Taking Control of Your Future with Wealth and Legacy Planning
Although female plaintiff attorneys continue to gain valuable recognition both in and out of the courtroom, many feel intimidated by the idea of financial planning.
Fortunately, their chosen career offers an exclusive and excellent tool to create financial security, both now and in the future.
Structured attorney fees, which generate unique contingency fee tax deferrals, allow plaintiff attorneys to leverage their careers, time and income to build ongoing and lifelong investments.
Regardless of professional status and varying levels of the ability to generate wealth, it is important for all women to become more knowledgeable about personal financial planning.
According to Urban Wealth Management, approximately 8 out of 10 women will be responsible for managing the finances for both their own future and their family at some point during their career. However, a 2019 U.S. Bank survey showed that nearly half of the women who participated (1514) “associate financial planning with negative words, such as fear, anxiety, inadequacy, and dread.”
Some of the key insights about women compared with men from the U.S. Bank study:
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- Women are less engaged with personal finance;
- Fewer listen to money-related podcasts, watch money-related TV shows or enjoy spending time on their financial affairs;
- Fewer younger than 35 use a financial advisor;
- They say they are less confident about managing money.
Despite these statistics, women place a high value on financial security and worry about having enough money for retirement.
These issues were discussed during a Trial by Woman conference earlier in the year, attended by 40 female trial attorneys, where I was honored to be a featured speaker about structured attorney fees. The attendees’ interest in more education was apparent – not only in managing their own finances but in understanding the available tools to help them do so.
Several conference attendees told me they planned to use the unique financial and tax advantages structured attorney fees offered them the next time they settled a case – deferring their income with guaranteed payments at fixed intervals.
These payments could cover the cost of mortgage payments, monthly expenses, investments, college tuition, maternity leave, or even be pushed out until retirement– with each payment taxable in the year it is received spreading the tax liability more efficiently.
It is my personal goal to help female plaintiff attorneys leverage their income to provide not only a fulfilling career but a great quality of life. I encourage you to reach out if you have any questions, by contacting me via email at cbarber@independent.life.
As part of Independent Life‘s education series, we’ve put together a free training video to teach plaintiff attorneys more about fee deferrals and the benefits.
You can register for the webinar by clicking the button below:
