When you want a financial plan developed with your goals and interests put above all else, it’s a good time to engage a fee-based financial planner.

Fee-based financial planners design unique personal financial plans and are compensated for their time and expertise. Under this fee structure, the planner is a fiduciary and has a legal and moral responsibility to place your interests first.

Of course, your planner’s role goes beyond just providing expert guidance in the creation of your financial plan. A fee-based planner can also help you with the implementation of your plan through a combination of appropriate and innovative insurance, brokerage, advisory and/or private client platform solutions.

In the end, your planner is paid to work with you to make sure your financial needs are met with care, with expertise and with an understanding of your unique circumstances and individual goals. Together, you will agree on the appropriate fee structure based upon those needs and the specific services required.

Making great decisions about your wealth, whether you are deciding to grow it, protect it or both, starts with sound thinking – thinking that makes sense. Here’s how our thinking starts when it comes to helping you make important financial decisions.

The Planning Process

With financial independence, family legacy and social capital solutions in place, wealth optimization becomes the focus of the planning process. Your planner will use a unique and disciplined values-based approach to help you make wise choices and to help ensure that your plan is focusing on what you value.

The planning process consists of four quadrants or phases, each one representing one planning cycle: Discovery, Creative Solutions, Strategy Deployment, and Results Management.

1. Discovery: Identify and think about the problem. The first phase begins by thinking clearly about the problem. This is called the Discovery phase, and this is where clarity on your goals is achieved and planning gaps are identified.
2. Creative Solutions: Think about the solution. The second phase is the Creative Solutions phase, in which you think clearly about the solutions and make decisions regarding closing the planning gaps.
3. Strategy Deployment: Implement the solution. The third phase is the Strategy Deployment phase, in which you implement the solution that helps you achieve your desired results.
4. Results Management: Manage the results. The final phase is the Results Management phase; we establish a plan to manage and implement the results. This assures that you have confidence your plan will work over time.

 

Working with a knowledgeable and experienced planner who has access to current technologies and a thorough understanding of tax rules and financial planning techniques is important. Working with an advisor who takes the time to understand your unique desires and goals is critical.

Your planner will take the time to help you make that assessment, develop a plan that works for you and provide you with the tools and strategies necessary to successfully implement that plan.

 

 

Our wealth management services go above and beyond what you might expect from a financial services provider. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company offers:

Investment advisory services, designed to:

• Provide high-quality investment services and products.
• Build and monitor diversified portfolios.
• Develop objective, personalized plans.
• Focus on long-term results.

Trust services and partnerships, designed to:

• Provide continuity of stewardship that can last multiple generations.
• Preserve family harmony when carrying out your intentions.
• Carry out detailed record-keeping and accounting.
• Calculate taxes and file returns.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company serves as trustee on Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts. In addition, through our Trust Alliance Program, we partner with nationally-recognized trust administration firms that offer a broad range of services to revocable trusts, charitable trusts, endowments and foundations.

Online access to your account, so you can review:

• Comprehensive monthly statements.
• Performance reporting.
• Account access on a secure website.
• Current account balances on your investment holdings.
• Detailed transaction records on all accounts.

No matter what you see yourself doing, the places you picture yourself exploring, or when you want to start doing them, we’ll create the right plan to help you retire the way you want.

It’s likely your aspirations for retirement will require solutions that go beyond a 401(k) or IRAs, social security, or if you’re a business owner, the sale of your company. We start by understanding your vision, goals, and situation before making any recommendations. Then, we’ll create a comprehensive plan with the right strategies for investments, annuities, and insurance—each one designed to help maximize your assets, provide income efficiently, and protect you from the unexpected.

Our advisors are also experienced in managing many types of assets and aligning all your other financial relationships to help make sure that the dreams you have for retirement can be reached, when you want to reach them.

Having a plan for your estate—your home, your wealth, your possessions—means you can leave the legacy you want, whether that’s to help your family, a charitable cause, or an institution.

Many people associate estate planning with having a will. While the transfer of your assets is an important part of estate planning, a will is just one aspect of a broader plan designed to make sure your wishes are known, honored, and carried out as efficiently as possible when you're no longer able to articulate them. We work with a team of estate planning experts to help you develop an estate strategy that can help:

• Reduce or eliminate gift, estate, and inheritance taxes for your heirs
• Protect your estate from mismanagement or from claims of creditors or ex-spouses
• Leave the legacy you want, such as paying for your grandchildren’s education or giving to your favorite charitable causes

In addition to the expertise our team can offer, you'll want to work with an estate planning attorney to establish:

• Healthcare directives (also known as living wills) that specify the extent to which you want health care professionals to treat you if you become ill or incapacitated
• Powers of attorney that grant people you trust the legal authority to act on your behalf in case of sudden accident or illness
  • A healthcare power of attorney enables your agent to make healthcare decisions on your behalf
  • A financial power of attorney allows your agent to do things like pay bills, access accounts, and possibly make gifts
• A will or possibly a living trust to make sure your assets are transferred according to your wishes or even name a legal guardian for children under the age of 18
  • The Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (NMWMC) can serve as trustee of Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts. In addition, through the Trust Alliance Program, NMWMC can partner with nationally-recognized trust administration firms that offer a broad range of services such as revocable trusts, charitable trusts, endowments, and foundations.

Our long-term approach to investing and wide range of options can help meet your unique financial needs—giving you the edge you and your family need to enjoy your wealth today, and for generations to come.

With more ways to invest than ever before, it can be hard to make sure your money is working its hardest for you. That's where we come in. We’ll provide investment expertise based on our time-tested philosophy, disciplined process, research-based insights, and proprietary capital market assumptions.

When you’re ready for more sophisticated wealth management, you'll have access to a variety of options there too, including investment advisory services, tax-smart strategies, trust services, and specialized products.

Brokerage services 

Build your ideal portfolio with a range of investment vehicles—no matter what goals you have. If it's time to roll over a retirement account, find a unique lending solution, save for a child’s education, or arrange for charitable giving, we’ll figure out your options and help you figure out how to get it done.

Investment advisory programs 

When you’re looking for more hands-on investment advice and ongoing portfolio oversight, we’ll carefully select one of our Advisory Programs (curated by our Wealth Management Investment Team) that best fits your investment goals. Along with monitoring market conditions and your investments, we’ll be ready to adjust your portfolio as needed should your goals or priorities shift.

Your business reflects you, so it takes personalized business planning to help you grow and protect the value you’ve built in your business.

Whether you’re thinking about setting out on your own or looking to expand your existing business, we can help you plan for success. From protecting against risk and managing growth to attracting and retaining top talent, we’re ready to help you at every stage.

We’ll work with you to develop a tailored plan with financial solutions designed to fit the unique needs of your business, and your life, with advanced strategies to:

• Integrate the important aspects of financial planning for your business and your personal life to help ensure success on both fronts
• Minimize risk by being prepared for the unexpected
• Safeguard your business with coverage to help offset the loss of cash flow if you become sick or hurt
• Recruit and retain high-performing employees with competitive benefits programs
• Enhance your benefits programs to reward employees who are key to the success of your business
• Transition your business smoothly with a properly designed and funded business succession plan

Make sure the business that you’ve worked hard building will continue to move forward once you’ve decided to step back.

Whether it's a few years from now or decades away, there will come a day when you’ll want to step back from your business. Succession planning will chart a course to move your business forward after you leave. And having a plan in place can also give your business a competitive edge while you’re still calling the shots—employees, clients, and suppliers will have greater confidence in the stability of your business.

Our team of experts can help you develop a strong succession plan by helping you:

Set your goals: We start with what you want for your business and yourself after you step away. If you’re not sure what that might be, it’s ok. We’re experts in helping people discover their goals—big and small.

Build your plan: A recent survey¹ found that the top concern of business owners is who will take the reins when they leave. We’ll help you identify the right successor and create a personalized plan based on what you want.

Evaluate your risk: Life is unpredictable, and everything can change overnight. We can design risk management strategies that will help account for the unexpected such as if you become disabled, pass away, or get divorced.

Value your business: Many business owners don’t understand how much their business is truly worth. We have access to proprietary technology with patented algorithms that take the guesswork out of business valuation.

Review your plan: Our advisors will be your trusted partner at every step of the process and provide you with expert advice should your personal or business goals shift today, or down the road.

 

¹ Northwestern Mutual/Forbes Insight Survey 2021

Planning for charitable giving

Now more than ever, people are putting their money where their values are. As part of your financial plan, charitable giving can help support the causes and organizations that are important to you, while maximizing tax efficiencies and defining your legacy.

There are many ways to give back. Our experienced team will work with you and your family to help identify philanthropic goals and develop your charitable giving strategy, which could include some of these options:

Cash: Transfer directly to the charity(ies) of your choice

Stock: Donate shares of stock you own

Other kinds of property: Donate items such as clothing, computers, cars, even life insurance

Donor-Advised Fund: A charitable investment account that offers flexible and efficient ways to manage donating to charities

Private Foundation: A charitable organization funded primarily by a single donor or small group of donors

Charities in your estate planning: Create a legacy of giving by including your favorite charity in your will or trust

Charitable Trusts: Transfer assets out of the estate with the goal of using them for charity

No matter if you’re just starting to craft your philanthropic vision or need help with more complex giving strategies, we have the expertise to help you make an impact.