
Helping You Achieve Your Financial Goals
Financial Services in Cottonwood
Whether for yourself, your business, or your entire family, we all dream of a future of financial security. Unfortunately, budgeting and planning aren’t always as easy as we’d like to think. It simply isn’t everyone’s strong suit. Plus, how can you be sure that you’re making the right choices to achieve your financial goals and set your employees up for success?
We’re here to help. Benefit and Financial Strategies offers comprehensive financial planning services including “live” financial planning and projections, retirement income planning, portfolio analysis and design, insurance services, and more.
Cottonwood, AZ area employers can leverage our years of experience to build competitive retirement plans and group employee benefits plans designed to help you hire and retain top talent, and to take care of the people who keep the gears moving in your business.
Your path to financial independence is unique to you, and no two paths are alike. That’s why we work with you to craft strategies that are designed to meet your specific financial goals and those of your business. As local professionals, we treat you as our neighbor, treating your wealth management and employee benefits with transparency, integrity, and the utmost care.
Keep reading to learn more about the many services we offer to individuals, families, and businesses in Cottonwood, AZ and beyond.
Retirement Services
Depending solely on your employer for retirement benefits like pensions and 401(k)s is a thing of the past. Take your retirement into your own hands, backed by local experts with decades of experience in building retirement plans designed to create the future you dream of.
When it comes to retirement, it’s always better to start sooner rather than later. Still, even if you’ve put off thinking about it for some time, it’s never too late to start. There are a wealth of options available to you to help ensure that your Golden Years will be truly golden, and we are here to help you choose and manage the solutions that are right for you.
Financial Services
Proper asset management is critical to building a stable financial future for you and your family, but it can be overwhelming at times. Whether you need help adjusting or reassessing your investments, Benefit and Financial Strategies is here to help families in Cottonwood, AZ, and beyond. Our experienced professionals equip you with the resources you need to make smart decisions designed to help you build wealth and put your mind at ease. Our focus is on establishing a relationship based on trust. We work diligently to research and find the most suitable options for your needs. From keeping a close eye on your investments to tax-mitigating efforts, when you work with the local team at Benefit and Financial Strategies in Cottonwood, AZ, you’ll always know we have your back.
Insurance Services
So much more than a “nice-to-have”, health insurance truly is a must-have. With the rising cost of healthcare, it’s critical to safeguard the health of yourself and your family and to mitigate the negative impacts of costly medical emergencies.
Fortunately, there are many options available to you whether you are self-employed, an employer, or an employee, and it’s our mission to match you with the perfect plan for your circumstances.
When you work with Benefit and Financial Strategies for your insurance needs in the Cottonwood, AZ area, you know you’re working with a local team that has your best interests at heart.
Employer Financial Services
At Benefit & Financial Strategies, we provide employers in Cottonwood, Arizona, with a comprehensive suite of services and strategies that help them support their employees and grow their businesses.
Group employment benefits are governed by an ever-changing landscape of compliance guidelines that are challenging for small and even large employers to keep track of. At Benefit & Financial Services, we monitor compliance changes and benefits trends so Cottonwood, AZ employers can focus on their businesses. In addition, our flexible group insurance plans include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance plans backed by continuous assistance and support to employers and their employees every step of the way.

Group Employment Benefits
In the age of the “Great Resignation” offering great benefits is essential to hiring and retaining top talent. That means that offering basic health insurance, while a necessary starting point, simply isn’t enough.
The team at Benefit and Financial Strategies can help your Cottonwood, AZ business build a group employment benefits package that will give you the leading edge when it comes to hiring the best and brightest.
Besides medical, dental, vision, and disability, we can empower you to offer your team the best in
- Long-term Care Insurance
- Medicare Supplement Plans
- Marketplace Consultations
- Life Insurance
- Disability Income Service
As a local business ourselves, we know how important it is to take care of the people that keep your business running. Get in touch with our team today to begin the process of raising your benefits game.
Vision Insurance
Providing comprehensive group health benefits for your employees, including group vision insurance, is a smart way to protect your business and your employees’ well-being at the same time. Top performers and candidates are likely to field offers from multiple employers. Businesses offering health, retirement, and other benefits can attract top talent and retain them once they’re on board.
Dental Insurance
The financial professionals at Benefit & Financial Strategies can help employers purchase and manage additional group health benefits for employees, such as dental insurance. Employers in Cottonwood, Arizona, and across the US aren’t required to provide group dental insurance to their employees. However, in competitive job markets like the one we’re experiencing now, companies that offer group benefits, including dental coverage, are often better able to attract and retain highly-sought workers.
Medical Insurance
Finding the best group health insurance benefits for your employees without breaking the bank is no small task. At BFS, we help Cottonwood, AZ business owners evaluate, select, and purchase group medical insurance that protects their employees' well-being. We also identify tax credits and other offsets that reduce employer's financial burden and protect their bottom line.
Life Insurance
The financial professionals at BFS understand the needs of Cottonwood, Arizona’s business owners, and can help you evaluate and select life insurance coverage that suits the needs of your employees and your business. Life insurance is not only a crucial element of your employee’s financial planning, but it can also help your business recover should a key employee pass away.
Disability Plans
When an off-the-job injury or illness prevents an employee from working, disability income insurance provides payments equal to a portion of their lost income until they return. Employers in Cottonwood, AZ, may offer disability income insurance as a voluntary, employee-paid benefit or employer-funded benefit. The financial professionals at BFS can help you explore available disability benefit plans and identify tax savings and other offsets if you choose to fund the benefit on behalf of your employees.

Retirement Services for Employers
It’s one thing to choose a retirement plan for yourself, but it’s a whole other ballgame when it comes to choosing the right suite of options for your business’s most valuable asset – your employees.
Everyone’s path to retirement is different. It’s essential to offer a robust list of options that will help your team create the future they want and deserve.
Oftentimes your team trusts you to be the professional, but you may not be clear on things like the difference between a 401(k) and a 403(b) or the different types of IRAs.
When you work with Benefit & Financial Strategies on employer retirement services in Cottonwood, AZ, you’re working with an experienced local team that you can trust to point you in the right direction and guide you through the entire process and beyond.
We can help you learn about and select:
- Pension, Profit Sharing, 401(k) Plans, 403b Plans
- Buy/Sell Agreements
- Simple and SEP IRAs
- Deferred Compensation and Defined Benefit Plans
- Succession Planning
- Executive Benefits
- And more
Navigating the world of group retirement plans can be challenging. BFS offers small business retirement plan services so employers in Cottonwood, Arizona, can implement and manage executive benefit plans and succession planning services with the support of a dedicated service representative.
Retirement planning can be tricky. We look forward to being your guide!
Pension, Profit Sharing, 401(k) Plans, 403b Plans
Cottonwood, AZ, employers have many options when it comes to helping their employees save for retirement. Business profit-sharing arrangements allow employers to split a portion of company profits among employees eligible for the plan, while pension plans are employer-funded retirement savings for a business’ vested employees. In addition, clients of BFS small business retirement plan services may offer 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans to their employees. We offer implementation and administration support for these popular retirement plans, which combine tax-deferred employee contributions with employer-matched funds.
Simple and SEP IRAs
SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) IRA plans provide Cottonwood, AZ employers a straightforward and inexpensive retirement benefit. Under a SIMPLE plan, employers can make non-elective contributions of 2% of an employee’s salary or matching contributions up to 3% of an employee’s salary. Employees can contribute up to $13,500 ($16,500 for workers over 50) in 2021. Unlike SIMPLE IRA plans, SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) IRA plans are funded 100% by employers. In addition, SEP plans have higher annual contribution limits than SIMPLE plans and low administration costs, making them a popular retirement vehicle for small business owners and the self-employed.
Buy/Sell Agreements
Cottonwood, AZ, businesses can implement buy-sell agreements to protect against financial loss after the death or disability of a business owner or employee. The most common types of arrangements are cross-purchase agreements and stock purchase agreements. Depending on the type of agreement in place, after a qualifying event, other employees may have the option to buy the newly available ownership shares (cross-purchase), or the company’s key employees may agree to purchase the shares (stock purchase agreement).
Defined Benefit Plans
Defined benefit plans are more commonly referred to as pension plans and provide employees with a specific payment amount in retirement, which may be paid as a lump sum or in monthly payments, depending on the plan’s rules.
Cash Balance Plans
Cash balance plans are a defined benefit plan that allows Cottonwood, AZ employers to credit a designated account for eligible employees with a percentage of their annual compensation. Depending upon the plan’s provisions, employees may receive this benefit as a lump sum or monthly annuity upon retirement.
Defined Benefit Plans
Deferred compensation plans are often offered to executives or as a supplemental option in addition to 401(k) or other retirement plans. Under a deferred compensation plan, an employee defers accepting a portion of their salary until a specified date in the future. During the deferral period, the individual’s tax liability is reduced.
Succession Planning
If you own a business, succession planning is essential to secure your company’s future. In the event of a tragedy or upon your retirement, a thoughtfully developed and implemented succession plan can ensure you retain the assets you need to retire and provide for your family while successfully transferring the company's ownership.
Executive Benefits
Benefit & Financial Services can help employers in Cottonwood, Arizona, navigate the highly-regulated landscape of executive benefits. Our financial professionals design executive compensation and benefits packages that ensure compliance with the US Department of Labor regulations that govern qualified and non-qualified executive benefits.
Meet Our Team Of Financial Professionals
Benefit and Financial Strategies offers financial guidance to businesses and individuals in Cottonwood, Arizona, and beyond. With decades of experience in the field, our team is well-equipped to assist our clients with everything from employee benefits such as health care or life insurance plans that suit both yourself and employees' unique lifestyles to investment strategies based on sound research so you can be sure you're investing wisely today and preparing financially for tomorrow.
As a small firm with a large sense of community, we are proud to be trusted by our neighbors in Northern Arizona. We are deeply invested in the well-being of the place we call home and are active in many volunteering efforts around the region.
Our team of financial professionals has decades of experience designing employee group benefit and retirement plans, and we pair it with cutting-edge technology and educational resources. Our approach allows businesses to leverage our knowledge and experience to help create affordable benefits packages that demonstrate their commitment to employee well-being and help them attract and retain top talent.




Financial Planning FAQs
What is Financial Planning?
At its core, financial planning is an ongoing process of assessing your financial situation, setting goals for your future, and developing strategies to achieve those goals. Financial planning with the help of financial professional ensures you’re meeting your short-term and long-term financial obligations as well as planning for retirement.
Financial planning involves taking a look at your family or business goals, assessing where you are now, and making decisions about how to move forward with your finances. Financial planners provide support by helping to achieve client goals through achieving financial security through professional advice on savings, insurance, mortgages, pensions, and investments as well as providing tax-efficient strategies for individuals and businesses.
How Do I Invest Money Wisely?
Investing your money well is one of the most important skills you can learn. When done right, your money can grow to have a tremendous impact on your life.
The key is to find out which method or combination of methods and investment strategies will work best for your situation. Investing does not necessarily mean buying stocks. It means putting money into any asset class that has potential for growth over time - be it stocks, bonds, real estate, etc., as long as returns are positive once inflation is taken into consideration.
To ensure you are investing wisely, seek the guidance of a qualified financial planner who can help you maximize your investment while operating within a tolerable level of risk for your personal situation.
How Much Do I Need to Retire?
It's one of the first questions financial planners are often asked.
While there are financial calculators that can give you a rough idea of how much money you need to live off in retirement, it's still an estimate at best. Why? Because life is full of variables - health care costs, inflation, interest rates, and taxes change -- often without warning. The only way to be sure you have enough financial resources for a comfortable retirement is to plan early, be disciplined about saving, and invest wisely for growth over time.
A financial planner can help you prepare for retirement by walking you through your options and helping you to structure your financial assets to provide you with a steady income.
How Much is Health Insurance?
Health insurance is a must-have these days, even if you are generally in good health. It also has a reputation for being quite expensive. Naturally, your first question will be how much does it cost? Well, there's no easy answer since plans vary widely. Fortunately, that also means that there are many options available to you, including some you may not even be aware of. Each option comes with its pros and cons, and it's a good idea to work with someone with extensive experience in health insurance. A qualified professional will be able to guide you through the ins and outs of each option so you can find the one that is a perfect balance between affordability and the coverage you need.
What are Group Benefits?
Group benefits are typically made available through an insurance plan that costs individual employees less by pooling the risk of a larger group. Many employers provide group benefits because it is an effective way to attract and retain employees.
Some examples of group benefits include medical, dental, vision care plans, saving plans, disability income protection, life insurance, short-term or long-term disability coverage, and accidental death/dismemberment plans.
What We Love About Cottonwood
Located in the Verde Valley, Cottonwood is a picturesque town situated above the heat of the desert and below the cold high country of Flagstaff. Surrounded by rugged mountains on all sides with mesas & buttes for miles as the backdrop, Cottonwood’s location along banks of the beautiful Verde River means residents enjoy everything nature has to offer just outside their front door, from nature trails to camping and more.
Known as the "Heart of Arizona Wine Country", Cottonwood is home to many vineyards and tasting rooms, including Arizona Stronghold Vineyards, one of the oldest in the area. It is the ideal starting location for tourists and locals participating in the Verde Valley Wine Trail.
Since 1988, employers in Cottonwood, Arizona, have trusted Benefit & Financial Strategies to help them support their employees and grow their businesses. As a small Arizona business, we understand the needs of small businesses. Our financial professionals have decades of experience and education to help each BFS client secure the products and services they need to ensure the physical and financial well-being of business owners and their employees.
Cottonwood is, without doubt, a place that continues to attract steady growth and tourism. These privileged conditions make Cottonwood the economic heart of the Verde Valley.

Tuzigoot National Monument
The ruins of Tuzigoot, a Sinagua pueblo built between 1100 and 1450 AD and named after the Apache word meaning "crooked water," can be found high above Arizona's Verde River. The structure consisted of two stories with 110 rooms that provided shelter for hundreds in its day. The Visitor Center maintains what some consider one of the finest museums exhibiting Sinaguan artifacts in Arizona.

Dead Horse Ranch
Deep in the state of Arizona, you will find Dead Horse Ranch State Park, a beautiful place on the banks of The Verde River. This 423-acre park is home to 10 miles worth of hiking trails and several picnic areas and camping sites that provide an opportunity for you to get out of the house and into the wild with friends & family.

Verde Valley Wine Trail
Did you know that you don’t have to travel to California to find great wine in the west? The Verde Valley is home to some of the state’s top vineyards and tasting rooms, and wine enthusiasts from far and wide will find something to suit their palate on the Verde Valley Wine Trail. With ten stops along the trail, visitors will have a chance to experience the best of Arizona wine all while enjoying the beautiful scenery and rich history.
Nearby Areas Served

Jerome
Once known as the “Wickedest Town in the West” Jerome, AZ is a historic copper mining town located between Flagstaff and Prescott. Known for its scenic beauty and wild-west history, Jerome also offers a unique view of Sedona’s famous red rocks and eastern Arizona’s Mogollon Rim from the top of Cleopatra Hill. Even with its small-town vibe, visitors and residents alike enjoy shopping, dining, and plenty of historic sites.

Clarkdale
Founded in 1912 as a company smelter town for the copper mines of neighboring Jerome, Clarkdale, AZ is known for its historic position as one of the most modern mining towns of its time. It featured emerging technology like telephones, electrical service, sewer service, and spring water service. In fact, it’s known as the first planned community in Arizona. Despite being a small town, several movies have been filmed in Clarkdale thanks to its historic charm!

Cornville
You might be surprised to learn that corn is the last thing you’ll find growing in Cornville, AZ. Owing its unlikely name to a spelling error on the part of the Post Office - as legend has it - Cornville sits just 10 miles south of Sedona on the beautiful Oak Creek. Visitors will find plenty of reasons to visit this scenic area, including vineyards and historic landmarks like Montezuma’s Castle which, in keeping with Cornville’s tradition of unlikely names, is not a castle at all but rather a collection of ancient dwellings carved into the sandstone cliff face.

Cottonwood-Verde Village
Established in the 1970s as a retirement community, it now serves as a bedroom community for nearby Cottonwood, AZ. This largely residential area provides residents with easy access to much of what Northern Arizona has to offer, from the red rocks of Sedona to the San Francisco Peaks of Flagstaff and beyond.

Camp Verde
Known as the gateway to the Verde Valley Wine Country, visitors and residents alike enjoy tasting rooms and vineyard experiences throughout the area. Verde means “green” in Spanish, and it’s the Verde River winding through the area that provides the welcome sight of lush, green landscapes to which the area owes its name. Offering outdoor adventure, wildlife, and historic sites, Camp Verde is a favorite destination among visitors to Northern Arizona, and a frequent stop for Phoenix-area residents on their way to escape the heat in the Valley of the Sun.