Wealth Management

Q: We hear terms like financial planning or wealth management thrown around alot. What is involved in wealth management? What type of credentials should you look for?

A: 1st of all I should distinguish between the two. Financial planning everyone can and should be doing on a regular basis. Financial planning is a component of wealth management. The key distinction is that you have to have wealth to manage to do wealth management. Some of the issues we tackle as wealth managers are financial planning to address spending, budgeting & saving, debt management, protection against liability, death & disability, establishing your net worth (assets vs. liabilities), education planning, investment & retirement planning, trust & estate planning, charitable giving & business succession planning. Obviously tax and legal considerations are a big part of your wealth management and should involve your legal and tax professionals as part of your planning team. Professional designations that are important to have are CFP or CFA.