We partner with clients to reach their financial objectives through dynamic planning and a deliberate focus on the desired results.

A higher standard is what you deserve. We work as fiduciaries, which means we place your interests first. No sales, no commissions, no hidden fees.

A 43-year old airline pilot contacted us seeking a portfolio review and looking for answers about legacy planning for his children.

This pilot and his family had been working with an advisor at a large brokerage firm for many years. However, there was no financial plan in place, the family wasn’t sure what they could leave to their children (or how to reach that goal), and were frustrated with the lack of communication. Additionally, the pilot felt his portfolio wasn’t invested according to his risk tolerance, but he couldn’t define or quantify what he was truly willing to risk.

As we met with the pilot and his family, we explained our planning process and how we craft financial plans to help answer whether clients will have enough to enjoy the lifestyle they want. More importantly, we explained how we develop solutions and checklists to get clients on the right track… and keep them there.

By placing a numeric value behind the family’s risk tolerance, we were able to create illustrations of how their portfolios may perform under certain market conditions. Defining risk as more than “moderately aggressive” and developing goals beyond “growth and income” helped the client see what exactly the family was saving for, the risk they were bearing, and provided a probability of success.

We also showed how asset location — or where you place certain assets based on tax efficiency — could help manage the pilot’s tax burden. Our portfolios were constructed with tax-efficiency in mind.

• Comprehensive planning looks at more than just asset selection.  It includes employer benefits, retirement goal-setting, tax strategy, education funding, insurance coverage, contingency or “what-if” plans, and other facets of a client’s financial life.
  
• Quantifying the family’s risk allowed us to make investment recommendations across all accounts — including the pilot’s 401(k) — that are tuned to an expected risk and return.
  
• Integrating all accounts into our client portal allows the family to keep track of their savings goals and expenses.  This provides a better picture of the household balance sheet.
• Low-cost investments are a key to success alongside tax-efficiency.
  
• Ongoing collaboration and communication help keep the plan on track — especially as the kids approach their college years.
  

The owner of a family business valued at about $4 million asked us to help stabilize his business cash flows and save more for retirement. He also had questions about selling the business to his son.

Additionally, his portfolio was invested heavily in dividend-focused funds, which were generating current income that he didn’t need and added to his tax burden.

We worked with the business owner’s personal and corporate CPAs to gain a more complete picture of the firm’s cash flows and the tax burden to the owner.

We recommended establishing a line of credit that was secured by the company’s accounts receivable. This helped with the seasonality and timing of the cash flows to the firm.

We provided illustrations how a cash balance plan — in conjunction with his existing 401(k) plan — would help the owner save more for retirement and defer taxes. We then worked with the owner’s 401(k) provider to integrate a cash balance plan.

We helped the owner reallocate his portfolio into tax-efficient investments and showed how his various accounts were working together to meet his objectives.

We then developed a comprehensive succession and transaction plan that minimized the financial burden to the buyer (the owner’s son) and minimized the tax impact to the owner. We designed and structured this transaction to allow the owner to retain control over the business during the succession process.

• Managing the current income tax liability was a big key to success in this scenario.  Tax-efficient investments played a crucial role, as did asset location and the introduction of the cash balance plan to the business.
  
• Separating management succession from ownership succession allowed the owner to define the terms of transitioning the leadership of the company and provided for an income stream in retirement through the sale of the business.
  
• Taking a holistic look at the owner’s finances — from both a personal and business perspective — helped him define his ideal retirement goal and manage his investment risk accordingly.
  
• Working with the client’s estate attorney allowed us to weave the business succession into his existing estate plan.

A husband and wife approached us for investment management services as they approached retirement.  The husband still had additional income from a part-time side business, and the wife was preparing to sell her interest in a family-run business.

The couple needed additional income from their portfolio to supplement their current salaries, but they wanted to manage the distributions in a dynamic way to avoid eating into principal and staying invested according to their risk tolerance.

The couple is very active and they travel often.  They needed an advisor who understood their needs and goals, and that was able to put a plan into motion that was flexible enough to adapt to their on-the-go lifestyle.

The couple wasn’t necessarily interested in a comprehensive financial plan at first, and we understood that.  Often, financial plans are viewed as a list of “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not” instructions.  That’s pretty far from the truth.  We highlighted the benefits of a flexible plan that our team and the clients worked on together — benefits like a dynamic spending and budgeting plan that adjusted to portfolio performance and annual client needs.  We didn’t need to build a plan immediately, and the clients weren’t interested in rushing into a plan… but they eventually understood the value that a living, breathing financial plan brings to their lifestyle.

We found that the couple’s portfolios were invested too aggressively based on their quantified risk tolerance.  This created an opportunity to manage expectations from the perspective of risk versus reward.  The clients could bear more risk for an expected level of return, they could reduce the distributions they were taking from their portfolio, use a combination of both techniques, or manage their spending in a more dynamic fashion.  Their portfolios also had a lot of expensive mutual funds that needed to be removed.  We worked with their CPA to develop a liquidation strategy that was efficient from a tax perspective and constructed new portfolios.  

• Ongoing planning was a huge component of this scenario.  The couple’s financial situation is complex, and their desire to avoid a big commitment of time up-front to develop the plan was something we understood and respected.  We developed a rolling calendar of planning events that addressed the various elements of their finances.  After all, the only way to eat an elephant is one bit at a time.
  
• Educating the clients on total return was a big shift from their previous advisor’s focus on dividend funds.  Total return is the sum of all the parts of an investment — the capital gains, the dividends, the interest… everything.  In an environment of low interest rates, chasing yield inevitably exposes investors to risks they weren’t thinking about.  A diversified and risk-managed portfolio helps avoid these stumbling blocks.
  
• An account distribution plan — or the sequence of account liquidations — allowed us to build various time horizons into their portfolios.  Said another way, withdrawing from one type of account (like a taxable) first and then another one later (like a Roth IRA) has tax benefits and allows us to invest across different time spans.  This allows us to “ladder” risk based on expected time periods.

A prospective client engaged us for some financial guidance about saving for near-term goals as well as retirement.  He and his wife were expecting their second child, and two full-time careers didn’t leave much time for working on the family’s finances.

The couple had previously used a reputable firm for investment management and had also managed some of their portfolio themselves.  However, they felt they lacked a clear understanding of their progress towards retirement and they didn’t feel like they were getting an appropriate level of service or advice from their current investment manager.

The couple had a good start on their savings, but we found some places where they could improve.  For instance, maximizing contributions to the husband’s 401(k) could help offset the tax burden of a bonus he was receiving.  We helped with budgeting considerations since this would impact the month-to-month cash flow that the couple was used to.

We found gaps in life insurance coverage, and we talked with the couple about their liabilities and goals and how an increase in coverage could help cover these items if something were to happen to either spouse.

After taking our risk assessment, we found that the couple’s current portfolio was riskier than they had originally thought — or were comfortable with.  We proposed some changes and explained our recommendations from the perspective of risk, reward, near-term and long-term goals, and asset location.  This included recommending an investment mix for their 401(k)s.

• Getting started with saving for the future (and reinforcing good habits) is a foundational element of how we help.  This couple may have not had a big investment portfolio, but we found some areas where we could help them save for the future.
  
• Investment selection also includes a sensitivity to costs.  Since this couple has a long time horizon for retirement, costs really matter.  We helped build a diversified, low-cost portfolio both for the assets that we manage and for their 401(k)s.
  
• One-time or ongoing services are good solutions for busy professionals who are getting started with their investments, need assistance with basic planning or financial wellness, or maybe need some advice on debt management.
  

One size doesn’t fit all. We help plan sponsors across the spectrum of plan design, implementation, monitoring, and employee education.