As a fiduciary financial advisor in Asheville, Holland Capital helps self-employed professionals and small business owners with uneven income build a written plan for saving, taxes and retirement. We work with clients in Asheville by video and phone, and meet in person by appointment at the Regus center on Biltmore Avenue in Asheville.
Your income changes. Your plan should not start over every year.
Asheville has about 95,000 people, and nearly half of them were born in another state.
If you work for yourself, the good years and the slow years can look very different. You may run a studio, a restaurant, a practice of one or a small team, or sell your work directly.
When you work for yourself, you set up your own retirement plan, plan for your own taxes and decide how much cash to keep in reserve.
Saving for Retirement on Your Own
Self-employed people have several retirement plan choices. A solo 401(k) can work for an owner with no employees other than a spouse. A SEP IRA is simpler to run, but when you contribute for yourself, you generally must contribute for eligible employees too.
The right choice depends on your income, whether you have employees and how much you want to put away in a good year. Our guide on retirement plans for the self-employed compares the options.
A plan also sets a baseline: the amount you save every year, even in a slow one, with more added when the year allows.
Taxes When You Pay Your Own
When you are self-employed, you may need to pay estimated taxes during the year. You may also owe self-employment tax, which covers Social Security and Medicare, on your business earnings.
Retirement contributions may lower your taxable income. How the business is set up, and how you pay yourself, can change the numbers too. We work alongside your accountant on those choices.
RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™
The Order Matters
Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.
A Cushion for Slow Seasons
Tourism, events and weather all shape a year in Asheville. A cash reserve for the business and a separate one for the household keep a slow season from turning into debt or a missed contribution.
The plan sets how large each reserve should be, where it is held and when to refill it. In a strong year, the extra can go first to the reserves, then to retirement savings, then to paying down debt, in an order set ahead of time.
That way a good season does not simply raise spending, and a slow one does not force a hard choice.
Once savings build up, investment management at Holland Capital for a self-employed client starts with how much of the household’s income depends on the business.
How We Work with Clients in Asheville
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 your last two personal and business tax returns, a year-to-date profit and loss statement, statements for any retirement and investment accounts, and a rough idea of what the household spends each month.
We map out how much you can save, where it should go and what retirement could look like on your income.
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.
Holland Capital is based in Charlotte. If you are looking for a fiduciary financial advisor in Asheville, we meet by appointment at the Regus center at 16 Biltmore Avenue in downtown Asheville, and handle shorter check-ins by video or phone. Holland Capital does not maintain a branch office in Asheville.
We work with clients throughout North Carolina. You can see the other North Carolina 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 Are You Paid, and Do You Earn Commissions?
Advisory work is paid by fee: financial planning is offered for a fixed fee once the scope is clear, and investment management is an advisory fee based on the assets we manage. The firm is also licensed to provide insurance solutions, and when a client purchases an insurance policy, the firm may receive a commission. We are not fee-only. We act as a fiduciary when we give planning and investment advice, and you see the cost in writing before you decide anything.
Does a Fiduciary Financial Advisor Work with Business Owners of One?
Often. Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice. For a self-employed client, that includes a savings plan that works in both strong and slow years.
You will know our fee, and how it is charged, before you agree to anything.
Where Would We Meet in Asheville?
At the Regus center at 16 Biltmore Avenue downtown, by appointment.
Follow-up reviews can be done by video or phone around your work schedule.
Photo: AbeEzekowitz / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
