Our Services

Financial markets are continuously evolving and volatility remains a consistent. We work with our clients to create and oversee a consist investment strategy tailored to their goals, risk tolerance, and time horizons, using a broad range of asset classes and investment vehicles.

Here’s how we typically approach investment management:

Risk Assessment:

We start by getting to know our clients through questionnaires and discussions to gauge how much risk they are comfortable with, considering factors such as age, income stability, and personal attitudes towards market volatility.

Asset Allocation:

We then use this risk assessment to determine an optimal mix of asset classes such as stocks, bonds, cash, and alternatives. Additionally, we provide insights to help our clients understand the potential risks and returns of these asset classes.

*Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.

Rebalancing:

As our clients go through life, their goals and risk tolerance evolve. We work to maintain a unique target allocation over time and through market fluctuations, to help ensure that each portfolio stays on the intended path to pursue our client’s end goals.

Alternative Investments:

Our knowledge of alternative investments such as real estate, hedge funds and infrastructure may allow for broader diversification and uncorrelated sources of return.

*All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

We help you implement tax strategies by taking a holistic view of a your financial picture, focusing on ways to help reduce tax liability and enhance your wealth through strategies such as 529s, Roth conversions, tax loss harvesting, capital gains management and the use of tax efficient investment vehicles.

Here’s how we typically approach tax strategies:

Roth Conversion:

Analyzing Conversion Benefits: Evaluating the potential long-term benefits of converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, for clients who expect to be in a higher tax bracket in retirement or wish to minimize required minimum distributions (RMDs).
Timing Conversions: Analyzing your current and projected income to determine an optimal time for conversion, ideally in years when your income is lower, reducing the tax liability from the conversion.
Managing Tax Impact: Helping to calculate the tax cost of a conversion and exploring ways to cover the tax bill, often recommending using non-retirement funds to pay taxes to maximize Roth account growth.

*Traditional IRA account owners have considerations to make before performing a Roth IRA conversion. These primarily include income tax consequences on the converted amount in the year of conversion, withdrawal limitations from a Roth IRA, and income limitations for future contributions to a Roth IRA. In addition, if you are required to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) in the year you convert, you must do so before converting to a Roth IRA.

Tax Loss Harvesting:

We regularly review portfolios for opportunities to sell underperforming investments at a loss to offset gains and reduce taxable income. The losses can offset capital gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income annually, with any excess carrying forward to future years.
Long-Term vs. Short-Term Gains: We provide recommendations for holding investments for more than a year to qualify for lower long-term capital gains tax rates, which are typically lower than short-term rates.
Gains Harvesting: In years when a client is in a low-income bracket, we may recommend selling appreciated assets to “harvest” gains at lower capital gains rates, potentially even zero in some cases.

Tax-Efficient Investments:

529 Plans: Helping our clients plan their educational savings goals, estimating their future education costs and understanding the tax benefits of 529 plans, including tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals for qualified education expenses.
Asset Location: We aim to strategically place tax-efficient investments in taxable accounts (e.g., index funds or municipal bonds) and tax-inefficient ones in tax-advantaged accounts (e.g., actively managed funds in IRAs) to reduce taxable income.
Tax-Managed Funds: For taxable accounts, we can select tax-managed mutual funds or ETFs designed to minimize taxable events, like distributions or capital gains.

Charitable Giving:

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs): We can guide you through DAFs for immediate tax deductions while allowing you to distribute funds to charities over time.
Appreciated Asset Donations: By donating appreciated stocks instead of cash, we can help you avoid capital gains taxes while still receive a charitable deduction.
Uniform Gifting and Uniform Transfers: We help provide insights on setting up accounts for those who want to gift assets to minors, allowing for a tax-efficient way to transfer wealth for your child’s future use, such as college or other financial goals.

We work closely with your attorney and accountant to create a comprehensive estate plan that preserves, manages, and transfers wealth according to your wishes.

Here’s how we typically approach estate planning:

Wills, Trusts & Power of Attorney Recommendations:

Assisting in minimizing estate and inheritance taxes through the utilization of irrevocable trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, donor advised funds, family limited partnerships, and business succession planning.
Helping prepare for incapacity by ensuring our clients have reviewed their power of attorney, healthcare proxy and living will.

Asset Inventory:

Guiding you through the process of creating an inventory of all your assets, including financial accounts, real estate, business interests, and collectibles. This inventory ensures that all assets are accounted for in the estate plan.

Educating Heirs and facilitating family meetings:

Coordinating with family and educating the heirs of your wealth is crucial to ensure the estate is distributed as desired, minimizing taxes, reducing legal complexities, ultimately preserving your wealth and easing the burden on your family.

Beneficiary Designation:

We review and update beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies and annuities as these designations override will and trust provisions. Keeping your beneficiary designations up to date ensures that your wealth passes on to your family and friends in the way you plan.

*This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor.

Our goal is to give our clients confidence for life after work by helping them plan for retirement by utilizing the benefits of various retirement savings tools, such as 401(k)s, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, pensions and annuities.

Here’s how we typically approach retirement planning:

Setting Retirement Expectations:

Assessing your retirement goals, by working with you to define clear retirement expectations including desired retirement age, lifestyle expectations, and estimated expenses during retirement.

Through Retirement:

Guiding you through retirement as you manage various income streams such as RMDs, social security benefits, pensions, etc.

Retirement Account Strategies:

Contributions: Helping you maximize tax-advantaged contributions to retirement accounts, like IRAs or 401(k)s, to lower taxable income in the present.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs): For clients over 70½, we may discuss the benefits of making donations directly from an IRA, satisfying required minimum distributions (RMDs) without increasing taxable income.

Income Smoothing for Business Owners and Retirees:

Retirement Withdrawals: We help retirees strategize their withdrawals to minimize taxes, by coordinating Social Security, pension income, and retirement account withdrawals.
Income Deferral: For business owners, we may suggest deferring income to a future tax year or accelerating deductible expenses to reduce the current year’s tax burden.

We provide insurance guidance by assessing your needs, identifying potential risks, and recommending insurance products that protect assets, income, and family members. Our goal is to help you plan for life’s unexpected changes, allowing you to care for you family, safeguard your business, and preserve your legacy.

Here’s how we typically approach insurance planning:

Life Insurance:

Assessing your life insurance needs based on your financial obligations, dependents, and long-term goals to ensure adequate coverage for unforeseen events. We work with you to calculate the appropriate coverage, typically considering outstanding debts, children’s education, income replacement needs, and final expenses.

Disability Insurance:

Helping you understand the importance of disability insurance to replace your income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury, helping you determine the necessary benefit amount, waiting period, and policy duration.

Long-Term Care Insurance:

Helping you plan to safeguard your retirement savings in the event of increasing healthcare needs later in life. These expenses can be crucial for helping you pay for nursing homes, assisted living, or in-home care, preserving you assets from being depleted and taking the burden off of your family.

Asset Protection:

Identifying strategies to safeguard your income and assets in the event of unforeseen circumstances, such as job loss or economic downturns, through income preservation and emergency fund planning. We continue to reevaluate your situation, considering your stage of life, family responsibilities, and future plans, as insurance needs can vary significantly over time.

*Please keep in mind that insurance companies alone determine insurability and some people may be deemed uninsurable because of health reasons, occupation, and lifestyle choices.