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Maximizing Your Financial Future With Westwood’s Advanced Planning Tools

Are you aware Westwood utilizes a myriad of financial planning to manage your finances, achieve your goals and secure your financial future? Westwood goes well beyond net worth statements, cash flow projections or illustrating how your estate will pass to the next generation via an estate diagram. These additional planning tools include detailed tax analysis reports and Social Security benefit optimization. Most importantly, Westwood not only uses standard software, we also culminate these outputs and place them into a refined and thoughtful package with recommendations and solutions relevant to your individual need.

If this is news to you, you are missing out on planning opportunities that could enhance your overall financial journey! These additional services are complementary for our clients. To provide some examples, let’s look at some key issues these tools help address and the overall impact they have on your financial planning.

eMoney Advisor

Let’s start with eMoney Advisor. Have you ever tried to determine your net worth, whether you’re on track to have a taxable estate in the future, if you can afford to save for your grandchildren’s education, or if your portfolio assets will last through retirement? eMoney Advisor can help answer these questions and much more. eMoney Advisor is a comprehensive financial planning software designed to assist with building net worth statements, cash flow analysis, retirement planning, education funding analysis and tax planning. eMoney Advisor also allows us to create and analyze different financial scenarios, helping clients see the potential impact of various decisions and life events.

Your Westwood team of financial planners and advisors use this tool as a starting point to provide you with a personalized financial plan. If you don’t have a financial plan in place, speak with your advisor about establishing one for you. The typical data needed to construct a financial plan include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Income (wages, pensions, Social Security, rental income or investment income)
  • Expenses
  • Assets (checking/saving accounts, retirement accounts or real estate)
  • Liabilities (auto/home loan, student loans, credit card debt or personal loan)
  • Goals (saving for college, buying a home, gifting or retirement, etc.)

A financial plan can provide you with a clear roadmap for achieving your financial goals and help you prioritize what is most important to you. A financial plan can also provide you with structure, security and peace of mind while you build your brighter future.

Holistiplan

The next addition to Westwood’s offerings is Holistiplan. Holistiplan may help you reduce income taxes and plan ahead to keep more of your hard-earned money. The reality is that most tax preparers are so busy during tax season, they don’t have the time to guide you through strategies that could lower your tax bill. That’s where Westwood comes in. Westwood utilizes Holistiplan to deliver comprehensive tax planning to our clients by identifying potential tax savings and opportunities for optimization. Holistiplan uses advanced optical character recognition (OCR) technology to read a tax return and generate customized recommendations tailored to each client. The advisor and client can immediately identify key figures and income tax breakpoints for planning opportunities such as:

  • Roth conversions
  • Capital gains planning
  • Maximizing retirement and HSA contributions
  • Charitable giving through donor-advised funds
  • Reducing net investment income tax (NIIT)
  • Managing income to avoid Medicare premium surcharges
  • Utilizing qualified charitable distributions (QCDs)
  • Eligibility for new and used clean vehicle credits (electric vehicles)

Holistiplan provides tax strategies and actionable recommendations for clients to discuss and implement with their tax professionals. If you’re interested in this service, simply send us your completed 1040 income tax return in PDF format. The software also ensures that tax strategies are compliant with current tax laws and regulations, reducing the risk of errors.

SSAnalyzer

Finally, for the last tool on our list, Westwood just began using SSAnalyzer this year. Many of our clients ask for guidance on when to claim Social Security benefits. They often wonder if they should claim at age 62, wait until full retirement age or delay until age 70. Others are curious about whether one spouse should start now while the other delays benefits. Many clients also have questions about how spousal and survivor benefits work. SSAnalyzer can thoroughly analyze these questions and various what-if scenarios. It is designed to help individuals optimize their Social Security benefits by visualizing different strategies and provides clear, comprehensive guidance.

SSAnalyzer helps individuals and couples receive the highest possible amount from Social Security over their lifetime. The software allows clients to reduce uncertainty and helps them make well-informed decisions about when and how to claim benefits. If you haven’t claimed your benefits yet or are planning to do so soon, let us analyze your situation to determine the best time to claim. All we will need is your Social Security statement, which can be found at ssa.gov/myaccount.

In Conclusion

eMoney Advisor, Holistiplan and SSAnalyzer are three distinct yet complementary tools that greatly enhance Westwood’s financial planning services. Integrating these tools has allowed our financial planners and advisors to offer comprehensive, data-driven and personalized financial advice, ensuring our clients can achieve their financial goals with confidence and efficiency. If you want to learn more about these tools or how they can benefit your situation, please contact your advisor for a personalized consultation.

Israel Cruz, CFP®, MS
Associate Vice President
Financial Planning Manager
Financial Planner

The information contained herein represents the views of Westwood Wealth Management at a specific point in time and is based on information believed to be reliable. No representation or warranty is made concerning the accuracy or completeness of any data compiled herein. Any statements non-factual in nature constitute only current opinion, which is subject to change. Any statements concerning financial market trends are based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All information provided herein is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be, and should not be interpreted as, an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell or otherwise invest in any of the securities/sectors/countries that may be mentioned.

While Westwood endeavors to keep clients informed about certain wealth topics, the information contained herein should not and does not constitute tax advice and is not intended to be a substitute for professional tax advice, planning and counsel. Tax laws are subject to interpretation and frequent changes, and their application can vary widely based on the specific facts and circumstances involved. You are urged to consult with your own tax advisor or a certified tax professional regarding your individual situation to obtain advice that is accurate, up to date and tailored to your personal circumstances, including, but not limited to, evaluating the implications of any tax law and its applicability to your situation, considering your specific needs and circumstances, and addressing any questions or concerns you may have.

To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law. Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on their individual circumstances.

Advisory services are offered through Westwood Management Corp. Westwood and Westwood Management are the trade names for Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (“WHG”), which together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, Westwood Management Corp. (“WMC”), Westwood Advisors, LLC (“WA”), Westwood Trust (“WT”), and Salient Advisors, LP (“SA”), provides investment, asset and portfolio management services. “WMC,” “WA,” and “SA” are SEC-registered investment advisors. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply any level of skill or training. WT is a Texas chartered Trust Company overseen by the Texas Department of Banking. Westwood does not offer legal or tax advice. Please contact your attorney and tax professional for advice regarding your specific situation.

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The information contained herein represents the views of Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. at a specific point in time and is based on information believed to be reliable. No representation or warranty is made concerning the accuracy or completeness of any data compiled herein. Any statements non-factual in nature constitute only current opinion, which is subject to change. Any statements concerning financial market trends are based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All information provided herein is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be, and should not be interpreted as, an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell or otherwise invest in any of the securities/sectors/countries that may be mentioned.