Financial Checkup

Many individuals today are very proactive when it comes to their health – getting annual physicals from their physicians and making adjustments in their diet and exercise regimes in order to life a long and healthy life. It’s equally important to protect your finances so you will have the resources to enjoy life to its fullest.

Scheduling a Financial Checkup with the Wealth Management Group at ORBA gives you the peace of mind you are doing everything possible to ensure you, your family, your business and others you care about are protected.

What’s A Financial Checkup All About?
ORBA’s accountants and financial planners help you better understand your entire financial picture. We explore your goals, your lifestyle and your current and future obligations. Working hand-in-hand with you, we design an individualized roadmap that puts you on the right course. We look at everything that impacts your finances – from incomes and obligations to investments and insurance.

Retirement planning is typically the ultimate goal of many of our clients. But even if you have a plan in motion, such as participating in your company’s 401(k) plan, it’s important to have an unbiased advisor to rely on. ORBA provides the expertise you need to ensure you have all aspects of your financial situation in focus and are pursuing your goals with the prudence, flexibility and objectivity required to achieve them.

Not only do we work with you to create a plan based on your current situation, but our advisors are also here to evaluate your progress and help make any adjustments along the way. While planned changes are reason enough to reassess your financial plan, it is even more important to schedule a Financial Checkup when an unplanned or unexpected event occurs.

When Should I Schedule a Financial Checkup?
Even if you have embarked on a financial strategy to reach your goals, a Financial Checkup with one of ORBA’s experts is recommended if you experience or anticipate any of the following major life events:

• Marriage
• Homeownership and other major purchases
• Divorce
• Children
• Death of spouse or family member
• College expenses
• Major health care expenses
• Special needs children and adults
• Elder care responsibilities
• Employment or income changes
• Inheritances
• Insurance payments
• Social Security eligibility/payments
• Lottery winnings
• Changing business obligations or ownership changes
• Stock market or economic changes
• Legal or financial obligations
• Retirement

We will help guide you through the critical steps needed to ensure you have the right strategy in place and are informed and up-to-date on tax, investment and income considerations that may impact your situation.

Life Insurance Review

While many high-net-worth individuals frequently review their investment assets with their professional advisors, an important aspect of their total financial picture is often ignored: Individual life insurance policies. At ORBA, we help address these important considerations with our clients.

Your insurance needs can change dramatically over time. A policy purchased years ago may need to be changed or adjusted to fit your current situation. Often, policy holders believe that life insurance is guaranteed if premiums are paid. In reality, many permanent policies can lose financial viability over time if the return assumptions are not met.

As part of your overall financial planning process, the experts at ORBA recommend that you have your life insurance policies reviewed at least every five years or whenever you experience a major life event such as a job change or retirement, change in marital status, or having a child.

ORBA teams with Mesirow Financial, JR Katz and other reputable insurance experts to provide a free insurance review to our clients. Coupled with our expert tax advice, this value-added service provides peace of mind that you are taking all the right steps to protect your assets today and in the years ahead.

Trusts & Estates

Our Trust & Estates team includes attorneys, tax and valuation professionals. We work together with law firms, investment advisors and trustees to help the family protect and preserve its wealth. Our experienced, trustworthy team of advisors knows how to properly handle the unique needs of high-net-worth clients.

Tax services

• Federal income tax
• State and local income tax
• Estate and inheritance tax
• Tax and Distribution planning

Consulting

• Use of gift and generation skipping transfer exemptions
• Discount planning
• Estate administration and distribution assistance
• Review and analysis of existing will and trust documents
• Estate liquidity analysis
• Distribution planning for qualified retirement accounts

College Services

Funding college education costs can rank among the greatest gifts a parent or grandparent can bestow.  Supporting the educational needs of their children and grandchildren is a legacy many clients wish to pursue.  However, with college costs continuing to escalate faster than the rate of inflation, this financing aspiration can be a daunting task.  Fortunately, there are sound strategies available enabling the ability to provide for college while keeping an eye on your overall financial goals.

ORBA’s experience and knowledge in this wealth management area will help clients prudently plan for these future education costs.  Tax considerations and retirement income needs will be carefully weighed and evaluated to determine the most appropriate approach to reach these lofty goals.  Through vehicles like Illinois 529 college savings plans and prepaid tuition plans, ORBA will help you construct the most effective roadmap to manage college education expenses.

Understanding Student Loans

Even in cases of the best planning, student loans are sometimes an unavoidable part of the college education experience.  The loans can be complicated in how they function which could lead to significant debt hurdles.  A financially logical approach navigating interest rates and structured payment plans is imperative.  ORBA can help explain the intricacies of the loans and provide structure to get on the right path.

Personal Financial Statements and Personal Financial Website

ORBA’s Wealth Management Group can prepare personal financial statements as required for bank and other lending requirements or simply to allow you to understand and organize your financial life.  We have the ability to provide you with your own secure financial website which can consolidate your financial information from various investments and advisors into one comprehensive and organized location.  The site can include personal documents, (wills, trusts, partnership and corporate documents, insurance policies, etc.) as well as consolidation of financial information into a financial statement that can update automatically.