Sunrise Reflected on the Connecticut River

MY SERVICES

After more than 20 years of working with families and individuals, I’ve recognized they all have something in common: Whether it’s by phone, video conference, or in person, clients expect their financial advisor to stay in touch. My office is continually receptive to incoming calls, and we make every effort to return the call the same day.

I also understand the ever-increasing importance of integrating multigenerational wealth transfer strategies into my clients’ plans. Tax-advantaged investment strategies and charitable intentions are other common concerns among my clients, so I make every effort to address these issues appropriately and comprehensively.

ESTATE PLANNING STRATEGIES

Before you can develop strategies for your estate plan, you’ll need to identify your planning objectives. Ask yourself the following questions:

Whom do you want to benefit from your wealth?
Do you want to donate some or all of your wealth to charity?
Do you want to transfer some of your wealth to your beneficiaries during your lifetime or only upon your death?
Do you have any situations that require specialized planning, such as a previous marriage or a special needs child?

With these questions considered, we can work together to develop a plan designed to address:

Preserving the value of your estate
Maximizing what you transfer to your beneficiaries
Minimizing the transfer taxes you must pay, including federal and estate taxes
Managing assets for your spouse, children, or grandchildren
Establishing a will in order to plan for specific bequests to children or charities
Setting up a trust and identifying a trustee
Coordinating with your tax and legal professionals to pull all the necessary information together

CHARITABLE GIVING STRATEGIES

Are you seeking ways to meet your philanthropic goals while maximizing your tax benefits? If so, I can help. There are a variety of unique charitable giving strategies available that provide both income and estate tax benefits, such as:

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are created and administered by a charitable organization to which donors contribute assets. They have no upfront costs or administrative hassle, and they accept a wide range of assets as contributions.

Pooled Income Funds (PIFs) are created and administered by a charitable organization to which individual donors contribute assets.

The property contributed by the donor is commingled with contributions from all other donors and managed as one large pool of assets. The donor will receive income based on the annual performance of the fund.

Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) are generally appropriate for a donor who wants to make a charitable gift for the income tax and estate tax benefits and wants to retain an income stream from the assets.

Individuals who benefit most from a charitable remainder trust are comfortable with the significant upfront costs to set up the trust and the ongoing administrative burdens caused by annual trust tax filings.

A private foundation is a legal entity created by an individual or group of individuals for some philanthropic purpose.

When choosing a charitable giving strategy, I can help you balance the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies above and can consult with your legal and tax advisors, as needed, regarding your unique situation.

Stifel does not provide legal or tax advice. You should consult with your legal and tax advisors regarding your particular situation.

CONTACT ME

I can help you balance the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies and can consult with your legal and tax advisors, as needed, regarding your unique situation.

LEARN MORE

A Custom Plan Deserves a Range of Services

Our Services

Our services cover all areas of wealth management, from investment and retirement planning to risk mitigation strategies and issues surrounding estate planning. We specialize in helping our clients develop a comprehensive, cohesive financial strategy that fits their unique needs and enables them to pursue both short- and long-term goals.

Wealth Planning

We understand that you have a unique set of circumstances that shape your financial goals and objectives. Our holistic approach to wealth planning leverages the knowledge and expertise of Stifel’s experienced professionals to address all aspects of your financial situation. The financial planning process provides you the opportunity to assess financial and non-financial assets, saving and investing practices, and the ability of these to meet your stated long-term financial goals.

Education Planning Strategies

We develop strategies for the many ways to save for a child’s education, including college savings plans, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, and UGMA/UTMA Accounts.

Retirement Planning

Whether you are early in your career or actively contemplating retirement, a business owner or an individual, it’s never too late to put a plan of action into place. We can help you find the right plan and the right investments to help pursue your retirement goals.

Estate Planning

Estate planning encompasses more than the distribution of your estate to your heirs. It is a process designed to identify the best way to accumulate, preserve, and pass your wealth by implementing a plan to meet all of your objectives. A carefully prepared estate plan can help you address lifetime management issues and ensure you are financially prepared to meet with an estate planning attorney.

Mutual Funds

Stifel can take the legwork – and guesswork – out of the mutual fund selection process by providing the research and knowledge needed to navigate the thousands of choices available. Mutual funds offer professional management, diversification, and convenience. Stifel offers over 250 fund families encompassing thousands of different mutual funds.

Annuities

Through Stifel’s insurance-licensed associates, we can assist you in the customized selection of fixed and variable annuities best suited for your individual needs. We can discuss in detail the types and benefits of annuities and how they may fit into your portfolio. Stifel has relationships with numerous quality insurance companies.

Insurance

We can provide you with a range of insurance services, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, and disability insurance. Stifel represents some of the most stable, trusted providers in the insurance industry, and we will work you to determine the types and amount of coverage that are most appropriate for you and your family.

Tax Planning

Understanding the current income tax code is no easy task. Our tax planning professionals help you better understand federal and state income taxes and how they may impact particular investment strategies. Our goal is to help interpret the tax code as it relates to your investments and to provide you with proactive tax planning ideas to discuss with your tax advisor.

Social Security

When it comes to Social Security, the right planning can pay off. We are equipped to help you take full advantage of your retirement benefits through a personalized Social Security Optimization Report. The report shows an optimal strategy for claiming Social Security benefits in order to maximize lifetime benefits. The optimal strategy can be compared to other strategies that may be under consideration, providing the information needed to make an informed decision.

Cash Management

We offer a comprehensive suite of cash management services to integrate your day-to-day liquidity needs with your long-term ambitions. While great for the occasional payment, these solutions are also an attractive alternative to a traditional bank.

Exchange Traded Funds

Exchange traded funds and notes are financial instruments that provide the diversification of a basket of securities combined with the flexibility of trading throughout the day like stock. Whether you are looking to gain broad market exposure, focus on a specific area of the market, or construct a fully diversified portfolio, through ongoing, professional research of the full universe of exchange traded funds and notes, we can recommend specific products that best fit your customized needs.

Fixed Income Strategies

With a deep understanding of bonds and fixed income investments, we can help you integrate these core investments into your plan using a disciplined process designed to help preserve your hard-earned wealth while striving to provide a steady cash flow today and into the future.

Asset Management

Using Stifel’s planning capabilities, we’ll analyze your particular investing behaviors, individual preferences, and the asset classes that align with your risk tolerance and customized investment plan. Our asset management affiliates employ a diverse range of active equity, fixed income, asset allocation, and alternative investment strategies.

Consulting Services - Summit Program

The Stifel Summit Program allows us to serve clients who are seeking investment-related guidance for assets held at a custodian other than Stifel. Clients with assets held away from Stifel that may benefit from a Summit relationship include municipalities, endowments, foundations, Taft-Hartley programs, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals.

Banking, Lending, and Trust Services

We take a collaborative approach to lending, cash management, and trust services to complete your full financial picture. Stifel Bank provides access to a variety of lending program to meet your ongoing liquidity needs. Stifel Trust can help pair you with appropriate third-party trustees for your trust accounts as well as assisting in selecting an appropriate advisory strategy for managing trust assets.

Investment Advisory Services

As an investor, you’re faced with an uncertain and volatile financial marketplace further complicated by the wide array of investment options available to you. You know that proper planning and discipline are important in working toward financial independence and security for your heirs, but developing a sound strategy and selecting and managing your investments yourself can be an arduous task. For investors who would like to free themselves from the need to continually monitor asset allocation and portfolios, we have access to a wide array of advisory programs designed to match your custom needs.

Philanthropy

We can work closely with you to fulfill your philanthropic endeavors in a tax-efficient manner through charitable giving strategies, including endowments, private foundations, and donor-advised funds. While Stifel does not provide legal or tax advice, we work in tandem with your CPA and estate attorney to bring light to complex issues that you may not have considered.

Investment Banking

Our investment bank is a leader in the middle market, which gives us a unique perspective on emerging managers on our platform. We also engage with our investment banking group to help evaluate these entrepreneurial companies and participate in offerings when private direct investments are available. If your business is in need of capital to help fuel growth or assistance in realizing shareholder value, Stifel stands ready to provide you with the insight and expertise you require, along with a wide range of investment banking services.

Business Succession Services

A well-crafted succession plan aims to benefit everybody involved – the departing owner, their family, the business, and the successor. However, organizing and effectively managing your personal and business affairs can be a daunting task when you are building, growing, and running an organization. That’s where we come in. Leveraging Stifel’s robust resources, our goal is to help business owners like you maximize enterprise value.

Corporate Executive Services

We offer guidance and support to executives of publicly traded companies as they face the varied, and often complicated, issues relating to ownership of their company’s stock. Stifel is equipped to handle such complex issues as financing the exercise of stock options, financing the taxes due upon the vesting of restricted stock awards and restricted stock units, control and restricted stock transactions, and Rule 10b5-1 plans.