Many people feel overwhelmed by too many choices and not enough time. And, we all experience the difficulties of managing financial affairs during life changes. Divorce, the death of a spouse, retirement, an inheritance – whatever it is, will affect far more than your bank account.  Our goal is to work closely with you to add clarity and ensure your financial peace of mind.  

Loss of a Loved One

Experiencing a loss, especially a spouse, can be overwhelming. Compounding the mourning, the financial challenges can be especially daunting. Your financial life and concerns might be completely rearranged - particularly challenging for a spouse who may not be used to making financial decisions. The urgent demand of immediately responding to critical questions (financial and otherwise) is often a vulnerable time to make big and often irreversible decisions. In the midst of this deeply personal transition, we are here to support you. We help you sort through the complicated financial process and prioritize what needs to be addressed now and what can be taken care of later. We do this by laying out each financial decision based on your specific situation and needs. Whether related to estate planning, tax planning, or investing, our ultimate goal is to make sensible financial decisions and provide you with financial peace of mind during this difficult time. Over the years we have also been fortunate to build valued relationships with a network of trusted professionals, such as accountants and estate planning attorneys, which can often lead to a stronger support system.  

Divorce

Divorce financial planning services began as an outgrowth of our financial planning advisory services. A knowledgeable, understanding and experienced advisor who specializes in the financial aspects of divorce can help you through this challenging transition. By working with a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) you will have a financial sounding board that can help you manage your financial transition before, during and post-divorce. By offering financial analysis and creative solutions, we help clients determine the short and long-term financial impact of any proposed divorce settlement to ensure they obtain the most advantageous settlement possible. Combining a personal touch and professional expertise our passion lies in helping our clients and their attorneys avoid the common financial mistakes
made during this time and ease the stress of divorce with a sound financial plan. With the right financial planning, you can move past divorce and into a future of new possibilities with confidence.

Retirement

A knowledgeable advisor is often critical in helping you successfully navigate your retirement years, create sustainable cash flow and income from investments and make wise choices in managing and safeguarding your assets. This part of one’s journey, often called the “deaccumulation” phase entails different strategies and priorities than the life-long “accumulation” phase leading up to retirement. As a part of our financial planning services, we help you review and answer the many questions that come into play around retirement such as: the right time to retire, how your savings project in future cash flow analysis, appropriate and tax efficient withdrawal strategies with employer and IRA accounts, and when to best claim and maximize your Social Security. We track your progress along the way and update your plan as goals and circumstances change. However you picture yourself in retirement, we work closely with you in advising on strategies to meet your long term goals and ensure the financial independence that you have worked so hard to create.

Social Security Strategies

It’s one of the most important retirement decisions you’ll ever make. Few financial decisions are more far-reaching and irrevocable than when to file for Social Security retirement benefits. Yet, individuals and couples approaching retirement often overlook the importance of having a well-considered Social Security claiming strategy. Compounding matters, there is no “one size fits all” approach. The Social Security rules are extraordinarily complex in creating a multitude of claiming options that retirees must successfully navigate to get the most out of the system. The potential impact of a claiming strategy can greatly affect not only you, but your spouse and survivors. Moreover, the Social Security Administration is under no obligation and not in the business of financial advice and coordination among strategies - they are tasked in providing rules information and processing claims. It’s an area where a professional analysis of your Social Security options is a key and valued aspect of comprehensive retirement planning.  With a focus on helping clients understand which options work best for them, we advise on utilizing the most effective filing strategy to optimize your lifetime benefits and avoiding common mistakes that can leave thousands of dollars of benefits on the table.  Regardless of where you sit on the retirement spectrum, proactive planning in understanding the short and long-term effects of your Social Security choices is critical. 

Inheritance

Whether you have sold a business, inherited a large sum, exercised stock options, received a divorce settlement, or simply have a sudden increase in income or assets, managing newly acquired wealth can present various challenges. All too often the unique challenges of appropriately investing these assets can be overwhelming and clients often find themselves in need of professional assistance. We work closely with you in preparing for the changes life brings to your financial situation to help you avoid making any emotionally charged decisions, especially those that are irrevocable. Some of the issues we assist with include blending new assets with an existing portfolio, examining strategies of investing a fixed amount vs. investing slowly over time, evaluating your new financial position in relation to short vs. long term goals, understanding the differences in inheriting stock, cash, real estate; income tax considerations, compliance and mitigating taxable ramifications, and contemplating what uses your new wealth will give you the most satisfaction.

Generational Planning

During this transition, it’s important to seek the advice of a trustworthy firm that specializes in integrated financial transition planning. Our goal is to help our clients assess and make smart choices in estate and trust planning/facilitation of wealth transfer, protecting and distributing assets, managing and minimizing tax implications to preserve wealth, addressing how much to pass on and when, assessing charitable and philanthropic giving strategies, managing trusts, and engaging the next generation on financial management issues.

Career Change

Changing careers can be rewarding for many reasons. Important decisions in investing both your time and money are critical during this period. Whether it’s reviewing your options in rolling over funds from your employer’s retirement plan, examining withdrawal options, electing benefit options, setting up new vehicles for continue tax deferred growth, or reviewing a proposed compensation plan, we are here to help.