Insuring Your Investments
The Value of Peace of Mind
Life often can throw unexpected and sometimes life changing events at us and upset the well thought out goals that we have concisely and deliberately planned for our families and ourselves. Insurance is one component, which can place a supportive foundation to your financial plan to help you, and your family deal with these unforeseen circumstances. At Fourth Avenue Financial, as an independent financial advisor we offer various different Life, Disability and Long Term Care Insurance programs, which are specially customized, to meet your insurance needs in those unique areas. Our philosophy on insurance is that it is not an investment vehicle, as we have far more detailed and specific investments for your balanced portfolio, but rather these special products offer a safety net to protect your well-made plans. We will meet with you and discuss your unique needs and concerns to insure you may add various insurance products and coverage’s, if needed, for your family and also keep those insurance expenses as low as possible so that you may use more of your money to pursue your dreams in your overall financial plan.
Life Insurance
We offer various life insurance products and in the planning phase, we want to listen and learn about your personal financial situation and concerns to best plan and select, if appropriate, life insurance products. In this area you find life insurance policies are referred to as Term, Whole Life or Variable policies. Each type has different characteristics and we want to be sure we listen and understand your concerns and situation, as well as answer your questions on risk tolerance and then and only then, depending on your required life insurance needs, make a prudent recommendation. Generally, we advocate a “buy term insurance and invest the difference” approach in many clients circumstances. There are certainly roles for permanent whole life insurance coverage and we do recommend this type of policy when warranted, but these are more specialized cases oftentimes associated with estate planning needs. Variable policies offer a combination of term and whole life and given the complexities of all these, we work carefully with you, your tax advisor, CPA and/or estate planning counsel to insure we properly cover your concerns.
Disability
We all lead active and productive lives, or at least we aspire to. Considering the busy and vibrant activities or life including work as well as play, and in fact even routine life chores such as shopping, driving and working around the home can sometimes result in life changing accidents which affect one’s ability to continue to preform their jobs and in many instances, enjoy life as they once did. An unexpected loss of income due to a disability can quickly erase any progress you have made with your finances. Often causing drastic changes to your financial plans, depleting assets and otherwise causing disruptions that can ripple through your family. Disability insurance can often offer an income safety net to see you through this period, whether it is temporary or permanent. This is why we at Fourth Avenue Financial want to help you assess your personal financial situation, including helping you evaluate any employer coverage that you may have or otherwise be available to you and then suggest options to fill in any disability insurance gap. Should that be in your best interest. Understanding you, your personal financial situation, helps us work with your to cover your needs and concerns.
Long-Term Care
Statistically we in the United States are living longer. Advances in modern medical care at many levels allows life expectancies in the US today to more typically lead to many people living into their 80’s and even 90’s more frequently than generations past. Most of us know a family member or a friend that has had to deal with home care or nursing home care for a loved one. In West Virginia as in many states, the options for Long-term care can create an ongoing expense of several thousands of dollars per month, quickly depleting the funds that were saved over a lifetime. Most of the options for care leave families looking at the for profit nursing home options available. Typical long-term nursing home stays are often over several years, at ever increasing prices. It is extremely important that a comprehensive Estate Plan is in place to not only protect your assets and wishes for your family but to maximize and protect estates from spend down requirements for Medicare benefits. Not only can we assist you by working with experienced and skilled estate planning counsel, but also as we offer several Long Term Care Insurance options to best help you protect yourself, your family and estate against these often crushingly burdensome Nursing Home expenses.
