preferred Pensions LLC, we provide qualified plan design, and investment and administration services for a variety of pension plans, including defined benefit, cash balance, profit sharing and 401(k). Whether it is a business with just one employee or a work force of hundreds, we work directly with company principals to match qualified plans with specific objectives, designing tax-advantaged financial strategies and minimizing fiduciary liability. Utilizing our creative plan design capabilities, we can often provide greater enhancements to key individuals. And our broad range of administrative services ensures legislative compliance, including document preparation and tax filings.
Back to TopFiduciary Services for 401(k) Plans
Many fiduciaries are not even aware that they are a fiduciary for their qualified plan, and that can lead to some very unpleasant surprises.
At Preferred Pensions LLC, our professionals provide documented compliance with ERISA 404(a) and 404(c), assisting plan sponsors in identifying
and minimizing fiduciary liability. To establish firm guidelines for subsequent decision-making, we provide customized investment policy
statements, clearly defining investment objectives, selection criteria and procedures, and underlying philosophy. And, through our robust
401(k) fund scoring system, we also help in selecting, monitoring and evaluating the plan’s investment options.
Our disciplined process of monitoring investment performance—relative to specified guidelines—is consistently applied. It includes regularly
scheduled and documented investment policy committee meetings, and a reliable system for replacing lesser-quality funds. Funds are evaluated
on ten criteria, including investment performance in a variety of market conditions, risk-adjusted returns, reasonable and competitive fees,
and qualitative characteristics, such as acceptable manager tenure.
Privately Held and Family Business Consulting
For owners of privately held and family businesses looking to the future, questions can be daunting: How can we preserve our business for
future generations? How do we prepare for executive retirements and transitions in leadership? Do we have enough personal assets if the
business isn’t as successful as we had hoped? If we decide to sell, who would buy? And how would that affect the people who work here?
At Carolyn Lloyd-Cohen LLC, we can provide answers. Our professionals are highly skilled in small-business consulting and in every aspect of
succession planning. We can help you prepare for a transition in senior management; guide you in developing an effective management team
and the systems required for seamless continuity; or facilitate the sale or merger of your company, if that is the ultimate decision. Because of
our proficiency in wealth management, we can also help you balance your personal assets, so that all of your financial resources are not
tied to your business.
We begin by identifying and defining what is most important to the company’s key individuals and their families, and what is critical to the future
of the business itself. On that foundation, the plan is developed. And because implementation is typically a multi-year process, you should begin
planning right now—long before you are ready to launch a new lifestyle or a well-deserved retirement, and long before unforeseen circumstances,
like a sudden illness, disability, or death, could precipitate a crisis.
Estate Planning, Gift Tax and Charitable Giving
The first step in estate planning is a realistic determination of your financial needs now and during your entire lifetime. We help you clarify your financial goals and wealth philosophy, as you develop your own personal definition of financial independence. Once that is established, we can begin planning potential transactions, providing a range of wealth-transfer solutions, matching your assets to strategies specifically designed to minimize estate taxes.* For those who are charitably minded, defining financial independence can help pinpoint the appropriate time to donates and strategies for optimizing benefits. That is all part of estate planning at Carolyn Lloyd-Cohen LLC, but we don’t stop with plan development. By working closely with your estate attorney, we will not only help ensure timely follow-through and execution, but also help safeguard the financial independence you have so carefully defined.
Insurance Analysis and Wealth Preservation Techniques
Insurance coverage of any kind—whether life insurance, disability income, or long-term care—can protect your assets from untimely liquidation and help preserve your wealth. Insurance can provide key person coverage for your business, funding for a buy-sell agreement, liquidity for family income,
or the wherewithal to pay off bank loans or estate taxes. Adding trusts, where appropriate, can preserve assets for generations to come.
Life insurance, in particular, should be considered one of your asset classes. It is not a commodity, but a complex financial tool. Product design is critical, and the magnitude of options can be staggering. Choices depend on a myriad of objectives and considerations, and these examples are fairly typical: Are you covering a loan? Are you meeting a temporary or long-term need? Are you building cash? Do you want to pay more now
and less later, or just the opposite? Do you want the underlying investments to be tied to the stock market, tied to an index, or in fixed products?
Dealing with issues like these is a core competency of Carolyn Lloyd-Cohen LLC. We understand life insurance and the importance of its coordination within your estate plan and in line with your liquidity needs. Because we are not affiliated with any one carrier, we have the independence to conduct impartial inforce policy review and benefit analysis to determine whether your coverage is consistent with your current objectives and risk tolerance. And, if not, we can offer a solution. As a member of PartnersFinancial, a national independent financial services organization owned by more than 200 member firms, we have preferred access to the industry’s leading carriers; we strive to achieve the most competitive underwriting results possible; and we can provide the resources for specialized products and sophisticated strategies.
CLC eWealth Zone
As a client of Carolyn Lloyd-Cohen LLC, you can participate in the CLC eWealth Zone: an award-winning suite of powerful, web-based wealth-planning
tools that include your own secure website access. On your personalized web pages, you can store and organize all of your financial information and
important documents, from bank accounts and investment portfolios, insurance policies, wills and trusts to passports, frequent flyer miles,
household inventories, and medical directives. Financial institutions can automatically download account balances to your website every night,
so information is always current, as well as comprehensive. It’s all available in one spot, safe from fires, floods and theft, and readily accessible
anytime, anyplace, anywhere in the world.
The CLC eWealth Zone gives you the ability to provide family members, accountants, attorneys and other counselors with access to parts of your
website, while keeping other sections private. And it eliminates those frustrating searches through file drawers at home and at the office, because
all of your critical information is just a few key strokes away. It is a giant step forward in simplifying your life.
*To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS under Circular 230, we inform you that any U.S. Federal tax advice contained in this communication, unless otherwise specifically stated, was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (1) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (2) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any matters addressed herein. NFP Securities, Inc. does not provide tax or legal advice. Any decisions whether to implement these ideas should be made by the client in consultation with professional financial, tax, and legal counsel.
