As a fiduciary financial advisor in Sanford, Holland Capital tells you whether your 401(k), savings, Social Security and the rest of what you own add up to the retirement you want, and what to do next if they do not. The investments are then managed to that plan.
You have done the ordinary things right.
There is a 401(k) at work, and you put money into it every paycheck. There is some savings. Maybe an IRA from an old job. The mortgage is under control, the bills get paid, and by most measures you are doing fine.
What nobody has ever done is sit down with you and say whether all of it adds up to retirement. How much is enough? When could you stop working? What would you live on?
That is the first thing we answer. Then we tell you what, if anything, to change, and we build the investments to fit.
Does It Add Up?
The answer starts with your own numbers, not a rule of thumb.
We start with what you spend. Some costs end when work ends, like commuting and retirement contributions. Others keep going, like property taxes, insurance and groceries. Some may rise, like health care. If you stop working before 65, you also need health insurance until Medicare begins.
Then comes the income that arrives without touching your savings. For most households, that means Social Security. Your estimate is on your my Social Security account, and it changes a great deal depending on the age you claim.
Finally, we ask what your savings can add. We look at what you have now, what you are adding each year, and what that could reasonably grow to by the time you want to stop.
Put those together, and you have an answer to the question you started with: are you on track, ahead or short? Each answer leads somewhere different. Our retirement planning page shows how the rest of the plan is built from there.
What Changes the Answer
If the answer is not quite where you want it, there is usually more than one way to change it.
Saving a little more now gives that money the most time to grow. Working a year or two longer can change the answer from both directions: more time to save and fewer years the portfolio has to support. Waiting to claim Social Security raises the monthly check for life. Our guide to Social Security strategies explains the timing choices.
Spending is part of it too. A plan can test what happens if you trim a little, or if you downsize the house later, so the choice is yours with the numbers in front of you.
If you are ahead, the questions change. You may be able to stop sooner, help a child, spend more than you thought or take less investment risk than you are taking now. Being ahead is useful only if you know what the extra room lets you do.
We lay the options side by side. You choose the combination that fits the life you want.
Then the Investments
Once the plan is set, the investments have a clear purpose.
We write that purpose into an investment policy statement: what the plan asks of the money, how far a bad market can be allowed to set it back, and how each account is taxed. Your 401(k), IRA and any other accounts are then managed together to that policy, with the after-tax result as the measure.
Your current funds are the starting point. If the funds in your 401(k) are low in cost and doing their job, they stay. Our investment management keeps the portfolio in line with the plan as your life and the markets change.
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.
If you have never worked with an advisor before, the first meeting is mostly a conversation. We ask what you have, what you spend and when you would like work to become optional. Recent statements for your accounts and your Social Security estimate are enough to start.
From there, we tell you where you stand, what you are already doing well and what we would do next. A CPA, if you have one, stays involved, and we share the numbers so the plan and the return line up.
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 Sanford primarily by video or phone. When an in-person meeting makes sense, we meet by appointment at the Regus center at 801 International Parkway in Lake Mary, about 10 minutes away.
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
How Do I Know If I Have Saved Enough to Retire?
There is no single number that works for everyone. What counts is whether your savings, together with Social Security and any pension, can cover what you expect to spend for as long as you might live.
A plan answers that with your own figures, and it also tests what happens if markets are difficult early in retirement. That shows how much room the plan has before you would need to change something.
What Is the Difference Between a Financial Consultant and a Fiduciary Financial Advisor?
Titles like financial consultant and financial advisor are not licenses, so the title alone tells you little. The useful questions are what role the person is in when giving you advice, and how that person is paid.
A fiduciary is required to act in your best interest. Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice, including the answer to whether your savings add up and what to do about it. Any recommendation that would change our pay comes with that fact stated up front.
Can I Get a Financial Plan Without Moving My Accounts?
Yes. Financial planning is offered on its own, for a fee set by the scope of the work. Your 401(k) stays with your employer’s plan, and your other accounts can stay where they are.
If you later want us to manage the investments as well, that is a separate decision, made after you have seen the plan.
Will I Ever Meet My Fiduciary Financial Advisor in Person?
If you want to, yes. Video and phone meetings are usually easier: no drive, and your statements are on the screen in front of both of us.
When an in-person meeting is the better way to work through something, we meet by appointment at the Regus center on International Parkway in Lake Mary, about 10 minutes from Sanford.
Photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5, cropped.
