Life Events, Products, and Solutions

If you find yourself intimidated by the ever-rising price of higher education, then a 529 college savings plan might be a key component in saving for a college education. A 529 college savings plan is a tax-advantaged way to save for college and pay for higher education expenses.  The funds may generally be used for any qualified college or higher education expense, including tuition, room, board, fees, books, supplies, and equipment. Tax benefits may be subject to certain restrictions.

A trust is a fiduciary arrangement through which the trustee manages assets for the benefit of third parties. A trust is commonly used to transfer wealth to heirs or to favored charitable organizations. Insurance products, such as life insurance policies, annuity contracts and disability policies, may be used to fund trusts in appropriate circumstances.

Retirement may seem far away, but it's never too early to determine how much you'll need and to begin the process of saving. Making smart financial decisions now can help impact how you live in retirement. We can assist you along the way with our Individual Retirement Account (IRA) program—it’s designed to help you reach your retirement goals.

Mutual funds are professionally managed portfolios of stocks, bonds or other securities that pool the money of a group of investors who have common financial goals. The value of mutual fund shares will fluctuate so that when redeemed they may be worth more or less than their original cost.

Life insurance can be the foundation of your financial security and can provide comfort and stability for your family. The purpose of life insurance is to help provide your loved ones with financial protection after you die, in exchange for the premiums you pay to your insurer during your lifetime. Some life insurance policies can provide you with financial protection for the short term, while others accumulate cash value, offering a living benefit that can be used for supplemental retirement income, funding for a child's education, or cash for emergencies.¹

A sudden interruption of income-due to an extended period of sickness or injury-can have serious financial consequences for many of today's employees. If you are lucky, you may receive group long term disability benefits through your employer. However, you will need to make sure the benefits available through your group long term disability coverage are adequate for your needs. Group long term disability benefits are taxable if your employer pays the premiums, may be capped at a relatively low amount, and may not cover variable income such as bonuses or commissions. As such, these benefits may not be enough to maintain your lifestyle or pay all your bills if you become too sick or injured to work.

Long term care includes a variety of services and supports to help meet personal care needs over an extended period of time. The services include help performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), such as: bathing, continence, using the toilet, transferring to/from a bed or chair, dressing and eating. Long term care services are generally not covered under personal health insurance or Medicare because they are not intended to cure, improve or treat a specific medical condition. Medicaid may help individuals with income and assets below state requirements.²

An investment is an up-front commitment of capital to purchase financial products with the intention of generating future profit based on interest or appreciation of the capital invested. Most investments also contain the risk that investors may lose part or all of their investment. Investors should be aware of the risk/return potential of any investment products they consider for purchase, as typically the greater the return potential of a given investment, the greater the risk potential. Investors should also consider their own comfort with risk, the length of time they have to invest, the fees charged by the investments they are considering, and their ultimate goal for the investment when making investment decisions.