As a fiduciary financial advisor in Fernandina Beach, Holland Capital helps you decide whether the house, the move, and the retirement you want on Amelia Island work together, how much you can spend each year, and what the rest of the money is for. Then we manage the investments to that plan.
You have done well.
Retirement is here or close. The savings are substantial. The question is probably not whether you can pay the bills.
It is what the money lets you do now.
How much can you comfortably spend every year? How much house fits without changing everything else? Which accounts should provide the income? And if the plan shows that you are unlikely to spend all of it, what do you want the rest to accomplish?
Those are no longer separate decisions.
The house changes the portfolio. Withdrawals change the tax bill. Spending less leaves more to children, grandchildren, or charity. Giving money now changes what remains later.
We put those choices into one plan so you can see what each decision does to the others. Then we manage the investments to that plan.
Before You Commit to the Island
If you are considering retiring to Fernandina Beach or elsewhere on Amelia Island, run the house through the retirement plan before the money is committed.
Start with how you would pay for it.
Selling your current home may provide much of the purchase price. Taking additional money from investments may require selling appreciated holdings or withdrawing from a retirement account. A mortgage leaves more invested but gives the retirement plan another payment to support.
Then look beyond the purchase price.
Property tax, insurance on a coastal home, association dues, and upkeep become part of what retirement costs each year. Once the house is your Florida homestead, the homestead exemption lowers the taxable value and limits how much the assessed value can rise each year. The seller’s tax bill is not a guide to yours: a sale resets the assessed value to market value the following January.
Florida has no state income tax. Making the move count for tax purposes takes more than a new address, especially if the state you are leaving expects to keep taxing you, and your estate documents may need to be reviewed under Florida law.
Before you commit, we put the house into the same plan as the retirement. You can see what the purchase does to the investments, annual spending, and the money left for everything else.
That is where our retirement planning work begins.
How Much Can You Actually Spend?
Having enough money does not automatically make spending it easy.
After decades of saving, it can feel strange to start taking money out. You may know that you can afford the trips, the house project, or more time with family without knowing how much you can spend every year and still be comfortable with what remains.
That is a question the plan should answer.
We calculate what the portfolio needs to provide, which accounts should provide it, and what would cause the spending plan to change.
Where the money comes from changes the tax bill. The timing of Social Security changes how much the portfolio has to provide. A year with higher income can raise Medicare premiums two years later.
Our retirement income planning work puts those decisions together so you know what you can spend and where the money should come from.
What Is the Rest of the Money For?
Once your own spending is covered, another question opens up.
What is the money you will likely never need for?
You may want more to go to children or grandchildren now instead of later. You may want to give to charity. You may simply want the estate organized so that what remains passes the way you intend.
Each of those paths is taxed differently and needs different documents.
We handle the financial side and work with your estate attorney when legal documents are involved. Our estate and wealth transfer work connects what the accounts say, what the plan says, and what your attorney’s documents say.
The goal is not to push money out of the estate. It is to show you what you need to keep for yourself first, so decisions about the rest can be made with numbers behind them.
Manage the Portfolio to Those Decisions
Once the plan says what the money needs to accomplish, we write those requirements into an investment policy statement.
The statement records what the portfolio needs to provide, how much risk the plan allows, how each account is taxed, and what, if anything, is intended for the next generation.
Each account we manage is run to that statement, aiming for what you keep after tax at a level of risk the plan can carry.
We begin with what you already own. Before an investment is sold, the tax cost of selling it is part of the decision.
Our investment management follows the policy. When the plan changes, the policy changes with it.
Working with Holland Capital
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.
A first meeting needs little preparation. Recent statements, your Social Security estimates, last year’s tax return, and, if you are buying or selling a home, the rough numbers are enough to start.
Afterward, you will know where you stand, which decisions come first, and which can wait. Your CPA and estate attorney continue their work; we coordinate with them whenever the plan reaches a tax return or a document.
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 Fernandina Beach primarily by video or phone. When an in-person meeting makes sense, we meet by appointment at the Regus center at 10752 Deerwood Park Boulevard in Jacksonville, about 40 to 45 minutes from Fernandina Beach.
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 Jacksonville Beach at 2400 3rd Street South.
We work with clients throughout Florida. You can see the other Florida 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
Should We Pay Cash for a Home on Amelia Island or Take a Mortgage?
It depends on where the cash would come from and what it costs to raise.
Paying cash removes a monthly payment. If the money comes from a taxable account, the sale can create a capital gains bill, and if it comes from an IRA, the withdrawal is taxed as income and can raise your Medicare premiums two years later.
A mortgage keeps the money invested, at the cost of the interest. We compare both with your own numbers, including what each does to your taxes and your spending plan.
How Do We Know How Much We Can Comfortably Spend in Retirement?
The plan begins with your balances, the income already coming in, and what you want the money to do.
Then we calculate what the portfolio needs to provide each year and test how that spending holds up over time. The result should give you more than a spending number. It should show you what you can use for yourself and what is likely to remain for other purposes.
What Should I Expect from a Fiduciary Financial Advisor?
Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice. That includes advice about retirement spending, the portfolio, and the financial decisions surrounding a home purchase or estate plan.
If our advice would put more of your money under our management, it would also raise our fee, and you hear that from us first.
Should Our Fiduciary Financial Advisor Be on Amelia Island?
It does not have to be. The spending plan, the house numbers, and the portfolio reviews all work well on a video call with the same figures in front of both of us.
For the meetings you would rather have in person, we can meet by appointment at the Regus center on Deerwood Park Boulevard in Jacksonville, about 40 to 45 minutes from Fernandina Beach.
Photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
