Sometimes, only a financial professional will do…Health care. Law. Real estate. Finance.

When you need professional advice on matters affecting your family, your business, and your personal objectives, you turn to a specialist. Some things are simply too important to leave to chance.

But where do you turn when you need solid, professional financial advice?

As an investor, you face a universe of options: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, annuities, life insurance – they all compete for your investment dollars. What’s more, there are thousands of financial institutions – banks, mutual fund groups, brokerage houses, even Internet companies – ready and willing to sell you just about any kind of financial product you could want.

It can get confusing – unless you’ve got an investment professional – a specialist – to whom you can turn. Consider the services you’ll get from a specialist - services you won’t get from discount houses and Internet banks. A quality investment specialist will:

• Ask questions - take the time to get to know you – to understand where you are now and where you want to be down the road, before making any recommendations.
• Help you assess your goals – Are they realistic? – and your tolerance for financial risk – How do you feel about market volatility? – in order to gain a better understanding of the kinds of investments that would be right for you.
• Work with your other financial advisors – for example, your CPA and attorney – to coordinate future plans with current programs already in place.

But the real value in working with a specialist comes after the sale - when changes in your life, your family, or your business necessitate changes in your financial portfolio. Changes such as:

• Sickness or disability. How can you ensure your investments will continue even if you are temporarily or permanently disabled?
• Helping children afford college. How can you provide an education for your children without jeopardizing what you’ve worked your lifetime to accumulate?
• Retirement. You’ve built a sizeable nest egg. Now, how do you shift from accumulating assets to preserving what you’ve accumulated?
• The sale of a major asset. How do you manage these dollars responsibly, balancing growth and income - maybe even leaving something behind for heirs or a favorite charity?
• The death of a spouse. How can you reduce – or even eliminate – estate taxes? What kind of assets must be probated and which avoid probate entirely?

There are plenty of companies out there eager to sell you a financial product, but not a lot of companies willing to take the time to make sure it is the right financial product.

When it really matters – when your personal goals, your family, and/or your business are on the line, it’s nice to know that the financial professionals at Penn Mutual are there. To listen. To advise. And to help you make the most of changes that occur in your personal and business situations.