Liberty Group
Astute Combination of Estate Planning, Tax Planning, and Wealth Management

Devising an effective retirement plan is about balancing rational return expectations and portfolio risk with one’s desired standard of living. The transition from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans, such as a 401(k), is becoming increasingly challenging as the onus of managing investments is solely on the investor. A retirement plan has to be aimed at optimizing savings while managing the assets and risk effectively and responsibly. This can only be achieved by an astute combination of estate planning, tax planning, and wealth management. Liberty Group, a family-owned firm located in California, provides all three under one roof. The company helps people prepare for retirement by reviewing their financial situation and assisting with debt management, cash flow, saving, retirement income planning, risk management, and holistic wealth management.

“We are different than a lot of firms as we have three different disciplines that work together. We have attorneys on staff for estate planning, tax professionals to help plan for and prepare taxes, and financial planners to take care of financial planning for our clients. So, we approach the whole universe a little differently,” says David Hollander, Founder and CEO of Liberty Group. Through this unique perspective of identifying the three critical elements of retirement planning and how they correlate with one another, the company builds a customized retirement plan per people’s individualized requirements. As a part of the overall review, prospective clients get an assessment or second opinion on all three matters.

Liberty Group uses the eMoney financial planning tool, one of the most robust solutions available today, and the Riskalyze tool, which is like a portfolio MRI—thoroughly assessing and measuring the risks involved in one’s current allocations.

Using these tools, the company suggests changes to be made in the portfolio to balance the risk and returns. This technology gives Liberty Group an edge over its competitors as clients get actionable advice based on market experience and data analytics.

Liberty Group understands that people approaching retirement are most concerned about the transition from receiving a paycheck to not having a steady incoming salary while still maintaining their current lifestyle.

The tools map current expenses to give prospective and current clients an idea of their actual cash flow. Finally, after assessing the client’s financial portfolio using an extensive questionnaire, Liberty Group utilizes Riskalyze and eMoney to show, with a high probability, potential returns while presenting a clear picture of the upside and downside of their portfolio. It suggests ways to generate more income from their existing investments and assets while structuring them based on their life expectancy.

One example of how Liberty Group has helped its clients is when someone who wanted to retire in September approached the company for advice. They had concentrated holdings of a particular tech stock with a high price to-earnings ratio in their portfolio. The Liberty Group team suggested de risking and diversifying the portfolio. This stock indeed went down almost 40 percent, but his portfolio was in a much better position—and he can still retire in September. Through guidance like this, the company has earned a reputation in its Northern and Southern California markets, working with many people near or at retirement to help achieve their financial goals and live their dream retirement.

Liberty Group also works with physicians and physician groups to plan for their financial futures, ideal lifestyles and retirements, and asset protection. Physicians can have complex financial situations that require expert advice and support to help them free up their time and energy and offer peace of mind that their finances are on the right track. The company hosts dinner seminars catered specifically to physicians, touching on some of their pain points—like taxes, liability, optimizing savings, and managing debt.