  
Planning for Financial Freedom Where to Begin Good planning can help you take control of your finances. By understanding where you are today, and where you want to be in the future, you can make smarter financial decisions. With a professional plan from Equitable Advisors you can develop a strategy to help you:
- Save enough for a comfortable retirement
- Pay for your child’s college education
- Protect your family in case you become disabled
- Achieve your investment goals
- Leave a legacy for your heirs
How to Begin
Equitable Advisors offers two options: a financial plan or a needs analysis. What’s the difference?
The fee-based financial plan looks at your total financial picture to provide objective financial advice based on your goals. It can give you a comprehensive, recommended road map for organizing and addressing a wide range of major financial objectives, or a single specific goal. These services are offered by investment advisor representatives of Equitable Advisors. The non-fee needs analysis keys in on identifying suitable products to address specific goals that you choose – such as your retirement or sending your children to college.
After an initial conversation with one of our financial professionals, you can decide the planning approach that works best for you.
Either way, our professional approach can help you determine your:
- Strategy: build a focused plan with quantifiable goals and timelines
- Portfolio: develop a properly allocated, diversified portfolio
- Products: purchase products that best fit your portfolio
What’s in a Plan
A financial plan can help you address all or some of the following issues, while a needs analysis will focus on those you select:
- Retirement Accumulation and Distribution
- Risk Management and Survivorship Needs
- Education Funding
- Major Purchasing Decisions
- Estate Planning *
- Asset Allocation
Retirement Planning 
- Understand the resources you’ll need for a secure and comfortable retirement
- Analyze your assets and sources of retirement income that will help you to meet your retirement income objectives
- Take advantage of the power of compounding to help ease the burden of saving for retirement
- View estimated shortfalls and determine alternatives and strategies to help address them
- Identify the appropriate ways to save for retirement given your financial situation and risk tolerance
- Balance your retirement needs with those required to start a family, purchase a home, send your children to college or help take care of your parents financial needs by developing a flexible long-term plan
Education Funding
- Understand the resources you’ll need to meet your educational expenses
- Analyze your assets and resources that will help you to meet such costs
- Take advantage of the power of compounding and help ease the burden of saving for college
- View estimated shortfalls and consider general alternatives and strategies to help address these potential shortfalls
- Determine the appropriate ways to save for college given your financial situation and risk tolerance
Major Purchase Goals
- Ensure you have enough money in reserve in case of emergency
- Understand the resources necessary to acquire a vacation home, enjoy your dream vacation, start your own business or achieve other savings objectives
- View estimated shortfalls and identify alternatives and strategies to help address these potential shortfalls
- Determine the appropriate ways to meet your savings goals given your financial situation and risk tolerance
Estate Planning*
Working with your lawyer, accountant or other qualified professionals, an Equitable Advisors financial plan can help you:
- Maximize the value of your estate by saving tax dollars**, professional fees, and court costs
- Minimize the costs of probate, creditors, lawyers, and estate taxes, which can negatively impact the value of your estate
- Stay in control of your own affairs by providing instructions for passing your estate on to your heirs
Asset Allocation
Understand what steps you can take to help you maximize your investment returns
Take steps to help minimize your risk and match your investment portfolio to your specific financial goals
Understand how you can help to increase predictability of your investment returns
- Consider the short- and long-term effects of a specific investment on your overall life goals
Putting the Wheels in Motion
A financial plan’s true value comes with its implementation. Your financial professional can recommend products to help you meet your investment and protection goals.
And as your needs change over time, he or she can help make sure you stay on track. Periodically reviewing your plan will go a long way towards making smart financial decisions.
Just Getting Started?
Aren’t ready for a comprehensive plan? Do you really only want to address a specific issue?
We can prepare a simplified financial needs analysis at no cost that can estimate your needs and strategies for
- Education Savings
- Retirement
- Capital Accumulation
- Insurance Needs
- Asset Allocation
* Funded through the use of life insurance and other financial products
** Equitable Advisors and it's representatives do not offer tax or legal advice. Please consult your tax and/or legal advisor for your particular circumstance. | 