Preserve it.
Live on it.
Pass it on.
A family's wealth has three jobs at once: staying intact, producing income for the life you have built, and reaching the next generation in the right hands, in the right vehicles, at the right time. We coordinate all three, and the people involved, under one roof.
A conversation, not a pitch. It costs you an hour.
“Will this survive us?”
When a family asks us some version of that question, the portfolio is rarely what they mean. Underneath it are the things a family carries that a single investor never has to.
- 01The people, not just the money.
- Some families are focused on legacy. More often they are worried about specific people: a family member who may need help providing for themselves, grandchildren coming up in a more expensive world. And nearly all of them know that money alone is not what leads to happiness. There is a fine line between making sure everyone has money and setting the kids and grandkids up for success. Planning for people is different from planning for accounts.
- 02A transfer that actually holds together.
- The biggest breaks we see are structural: the estate transfer left unprotected, without the right trusts, directions, and beneficiary designations in place. That generally leaves a mess for the kids, at the worst possible time to deal with one.
- 03The vehicle and the timing.
- The same dollar arrives very differently depending on what it travels in. Assets passed through some account types carry a tax bill with them; others can arrive with far less friction. Which vehicles hold which assets, and when they move, is planning work that has to happen while you are here to lead it.
Income for this generation. Structure for the next.
The work starts with the two things families tell us they worry about most: preservation and income. We do a great deal of income planning for families at this stage, building income streams designed to be reliable, diversified, and tax-efficient, so the wealth funds your life without the plan depending on any single source.
Then the structure. At the concept level, estate planning is about matching the tool to the situation: when a will and health directives are enough, when a revocable trust makes sense, when an irrevocable trust does, and which assets belong in each. For families with philanthropic goals, there are planning tools built for giving as well. We map the strategy and your attorney executes the documents.
Insurance runs through all of it, because a transfer has practical needs: liquidity when the estate settles, taxes and debts that should be paid without forcing the sale of things your family means to keep. Done well, it is what lets everything else stay where it belongs.
Bring the whole family into the room.
Spouses, adult children, the heirs your plan is actually for: they are welcome at the table, and we think the plan is stronger when they understand it before they inherit it.
There is also a practical question families should ask any advisor: will you still be here when my kids need someone to call? Our team is young enough to answer it honestly. We are building a firm designed to serve the second generation, not just the first, with team members whose life experience spans the stages our families are in.
What families ask us.
- How do we move wealth to our kids without losing more of it to taxes than we should?
- Two decisions drive most of it: the vehicle and the timing. Different account types carry very different tax treatment when they transfer, and several of the most useful moves can only be made during your lifetime. We map those options with you and coordinate the details with your CPA and attorney.
- Will you meet with our children?
- Yes, and we encourage it. Heirs who understand the plan before they inherit it make better decisions inside it. Many families want their kids to have a trusted place to turn when the time comes. That relationship is stronger when it starts early, long before it is needed.
- Do we need a trust?
- It depends on what the wealth needs to do. Sometimes a will and health directives genuinely cover it. Sometimes a revocable trust earns its place, and in some situations an irrevocable trust does work nothing else can. We help you understand which situation is yours, and your attorney drafts the documents.
- Where does life insurance fit in a wealth transfer?
- Concept level: liquidity. When an estate settles there are often taxes and debts to pay, and insurance can provide the cash so nothing your family means to keep has to be sold to pay them. Whether it fits your situation is a suitability question we work through case by case.
Lead the conversation while you are here to lead it.
The first meeting is about your family, what the wealth is for, and who it needs to take care of. We ask, we listen, and nothing gets recommended in the first hour.