Financial planning is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Using the six step financial planning process, our advisors will work with you to create a financial plan that addresses your current and future needs, while guiding you along the way to make well informed financial decisions. These steps include:

• Defining the client / advisor relationship
  
• Determining client objectives and gathering data
  
• Analyzing and evaluating the data
  
• Developing planning recommendations
  
• Implementing planning recommendations
  
• Monitoring and reviewing the plan
  

Financial planning services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor.

At Black & Associates, LLC, we believe that using an asset allocation model, diversifying your investments across multiple asset classes, and systematically rebalancing the portfolio back to the model, is the most efficient way to manage your investment assets. This strategy takes the emotion out of buying and selling, and forces the action of “buying low and selling high.” Historical results validate that the asset allocation approach, although not perfect, is an effective method of minimizing risk while seeking to achieve long term positive results.

Through our advisors' independent relationship with LPL Financial, we are able to offer our clients a wide array of investment services tailored to address our client’s needs including:

• Fee Based Asset Management
  
• Asset Allocation Modeling
  
• Brokerage Accounts
  
• Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, and ETF’s
  
• Traditional and Roth IRA’s
  
• 529 Plans
  
• Variable and Fixed Annuities

Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.  There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio.  Diversification does not protect against market risk.  Rebalancing a portfolio may cause investors to incur tax liabilities and/or transaction costs and does not assure a profit or protect against a loss.  

Understanding how much income you will need in retirement is no easy task. Our advisors will work with you to determine your retirement objectives and potential cash flow needs. Whether you are in the accumulation phase or have already retired, they will help you develop a retirement strategy incorporating all sources of income, while seeking to minimize the effects of taxes and inflation.

We assist our clients with the design and implementation of both qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.

Estate planning provides for the orderly transfer of assets to the people you love, either during lifetime or death. It’s not just for the wealthy, nor is it just about saving taxes. It can be complicated, but working with your legal and tax advisors, we can help you determine which paths can accomplish your wishes. There’s no reason to waste a lifetime of good financial planning due to the lack of properly drawn Wills, Trusts, and other estate planning documents.

Proper financial planning includes assessing all possible risks to cash flow, income, and standards of living. How much life insurance do I need for my family? Is long-term care insurance appropriate for my situation? How can I cover the illness or death of my business partner? We provide guidance and solutions in the following areas:

• Life Insurance
  
• Long-Term Care Insurance
  
• Disability Income Insurance
  

We have no commitments to any insurance company and are therefore free to search the entire industry to recommend suitable products.

Our LPL Financial Representatives offer access to Trust Services through The Private Trust Company, N.A., (PTC), an affiliate of LPL Financial. As of 2013, they served in a fiduciary capacity for over $60 Billion in assets.

• PTC provides trust administrative services for individual and family assets. Licensed in all 50 states under its 1995 national banking charter, the bank does not engage in any lending or deposit taking, therefore specializing solely in providing fiduciary services.
  
• PTC is regulated and examined by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department, and is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank. Independent auditors audit PTC while its accounts are insured and bonded to protect client assets.
  
• The Private Trust Company does not provide day-to-day investment management for trust assets. Instead, PTC allows clients to delegate money management services or maintain their relationship with their financial advisors for investment management. PTC serves in an administrative corporate trustee role, providing all record keeping, accounting and tax preparation; also, PTC ensures that trusts are managed and distributions occur according to the terms of the trust document.