The relationship
Clients tell us the value is having someone who knows their situation and answers the phone. That is why it comes first in our tagline.
Relationship, expertise and service
Plan the retirement, then plan the life it pays for.
We help youretire on your terms, know the money will hold, leave your family a clear plan, find out what comes next.
We work with retirees and people approaching retirement. Our offices are in Virginia and we would rather sit across a table from you, though we work with clients across the country. The money part is where we start. What you do with the years after that is the part we plan for on purpose.
- Serving clients
- Since 1998
- Virginia offices, clients anywhere
- Nationwide
- Beyond the balance sheet
- Four pillars
- Credentials on the team
- CEPA and CFP
- Can I actually afford to retire?
- Which account do I spend first?
- Do we have a will?
- What will I do all day?
- Am I paying too much tax?
- Will my spouse be okay?
- When should I take Social Security?
- Can I help the grandkids with school?
- What is my business actually worth?
Why people call us
People arrive with two questions. We make the first one the easy part.
Can I retire, and what does it look like when I do? We tend to solve the financial half quickly. The half about purpose, identity, and how you spend a Tuesday is where the real planning happens.
The expertise
CEPA and CFP credentials on the team, plus estate planning and tax software we use in the work.
The service
If life is hard, that is a priority, not an interruption. Death, sickness, divorce. We walk through those with families.
The long view
Serving clients since 1998, and now training the next group of advisors to work the same way.
The four pillars
A funded retirement is not automatically a good one
Physical, intellectual, social and emotional, spiritual. These are the four things people actually retire into. We build them into the plan on purpose, because being comfortable financially and finding your purpose are two different jobs.
Physical
Health decides how much of your plan you get to enjoy. A future need for care can affect your independence, your income, your family, and your assets, so care costs, insurance options, and the role of family belong in the same conversation as your portfolio.
- How would a future need for care affect your independence, your income, and your family?
- What care costs, insurance options, and resources should the plan account for?
- How will your routines change, and what will keep you active?
Explore Next Chapter planning
Michelle Hayden is a Certified Next Chapter Lifestyle Planner.
What we do
One team for the whole picture
Retirement, income, investments, taxes, estate, and the business you may still be running. Handled together, because that is how they actually interact.
The gap we decided to close
When we started asking, many clients told us they had no will
Not because they did not care. Because it never became the urgent thing. So we brought estate planning inside the practice rather than pointing people somewhere else and hoping.
When a client dies, their kids ought to be able to say: we know how well you took care of our parents.
Wills and trusts reviewed against what you intend today
Beneficiary designations checked for conflicts
Probate and estate tax exposure identified
Coordination with your own attorney
How it goes
Four steps, and none of them start with a product
We start with the life, not the ledger
The first conversation is about what you want the years ahead to look like. Numbers are easier to solve once we know what they are solving for.
We look at everything you already have
Employer plans, IRAs, pensions, real estate, insurance, business interests, and the documents that have not been looked at in years. All of it goes into one picture.
We build the plan and show our work
Income strategy, tax considerations, allocation, estate documents, and a clear sequence of steps. You should be able to explain your own plan to someone else.
We stay in it with you
Plans meet real years. We adjust as things change, and we pick up the phone when something in life is hard. That part is not a service line, it is the job.
Where we work
Virginia offices, clients nationwide
Roanoke and Harrisonburg are open during business hours, and evenings and weekends work too, by appointment. We also meet clients in Botetourt and in Myrtle Beach, and we work with people across the country.
Insights
Plain answers, written for people, not portfolios
Questions
The things people ask before they call
Cannot find what you are looking for? Ask us directly. We would rather answer a question than have you guess.
Reach out and we will schedule a consultation. We promise to bring you value from the first meeting, which means you should leave it knowing something useful about your own situation whether or not you decide to work with us.
Yes. That is the question a lot of people arrive with. We look at what you have, what you expect to spend, and what income you can count on, then build a distribution plan aimed at the retirement lifestyle you want.
That is more common than people expect, and it is a real planning problem rather than a personal failing. Michelle is a Certified Next Chapter Lifestyle Planner, and purpose, identity, structure, and relationships are part of the plan we build with you.
It is more common than you might expect. When we began asking clients directly, many of them told us they had never put one in place. That is why we made estate planning a core part of the practice rather than an occasional referral.
Our tagline is relationship, expertise and service, and the order is deliberate. Clients get people who know what they are doing, and they get people who pick up the phone when life is hard. Both matter, but the relationship is the part clients tell us they value most.
It shapes how this team treats people, and clients tend to notice it without being told. We are not going to hide it, and you will get the same care whether or not you share it.