INDIVIDUALS & FAMILIES
Fiduciary Investment Management
No financial plan is complete without an investment strategy. Managing your investments concurrently with other cash-flow sources (such as Social Security or a pension) is key to funding a successful retirement. Most people cannot live on just Social Security or a pension alone in retirement and require some sort of investment portfolio to make up the difference. We believe in investing in a diversified portfolio consisting of different kinds of stocks and high-quality bonds to provide both growth for the long-term to hedge against inflation, and some stability for the short-term during any historically temporary stock market downturns.
As fee-only, fiduciary advisors the investments we recommend we believe are the best options for our clients. We do not receive commissions and are not compensated in any way from the investments we recommend and invest in. This eliminates most conflicts of interest relating to specific investments.
We use publicly traded, low cost, liquid mutual funds, ETFs (and occasionally separately managed accounts) in client portfolios often only available to institutional and qualified advisors. For stock allocations, we use passively managed funds because we believe it is nearly impossible to accurately and consistently time the stock market. For long-term investment horizons, research has shown that staying invested in the market (and taking advantage of rebalancing) generally results in a better return.
Tax Incorporated Investing
An often overlooked, yet important, aspect of portfolio management is investing in a tax-efficient way. At Milestone, we incorporate tax planning in all aspects of our financial planning, and this includes investment management. There are many different retirement savings accounts people can invest in with varying tax differences.
Distributions from an IRA are taxed when withdrawn; withdrawals from a Roth IRA are often tax-free; and income (dividends, interest, capital gains) in a standard (brokerage) investment account is taxed every year. We customize our investment strategy to your specific situation, considering the tax implications of the different types of accounts you own, trying to achieve maximum tax efficiency.
Our tax planning extends beyond just selecting which investments each account should hold, but also considers other important tax aspects such as future Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), Medicare premiums, taxation of Social Security and the tax ramifications for future inheriting generations or charitable wishes. At Milestone we aim to understand your personal goals and aspirations and structure your different investment accounts to reach them in the most tax-efficient way possible.
