As a fiduciary financial advisor in Alexandria, Holland Capital helps federal employees who receive a VERA or VSIP offer compare leaving now with staying, using their own pension, TSP and household numbers. We work with Alexandria clients by phone and video, and hold face-to-face meetings by appointment at the Regus center on King Street in Old Town.
An offer from your agency. A decision date on the paperwork. A career you meant to finish on your own terms.
Alexandria counts about 161,000 residents, and its median household income is about $120,000. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is headquartered here. HUD has announced a headquarters move to Alexandria, bringing about 2,700 headquarters-based employees.
VERA is a voluntary early retirement offer. VSIP is a separation incentive payment, often called a buyout. Your agency sets the terms. The choice is whether to leave on the offered date or stay. A written plan at a fixed fee puts both dates side by side, so you judge the offer on your numbers. Whoever helps you, ask whether they owe you fiduciary duty and how they are compensated.
Two Retirement Dates, Compared
We build your plan twice: once with the offered date and once with your own. Each version estimates your pension, your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) balance and the years before Social Security. Any VSIP payment lands in the year it would arrive.
Questions Only HR Can Answer
Some facts come only from your agency, such as how your service is counted and what your pension would be at the offered date. We list them and use the answers in the plan.
If you might work after leaving, the FERS supplement, when it applies, has an earnings test. Our page on FERS retirement planning covers the pension pieces.
RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™
The Order Matters
Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.
The TSP Once You Separate
The plan weighs leaving your TSP in place, drawing from it or moving part of it to an IRA. Our TSP rollover guide lays out the trade-offs.
You decide who carries out the plan, yourself included. Our investment management is a step you can take afterward, not a condition of the plan.
How We Work with Clients in Alexandria
Holland Capital Management is an independent registered investment adviser and a fiduciary. M. Chad Holland, CFA, CFP® works directly with clients and is responsible for the planning and advice.
Bring the offer letter, your most recent Leave and Earnings Statement, a current TSP statement, any annuity estimate from HR and your Social Security statement.
The written plan compares leaving and staying year by year, at a price fixed before work begins. Act on it alone, through a trusted advisor or with our help.
The first conversation is free. If there is work worth doing after that, we will define the scope and cost before you decide whether to move forward.
Our offices are in Charlotte, North Carolina and Winter Park, Florida. We work with clients in Alexandria primarily by video or phone. When an in-person meeting makes sense, we meet by appointment at the Regus center at 510 King Street, Suite 501, in Old Town.
For clients whose investments we manage, accounts are held directly at Charles Schwab in the client’s own name. Holland Capital manages the investments but does not take custody of client assets. If a client ever needs in-person assistance from Schwab, the closest branch is in Alexandria at 1920 Ballenger Avenue.
We work with clients throughout Virginia. You can see the other Virginia communities we serve here.
Our what we do page explains how a planning engagement works.
RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™
The Order Matters
Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Tell Whether a VERA or VSIP Offer Works for Me?
Start with the terms in writing and your retirement estimate at both dates. If leaving early leaves a gap, the plan shows what could close it.
Is a Fiduciary Financial Advisor Worth Having on an Early Out Decision?
Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice. On a federal offer, that means we may recommend staying, if that is where the numbers point.
The plan costs a fixed amount you accept before we start. Managing investments is a different service with a separate fee, and we name it before you decide.
Is There an In-Person Option in Alexandria?
Meetings are by appointment at the Regus center at 510 King Street, Suite 501, in Old Town Alexandria.
Most of the planning runs by video and phone.
Photo: Ken Lund / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.
