Oftentimes, “wealth management” is about much more than managing wealth. It’s about knowing how to make the right decisions to live your best life. It’s about confidence.

One of our clients was referred to us by an attorney after her husband passed away unexpectedly. She’d received a large sum of money and had no idea what to do with it. She felt like most people she talked to didn’t have her best interest at heart, and she wanted honest guidance about what to do with her finances.

We met with her, and she asked us to help with everything—from negotiating a loan on her vehicle to planning for her children’s education. We talked about her goals, her budget, and helped her develop a comprehensive plan with clear-cut next steps. She’d never had a lot of money before, and the benefit she received wasn’t massive, but because of our work together, she learned how to spend what she had confidently. We helped her create a plan so she wouldn’t run out of money. She had the resources—we simply spent time with her, got to know her, and helped her organize everything so she could create the life she wanted for herself and her children.

One of our clients approached us with questions about an annuity he’d purchased through another company. He was under the impression he was earning more than a 10% guaranteed return on his investment; unfortunately, after running an analysis for him, we discovered he’d made less than a 2% return on average over ten years. We called the company with him, and from there, we helped him understand what his actual returns and guarantees were. 

This client wanted a balance of long-term growth and guaranteed returns, so after helping him uncover the facts about his current investment, we helped him create a portfolio that satisfied his goals.

One of the most valuable financial tools you can have is knowledge, and that’s why no matter what your objectives are or where you’re starting from, we’ll spend time educating you about your situation and options so you can make wise decisions.

One of the most important aspects of implementing an effective benefits plan is understanding how that plan works. Without proper knowledge of specific benefits and the costs involved, you as the business owner can end up paying unnecessary fees or missing out on opportunities to help your employees.

One of our clients had a defined benefit plan for his employees that was heavily overfunded. The worst part was, he had no idea the overfunding created an issue–but those additional funds could have cost him nearly 80% of the account’s value in taxes and fees. So rather than the money benefitting the employees (as it was intended to), much of it would go to the IRS.

We helped this client by educating him about the plan and helping him understand how it worked. After conducting a thorough analysis of the plan, we helped him work with his third-party administrator to come up with solutions to alleviate the over-budgeting issue. In the end, we helped our client figure out exactly what he was working with and how to best use it, so his company’s plan could benefit his employees the way it was meant to.

When you’re managing substantial wealth, it’s incredibly important to have someone overseeing all the details. One of our clients came to us because they needed help with their succession plan—they owned a multimillion-dollar company, but when they started it, the business was a small venture with zero employees. Some of their family members were more involved in the business than others, and we helped them navigate the details of their multigenerational wealth transfer. But more importantly, we built a long-term relationship and oversaw their entire financial plan—and in doing so, we discovered something very important.

As we reviewed their documents, we realized the head of the family had shifted a share of the company to one of the sons. But when the documents were drawn up (which happened to be a year when there was no estate tax exemption), the valuation was miscalculated—so much so that the son in question would have owed more than $1 million in gift taxes if the problem wasn’t corrected.

The family was dumbfounded. They had reviewed the transaction with their lawyer and thought everything was correct, but now they faced a complicated—and very expensive—problem. Fortunately, we were able to partner with two planning experts (one specializing in estate tax and the other in law) and amend the issue.

Sometimes your wealth is so complicated, you don’t know what questions to ask; other times, a situation feels so overwhelming, you assume there’s no solution. Our job is to fill in those gaps, connect you to the right resources, and make sure everything in your financial world operates according to your plan. 

When it comes to wealth management, our ultimate goal is to preserve family unity and harmony. We’ve personally experienced the tension that can result from poor planning, and we want to prevent that for our clients’ families. That’s why we’re incredibly passionate about helping people develop thorough plans that allow them to keep the peace and enjoy their wealth for generations. There are countless moving parts to your financial plan, and our job is to make sure everything moves in the right direction year after year, for generations to come.

Many of our clients begin with Personalized Financial Planning and transition to Bespoke Financial Management as their wealth becomes more complex. When we take on a Bespoke case, we become like your family’s CFO. We oversee the big picture, coordinate with the important people in your life—your CPA, attorneys, beneficiaries, spouse—and manage the details so you can stay focused on what you do best. We’ll help you address questions such as:

• How do I make sure my estate is distributed fairly after I’m gone?
• What do I do if my son or daughter doesn’t want to take over the family business?
• What’s the best way for me to give back to the causes I care about?
• How do I make sure I’m not overlooking something important?
• Where do I even start?

Whatever you want your life to look like, we’re here to support that vision. We do that by fine-tuning your financial GPS: your Goals, Protection, and Savings. We help you determine exactly where you want to go, and we make sure the significant people in your life—whether that’s your spouse, business partner, or someone else—are on the same page. Then we establish a strong foundation by protecting the assets you already have, like your ability to earn an income. Once we’ve identified your objectives and minimized risks, we help you determine how much you need to save to reach your goals. Our mission is for you to focus on saving more (rather than spending less) so you can enjoy what you have and feel confident about your decisions.

In our years of wealth management, we’ve learned that most people tend to spend their money one of two ways: like a hare or a turtle. Either they run out of money because they spend too much, or they save it all and never get to enjoy life. But we don’t want you to do either. We help you find the perfect middle ground where you understand exactly what you have and how to reach your goals so you can freely enjoy everything you’ve worked for.

As a Personalized Financial Planning client, we’ll help you address questions such as:

• How much should I save to reach my goals?
• How will I fund my kids’ college education?
• Will I be able to pay off my house?
• How can I maintain my lifestyle in retirement?
• Is it possible to retire early?

Some of our clients know exactly what they want when they reach out to us; others need help nailing down the details. Whatever your situation, we’ll work with you to identify and implement the appropriate solution for you. If you need help with investment management, we’ll ask specific questions so we can understand your goals and risk tolerance. If you’re looking for help with insurance, we’ll conduct an insurance needs analysis so we can help you obtain adequate coverage.

Most business owners don’t have time to thoroughly review benefit plans to ensure they’re getting the best value for their investment. Consequently, many of them end up with high-cost plans that aren’t always the best fit for their needs. And their employees run into the same problem—they don’t have time to do extensive research about their benefit options, so they might over-pay for coverage they don’t need, or lack adequate resources to reach their financial goals.

That’s why much of our work with business owners focuses on removing the planning burden from you and your team. Whether you want to offer employer-paid benefits or simply give your employees the time and resources to choose their own, we’ll help you identify the solutions that are right for you. 

Whichever route you choose, we’ll make sure the process is easy and that the benefits are valuable and cost-effective for you and your team.