Last month, Heather Tessmer wrote an article featured in MD News Magazine. The article focused on what type of professionals doctors need to protect their assets, family, and business. Read the article below:
You need a Professional…
If you’re reading this, chances are, you yourself, are a professional. Maybe, more than a professional, you’re a specialist. If you consider yourself a specialist in your field, you understand that it takes years of training and education to reach that level in your career. You can also understand why you need other professionals on your team to help you plan for and protect your assets and create a plan for the use of those assets by you and your family. Your team should include a banker, an accountant, a financial planner, and an attorney.
As you grow your practice, a banker can help by providing the cash when you need it. Whether you need financing for the purchase of equipment and buildings or you want to buy a new home, just knowing a banker personally who knows you personally, can only benefit you in the long run. If you start your own practice, a banker can help you with things from a line of credit for keeping a steady cash flow to specific accounts for various entities that may help with tax, estate, and liability plans.
The next professional in your line-up should be a reputable certified public accountant (CPA). A good CPA can keep more money in your pocket by providing up-to-date planning and strategies to reduce your tax liability. In other words, he or she should be able to provide proven tax-saving tips and strategies that have helped other clients in the same line of work as yourself for your upcoming tax year.
Another specialist that should be on your list is a certified financial planner (CFP). A CFP can help you create a life plan for your finances. He or she can help you create goals and provide a road map to get you to those goals. A CFP can also create plans to weather the good and the bad that comes with a volatile economy.
Lastly, a good attorney can serve as the anchor to your professional team. Not only can your attorney serve as your confidant and advisor for the many situations in which you can find yourself in your long and winding journey as a professional, but he or she can also help create business entities to shield you and your practice from liability. An attorney can help create an estate plan that can save you money, keep your affairs out of probate, and keep your family safe. The right attorney can also advise you on premarital agreements, divorce, and probating a will.
So…sounds good, right? You need these professionals, but how do you go about finding them? First, ask friends, family, and colleagues. Look for certifications and specialties, just as you would expect your patients to do when they look for you. It is always a good idea to interview several candidates and be armed with questions that you would like answered. Even if you aren’t quite ready or are just beginning your career, it is never too early to start planning.
