Personalized Planning Services

Net Worth / Cash Flow:

We examine our clients' current assets and liabilities, along with their income and expenses, in order to assess where they are and their ability to accomplish their financial goals. Proper planning requires more than a snapshot, so we also consider how income and expenses will change over time, factoring in large changes such as salary increases, inheritances, and major one-time expenses.

Risk Management:

Insurance is a critical aspect of any financial plan, as a catastrophic loss to property or from a lawsuit may upend even the best laid financial plans. We work with our clients' insurance agents to determine appropriate levels of coverage for homeowners, auto, liability, disability, long term care, and life insurance.

Tax Planning:

We work with our clients' designated tax professionals to identify any special circumstances that may impact their financial plan. We may also make alterations to their investment mix based on certain tax considerations. Of equal importance, we have extensive experience reviewing tax returns to identify planning opportunities. These may include optimizing passive losses, transacting 1031 exchanges and business sales, investing to account for alternative minimum tax.


We understand how difficult it can be to organize and keep track of all the necessary information that goes into the annual tax return. This is why we maintain a database of such information as interest income, capital gains and losses, investments cost basis, and withdrawals or contributions to retirement accounts. Each spring, we prepare a summary letter detailing all of this information for our clients and their tax professionals.

Retirement Planning:

We help our clients answer the primary financial question people ask us, "Will I be able to maintain my standard of living in retirement?" We prepare retirement projections that provide a year-by-year illustration that allows our clients to see if they are on track to have the retirement they want. We have a robust set of tools we can use to demonstrate how different assumptions on retirement dates, savings rates, lifestyle expectations, longevity expectations, and market conditions can affect our clients' ability to meet their retirement goals. When building these projections, we prefer to use conservative estimates for returns, inflation and longevity. This conservative slant allows us to build retirement plans robust enough to survive extreme market conditions.

Estate Planning:

We review estate documents in order to ensure that the directives take advantage of opportunities to reduce estate taxes and that our clients' estates are distributed according to their current goals and objectives. If any changes or additional documents are recommended, we work with our clients' attorneys to implement the changes.

In the event of a death of one of our clients, we help their surviving spouse or other loved ones with the financial aspects of the probate process. Our aim is to minimize the costs and hassle associated with preparing final asset statements and to coordinate tax and legal resources as they complete the probate process. We also help with the paperwork and correspondence required for the transfers of assets. In essence, we understand how distressing these times can be, and we make every effort to alleviate the burden on grieving loved ones.

Education Planning:

Educating a child is a very valuable and often a costly gift. We help with comprehensive education planning for client children from birth through graduate school. Planning includes areas such as estimating how much to save, how to invest the funds as they accumulate, and how to take advantage of the myriad of tax-advantaged education saving options available today.

Trust Services:

Trusts can be an effective tool to ensure certain assets are eventually deployed in a manner consistent with the grantor's wishes. In many circumstances, trusts can also be used as part of a tax strategy or to protect certain assets from creditors. As a result of these benefits, many clients come to us with existing trusts or with trusts forming a part of their estate plans. We offer the same investment services for assets in trust as we do for those in retirement or normal investment accounts.

We also have a relationship with a unique trust services provider, the National Advisors Trust Company. This trust company, established by a consortium of independent financial advisors, charges some of the lowest fees in the business. More importantly, in contrast to many trust departments at banks, the National Advisors Trust Company provides trust services only, and does not manage assets. This feature allows our clients to continue to use us for their asset management needs after the trust is established. As a result, the relationship with our client endures even after the establishment of the trust. A trust department at a bank would normally insist on also managing the assets, opening one up to the risk of an asset manager with an unknown investment philosophy, and with no intimate knowledge of one's goals and family constraints. We believe this relationship with the National Advisors Trust Company provides our clients with the cheapest, most seamless choice available.

Business Planning:

For our business-owning clients, the valuation of their interest in that business can form an important part of their financial plan. Planning for a sale is one obvious application, but business valuations can be equally critical to effective estate planning. We can review the financials of our clients' businesses and provide a cash flow model to help evaluate the potential value. We look at proposals from external or internal parties for purchases and sales and provide issues to consider. We also help our clients think through succession planning and how to maximize the value of their business.