Client stories

What the work looks like up close

Four composite stories, with names and details changed. You won't find investment returns here: results depend on markets and on each family, and past results never promise future ones. What we can show you is the work.

Retirement planning

Composite story

Can one of us go part-time?

A couple, 54 and 56, two kids in college

The situation

She wanted to cut back to three days a week. He worried the numbers wouldn't hold, and neither of them had seen their accounts in one place.

What changed

She moved to three days a week the next spring, with a plan they both understood.

What we did

Built one balance sheet from eleven accounts at four firms
Tested part-time at 4%, 6%, and 8% in today's dollars
Found the gap closed if one pension started two years later
Set aside two years of spending in cash so a bad market wouldn't force a sale

Led by Eleanor Voss, CFP®, CFA Founding Partner · Chief Investment Officer

About financial planning

Equity compensation

Composite story

Too much of one company

An engineer, 41, with most of her net worth in employer stock

The situation

Years of stock grants had piled up. Selling everything at once meant a large tax bill; selling nothing meant one company's fortunes decided her family's.

What changed

Her single-stock exposure came down on a set schedule, with the taxes spread over several years.

What we did

Wrote a four-year selling schedule matched to her tax brackets
Gave appreciated shares to a donor-advised fund instead of cash
Reinvested the proceeds into a diversified, low-cost mix
Coordinated every step with her CPA before year-end

Led by Marcus Okafor, CFP® Partner · Senior Wealth Advisor

About tax coordination

Estate and transitions

Composite story

After forty years, alone with the paperwork

A widow, 71, whose husband had always handled the money

The situation

She inherited accounts she had never seen, a stack of mail, and well-meaning advice from everyone she knew.

What changed

Six months later she ran her own review meeting, with her son on the video call.

What we did

Agreed on a 90-day pause on any big decision
Retitled accounts and updated every beneficiary form
Organized documents into one binder and one portal view
Set up a steady monthly deposit from the portfolio, like a paycheck

Led by Daniel Whitfield, CFP® Senior Advisor · Estate and Legacy Coordination

About estate coordination

Business owners

Composite story

A plan before the check arrives

A family business owner, 63, with a sale likely in three years

The situation

The business was most of what he owned. He knew the sale price mattered; he hadn't thought much about what happened the day after.

What changed

When the sale closed, the money already had a plan, and nothing had to be decided in a hurry.

What we did

Modeled life after the sale at three return rates
Worked with his attorney and CPA on gifts to his children before the sale
Wrote an investment policy for the proceeds ahead of time
Planned the first two years of spending so nothing was rushed

Led by Marcus Okafor, CFP® Partner · Senior Wealth Advisor

About financial planning

In their words

Small moments families remember

They told us we didn't need to change our portfolio at all. That's when we trusted them.

Clients since 2017 · Brookline

I asked what we'd pay all-in, in dollars. Eleanor answered before I finished the question.

Client since 2011 · Concord

When the market dropped, Priya called us first. We hadn't even picked up the phone yet.

Clients since 2019 · Cambridge

Daniel sat with my mother and me for two hours and never once looked at his watch.

Family clients since 2004 · Wellesley

About these quotes. Quotes come from clients of this fictional firm and are written for the sample site. No one was paid or given anything for a quote. One client's experience may not match yours, and none of this says anything about investment performance or future results.

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