Robinson Financial Group, Boston MA

Experiencing a life change, such as a divorce or losing a spouse, is an emotional and sensitive time, not to mention a potentially confusing one while navigating financial concerns. If you are undergoing these life changes, we partner with you to help understand your financial landscape and ensure there are no unwanted surprises by reviewing your financial documents and designations.

We specialize in helping you navigate the financial and personal challenges that accompany a marital separation, divorce, or loss of a spouse, including:

Managing the process and financial risks
Execution and separation/transfer of assets
Income security and financial planning
Investment and risk management

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The process of separation, divorce, and loss of a spouse can be emotionally and personally unsettling to say the least. We strive to provide Single Heads of Household with objective, professional advice.

When you work with us, we’ll help you:

Manage essential decisions and financial risks
Know what types of questions to ask
Understand your asset picture and debt obligations
Secure current income / minimize loss of income
Mitigate tax obligations and implications tied to transfers

While navigating the often-overwhelming level of paperwork that accompanies these processes, The Robinson Financial Group takes an active role in helping you understand what it all means. We provide specialized guidance during the transfer process to help you understand the risks to your assets as a beneficiary and recommend hedging strategies to help reduce risk.

We help you figure out the location of assets and the type of accounts and investments you hold. This includes a forensic review of account statements, cash flow, liquidity, income security, and potential risks.

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We work with our Single Head of Household clients to help secure a plan to replace your spouse’s income. In cases of alimony or pension plans, we build a plan to replace that income when the alimony or pension ends.

We can help assist you with:

Retirement income planning
Post-separation life planning
Updated estate planning – to meet your new objectives and goals, new account beneficiaries, and charitable planning
Personal risk and insurance planning
Career planning

Because of our expertise in working with business owners and executives, we can help provide guidance on business and cash management plans, retirement, ESOP, profit sharing, and navigating policies which have benefits connected to them (for both individual and company-owned key man or second to die insurance policies), then help you understand how those assets may be transferred.

Our specialized experience with these plans allows us to help our clients plan for and potentially help avoid tax implications and pitfalls. We understand complex compensation programs, including deferred compensation, stock and option grants, 10b5-1 trading plans, restricted stock, corporate insurance, and pension plans. We can discuss with you how those plans are valued, their tax implications, and how they may be transferred.

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After an event like a divorce or loss of a loved one, many spouses find themselves with multiple accounts. We help you understand your investment strategies, cash flow, risk, and ways to consolidate accounts for simplicity while aligning with your individual goals.

At The Robinson Financial Group, we work with you and your attorneys to provide valuations for your securities and investment accounts. Because we have expertise working with high-level executives and business owners and their complex compensation plans, we help you and your attorneys understand the potential true long-term value, growth opportunity, risk, and tax implications of these plans, including:

Retitling processes
Transferring assets for retirement plans
Executing qualified domestic relation orders (QDROs)
Stock option plans
Deferred compensation
Annuities
Insurance policies
Pension valuations

These assets are complex and may have underlying benefits beyond today’s asset value. We model for those benefits and work with you to help determine what holdings may help meet your objectives.

If you are the beneficiary of a pension plan, concentrated stock, low-cost basis stock, restricted stock, incentive stock and option grants, or 10b5-1 insider trading plans, we have experience managing the execution of those programs – balancing for and hedging risk and preparing for the tax implication and liquidity needs of that transaction.

We also provide specialized lending solutions to help manage business and real estate dissolution and can advise on providing liquidity for new (home) purchases and other cash flow and liabilities funding. Wells Fargo’s depth of resources also allows us access to management insight for private businesses, personal property, and commercial real estate.

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At the Robinson Financial Group, we specialize in providing you with a comprehensive overview of your investment and liquidity needs and risks. We customize and individually manage your investment portfolio to balance the risks associated with your specific situation and goals.

Most advisors use a model portfolio they outsource or hand off to outside managers and don’t specifically control themselves, creating little ability to make individual adjustments tailored for you and your specific tax needs. With over 22 years’ portfolio management experience, we maintain full control of your investments – designing, managing, and trading portfolios – using tax-free and tax-efficient investments designed to generate greater after-tax yields.

While working with you and your specific investment and risk management portfolio, we can advise on the following items:

Liquidity management
Safety of principal
Allocation to balance risk and growth
Investment management based on income, where needed
Asset management for new goals of the beneficiary
Asset management specifically to replace future income

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Read the example scenarios below to better understand how our services can help corporate executives like you.

We received a referral for a new client, Steven, who was in his late 50’s and going through a divorce. His wife had worked in the financial industry and had handled the finances in the family, so Steven had limited experience dealing with decisions related to wealth management. He needed a strategy that was suited to his objectives, not the goals of his former spouse.

An unexpected life event such as a divorce can affect everything from tax status to monthly and yearly income. We worked with Steven to review his divorce decree, how assets were legally viewed, and the details of his former spouse’s financial responsibility related to alimony, marital debt, healthcare coverage, and milestones related to various other financial responsibilities. This included identifying the need to update beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement plans.

It was also vital to help update Steven’s estate plan. We worked with him and his network – including his attorney and estate planning professional – to coordinate the valuation and execution of his estate plan and investment assets. Within the context of the big picture, we developed a comprehensive investment plan designed to enable him to live comfortably in the years ahead. We helped him with the investment plan and his allocation risks and conducted an additional risk assessment. Using this information, we developed a detail income plan for now and for the future when his alimony income ended.

Deborah, who was recently widowed, was referred to us by her attorney who was concerned that Deborah was overwhelmed by the multiple accounts and financial documents that were previously managed by her spouse. Beyond having to cope with the emotional challenges during this time, Deborah required assistance in re-examining her assets, organizing her financial documents, and establishing a plan to move forward.

First, we met with Deborah in-person and reviewed her paperwork together to understand her financial questions, and whether she needed to take urgent action on items like life insurance policies and pension plans. We built a relationship with her and provided her with a safe and compassionate environment as she was going through this difficult time.

Next, we worked with her attorney to refine her estate plan, including retitling assets and re-establishing a plan for her beneficiaries. Based on our findings, we created a revised, personalized roadmap for her which provided income and security for her while managing risk in a tax-efficient manner. Once we established an investment plan that was geared toward her objectives and income, we met regularly with Deborah to review her plan and to check for adjustments based on changing circumstances. We also began inviting Deborah to our many social events, so she could network and get to know our other clients.

_{These case studies are hypothetical and for discussion purposes only. They are not intended to represent any specific return, yield or investment. Individual experiences referenced above may not reflect the future experience of any one client. The planning process discussed may not be suitable for your personal situation, even if it is similar to the example presented. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal.}

_{Wells Fargo Advisors is not a legal or tax advisor. You should consult with your attorney, accountant and/or estate planner before taking any action.}

_{Any estate plan should be reviewed by an attorney who specializes in estate planning and is licensed to practice law in your state.}

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Your relationship with our team is built on a full understanding of your financial needs and objectives. We deliver the vast resources of Wells Fargo including Wealth Planning, Private Banking, Trust and Fiduciary Services, and Insurance as well as various customized and more traditional lending products.

We are always available to provide advice and guidance for every aspect of your financial life. As we work with you to create a fully integrated and personalized investment plan, we draw on an extensive pool of knowledge and insight.