Our Team
Richard Harris, CLU, AEP®
Principal / Director of Advanced Planning
Richard is known for his pragmatism, creativity, integrity, independence, and helpfulness. He communicates complicated concepts in ways that clients understand. He helps and works collaboratively with professionals and their clients regarding life insurance. He knows that life insurance is a tool, and not “the” answer. If life insurance is appropriate, he helps in product selection, getting the best results when underwriting, and structuring the program to minimize total costs and maximize tax and other benefits. He does that on a contingency basis. Richard also does fee-only consulting regarding existing insurance portfolios and second opinions on new insurance.
With 50-years’ experience, Richard is knowledgeable and experienced in life insurance products; uses of life insurance including estate, gift and generation-skipping, income tax deferral or elimination, business continuation and cross-border and international clients. His knowledge also extends to estate planning and strategies using life insurance including split-dollar arrangements, premium finance – both from outside sources and privately, business continuation plans, and pension and IRA tax enhancement. He reviews life insurance policy performance based on the individual’s goals and circumstances by managing premiums and gaining tax advantages. And he is involved in the valuation of life insurance policies and receivables connected to life insurance transactions for tax and/or fiduciary purposes.
Richard’s has earned the designations Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Accredited Estate Planner (AEP), and Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU). He is Co-Chair of the Insurance Committee of the Editorial Advisory Board of Trusts & Estates, and is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Bergen County, Inc.
He has authored and co-authored books, white papers, and advisor-useful materials along with many articles including Advanced Planning with the Ultra-Affluent: A Framework for Professional Advisors; with Russ Alan Prince Institutional Investor, 2002 Recognizing the Opportunity: Wealth Management, Estate Planning & Life Insurance; with Hannah Shaw Grove, Brett Van Bortel and Russ Alan Prince Charter Financial Publishing Network, 2009 Split-Dollar Life Insurance Arrangements: What Estate Planners Need to Know (with Martin Shenkman), New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 2009 Indexed and Annotated Split-Dollar Regulations: §1.61-22 and §1.7872-15 (with Martin Shenkman), 2009