LET'S GET STARTED WITH THESE KEY AREAS:

DON'T WAIT, START NOW

We have had a lot on our minds this past year and the idea of “estate planning” often gets brushed aside as something to worry about later, but taking steps today with estate planning – life planning, really – is more important than ever. It’s a critical time to discuss strategies for your specific situation and to ensure you’re in the best possible financial position.

DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION

Do you have the necessary paperwork in place to ensure your family and legacy is protected (wills, power of attorney, medical directives, etc.)? If you do have these documents in place, it may be time to dust them off. A good rule of thumb is to review your estate plan at least once every five years or upon the occurrence of a family update.

FAMILY UPDATES

Have you recently gone through a significant life change, such as a divorce or marriage, or death of a loved one? Are you experiencing family dynamics that should be considered in order to protect your finances?

ASSET REVIEW

We tend to forget that over time our estate values grow, and laws change. Annual review of your personal balance sheet allows us to ensure assets are titled properly, beneficiary designations are current and accurate, and we are thinking about retirement needs, philanthropic goals, and estate and income tax exposure and how we might be able to plan ahead to reduce it.

GIVING BACK

It’s important to understand charitable planning techniques and how they can be an integral part of estate planning.

LET'S GET STARTED WITH THESE KEY AREAS:

TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME

Potential changes to personal tax and estate tax, not to mention other federal tax proposals on the table, are creating confusion and possible inefficiencies. A financial plan helps drive a holistic approach to reach goals, potentially reduce taxes, and provide peace of mind. 

At a high level, think about short-, mid- and long-term goals and needs. It’s important to look forward, but don’t get bogged down in mapping out an elaborate plan— after all, with so much still unknown, assessing your financial planning is sure to be an ongoing endeavor in the upcoming months.

BUILD EFFECIENCIES WITHIN YOUR PLAN

 How does your financial plan integrate with your tax strategies? Do they work together toward your goals? Have you considered utilizing your Health Savings Account for tax-deferred savings opportunities or a Roth IRA, which can be valuable for tax-free growth and a plan to leave a legacy? Smart planning can offer flexibility and provide the opportunity to keep more in your pocket. 

CONSIDER YOUR RISK EXPOSURE

There is always a layer of risk involved, whether in the stock or bond market. While not all stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents have the same types of risk, there is always an opportunity to control your risk. Your advisor can help you assess your financial capacity to invest and offer guidance on possible necessary course corrections. 

LETS GET STARTED WITH THESE KEY AREAS:

BUILD YOUR PLAN

Planning maximizes value, minimizes taxes, ensures accomplishment of personal and financial goals, and includes contingencies for disability, divorce, death and distress. Planning provides the opportunity to influence strategic direction, attract and retain employees, develop leaders to grow the business, and build and strengthen culture and positive financial affects. Planning secures the family legacy, provides control over the timing and method of the transition and the most effective way to harvest the wealth tied up in business. It also provides a smooth transition.

Transition planning is a very complex process and consulting with experienced professionals will maximize the chances of an optimal outcome, provide objectivity and free up your time to work on getting ready to reap the fruits of your legacy.

MAXIMIZE BUSINESS VALUE

Determine the current value of the business and analyze business drivers to identify opportunities to enhance value. For example, if your management team needs development, or is at risk for departure, or the business relies too heavily on you, training or recruiting needed management talent can increase the value of the business.

ENSURE THAT YOU ARE PERSONALLY AND FINANCIALLY PREPARED

How does the potential value of the business fit into your personal and financial goals for retirement? What will you need to support your desired lifestyle after you exit the business? What resources do you have outside the business? Will you need to continue working for a time after you exit the business? The answers to these questions often determine whether the optimal exit involves a transfer to family members, a management buyout, or a sale to third parties.

LET'S GET STARTED WITH THESE KEY AREAS:

WORK WITH A TRUSTED PARTNER

When it comes to cybersecurity and keeping your organization as safe and secure as possible, the threat landscape is changing – we’ve all seen the headlines about the latest cyberattacks impacting companies of all sizes, especially in this hybrid working environment. The good news: help is available to lock in a solid and strong cybersecurity strategy for your organization.

FOUNDATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

With cyberattacks more frequent, more costly, and harder to recover from , it takes comprehensive, proactive defenses to protect organizations. But even the “basics” of IT defense can provide substantial protection. Everyone loves the latest technology. But constant monitoring, testing, and updating of your organization’s defenses are proven, though less “flashy,” methods of strengthening organizational security. For many small- and medium-sized organizations, implementing these foundations can be a big improvement.

BECOME CYBERREADY

Increasingly sophisticated attacks and rising recovery costs are putting pressure on organizations. But it’s also becoming clear how the costs of investing in cybersecurity can be substantially smaller than the costs associated with data breaches. Still, organizations don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to security.

This is where Rehmann’s CyberReady solution can help. It’s a flexible, all-encompassing cybersecurity program for small- and medium-sized businesses delivered in four phases:

1. Governance, discovery, education: The program begins with education on the makeup and design of a sound IT defense system, including governance structure and organizational policies. We’ll help you identify your organization’s “crown jewels” in terms of data and operations, along with their inherent risks and the potential impact to the organization.
   
   
2. Establish baselines: Next, we meet with individual business areas to further identify data and operational assets, their potential risks, and the likelihood of attacks on them. This establishes baselines around the value and safety of your technology infrastructure and helps determine IT defense priorities.
   
   
3. Fortify defenses: This step focuses on protection and identifying vulnerabilities. Using the latest cybersecurity standards, we evaluate your organization’s technology environment and develop an action plan to bridge any gaps. The end goal is to have your organization able to identify attackers, get them out, and recover as quickly as possible.
   
   
4. Buildout and policy development: The final step formalizes and implements the organization’s chosen governance strategy. It often involves putting in place more controls, written policies, and procedural documentation to keep the organization safe. After following this process, organizations are better suited to defend themselves against breaches. CyberReady is a full-scale program tailored to each organization and focused on keeping critical networks and data safe.

LET'S GET STARTED WITH THESE KEY AREAS:

ASSESS YOUR WORKPLACE

Conducting business through a pandemic has taught us what’s possible when remote work moved from optional to mandatory, when former in-person meetings went virtual, and travel was reduced. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you have the right people, technology, and other resources in place?
2. How are you addressing the need for digital transactions (paperwork, billing, payment) and do you have the correct tools in place to accommodate these digital processes?
3. How are you incorporating cybersecurity and risk management best practices into processes and procedures?

KNOW THE STRENGTH OF YOUR IT ENVIRONMENT

Some 75% of U.S. businesses have associates working remotely, and with this comes both advantages and challenges. Technology use and your business’ exposure to potential cyber attacks should be a top priority. Do you know the strength of your organization’s cybersecurity? Here are three steps to consider:

1. Governance: what is your IT strategy?
2. Data identification: what are your business’ “crown jewels” that need protecting?
3. Protection strategy: do you have a strategy in place to protect those “crown jewels,” or proprietary company information?

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CASHFLOW IMPROVEMENT

A critical step in monitoring cashflow, a 13-week cash flow model is a dynamic planning tool used to bring actuals and forecasts together. Maintained on a rolling basis, it can help you with:

1. Visibility: Longer outlook supports management decisions
2. Engagement: Requires essential input throughout the organization
3. Planning: Projects sources and uses of cash; monetizes the impact of decisions and allows for monitoring and adjusting
4. Focus: Allows for prioritizing and execution of tasks to achieve the cash plan