I grew up in Severna Park Maryland, graduated from the University of Maryland in 1987 with a degree in bio chemistry, was married later that year, and then moved to Philadelphia where I joined a small financial services firm. I worked 60 to 70 hours a week, became a student of the business, and made partner by 1993. Today I am one of 10 senior partners, we have six offices in three states, 400+ employees, and I have two sons in the business.

At this point in my career I am working because I love what I do. I have a passion for helping people solve problems and get in front of financial challenges that they, or the people they care most about, will face one day, that will not be adequately addressed without me or someone like me. After 34 years of working primarily with high net worth family owned and operated businesses (and their tax attorneys and CPA’s), I have found there are very few advisers that have the back office resources, the skill set, the instinct, the process, or the conviction that I have. I have seen what works, and more importantly what doesn’t work. I’ve seen the difference between well-thought-out, memorialized plans that were implemented and updated on an ongoing basis, and I’ve also seen the consequences that a lack of planning ultimately results in. I am quickly able to assess problems or missed opportunities, assess family dynamics, outline the steps from start to finish, and implement planning recommendations in the most time and tax efficient manner possible. I know when to press, and when to back off, and I’m not afraid to deliver bad news when it needs to be heard. I work in conjunction with my clients existing advisers to make sure all relevant information has been identified and discussed, before final recommendations are presented and agreed-upon. I then take responsibility for making sure the agreed-upon recommendations are implemented, regardless of how long that takes. I come back year after year to review the planning and update it as tax laws change, children get married or divorced, people die, and the world changes around us.

For the last 15 years, I have limited my practice to Advanced Estate Planning and Business Succession Planning. I charge a flat fee for my services which is not based on your net worth or how much your make, but on how simple or complicated your structure is, and how much time and work I estimate my staff and I will have to invest in the process. The first two meetings are free because it generally doesn’t take me any longer than that to determine whether I can significantly help someone or not. If I think I can I will tell you where, why, and what my fee would be, if I don’t think I can significantly help you, I will not waste your time or mine. References available upon request.