Christopher L. Crocker, CES

^{Preserving and/or Transferring Wealth}

Our firm specializes in several areas, one being helping individuals develop sound retirement strategies. If you are retired – or approaching retirement – please take the time to explore our website and the wealth of information we offer.

We offer personalized, hands-on service. We educate our clients about financial concepts and products, and take the mystery out of investing, insurance, estate conservation, and preserving wealth.

We understand the many challenges of retirement today and know the biggest concerns for many retirees, or those approaching retirement are:

• Outliving their money
• Health care in retirement
• Tax mitigation
• Preserving wealth

The age of information is truly wonderful, however, it certainly has it's drawbacks. The most common, paralysis by analysis.

You can find almost anything on the internet or in a library, but look long enough and you'll almost always find a source that conflicts with your original finding. Before long, you find yourself consumed in research to find what is fact from opinion, or on the flip side, you say "why bother" and do nothing..neither of which turn out well in the long run.

The vast majority of our clients are approaching retirement or retirees...why is that?

It is because they have realized that when they retire from their career or sell their business, they now have a new full-time job...and in most cases they never knew they signed up for it! Now they must assume the role of their own investment advisor.

50, 60, maybe 70 years old, looking at a retirement plan statement (or several) with a bunch of numbers and now thinking to yourself, "how in the world do I safely spend this and not run out of money?" or maybe, "I'm comfortable with what I have, running out of money isn't a concern...taxes, RMD's, and protecting the nest egg though...that is what I'm concerned about...what is the best way to do it?"

What ever the concern may be, you have spent the majority of your time working and saving to reach this point...now is the point where you want to reallocate that time to hobbies, traveling, family, and your passions...not starting a new career you didn't sign up for.

By filling the role of you and your family's personal CFO, we help put your mind at ease by proactively planning for these concerns and risks, while freeing up your time for the things you love and cherish.

^{Growing Wealth}

Okay, but what if I'm just starting out? I don't care about those things mentioned in phase 2! (well...you will eventually...but that's a discussion for a different day)

The financial journey lasts a lifetime. As we all know, the concerns of retirees, and those approaching retirement, are quite different from the concerns an individual faces in their 20's, 30's, & 40's. The harsh and unfortunate reality is that as many employers have replaced defined benefit plans (ie. Pensions) with defined contribution plans (ie. 401k's, 403b's, SIMPLE IRA's, etc), and in many cases employees are no longer viewed as an asset, they are now viewed as an expense.

Why did they do that?

Well, let's take a look at the wonderful equity equation....   

ASSETS - LIABILITIES = EQUITY

If accounting still gives you nightmares, hang in there, I promise this will be quick.

A pension, if underfunded, is a liability, and therefore we can see it reduces the value of equity. By companies pivoting from underfunded pension liabilities to matching 401k's, they free up cash flow, eliminate expenses, and defer the responsibility of saving for one's future to the employee.

If you are an accountant or analyst by trade, yes...from a financial reporting standpoint pensions are generally an off-balance-sheet item. This small technicality does not change the fact that the lack of defined benefit plans in today's job market causes concerns for many in the accumulation stage.

• Am I saving enough to meet my future goals and/or maintain my standard of living in the future?
• How do I approach and navigate a conversation with my employer regarding a raise?
• There are a few jobs I'm looking at, I'd enjoy all of them equally, which one provides the best benefits?
• I'm don't see myself working for someone. What do I need to do to keep the business running and make sure I'm saving enough for down the road?
• It feels like yesterday my kids were in middle school, now they're in college, how does FASFA work? Also, how do I leverage college savings accounts??

We understand these concerns, and the many other hurdles that you face in the early stages of your financial journey. That is why we built a fluid service model that adapts as you progress throughout your financial journey.