At some point, the question stops being how much to save.

The money is there. Now the questions are different. How much can you spend without worrying about it? How much could go to your children or grandchildren while you are alive to see it? What will the portfolio cost you in taxes this year? What happens to everything when it eventually passes to someone else?

You may still be working, with retirement a few years out. You may have sold a business or be well into retirement. Your investments may already be managed by a wealth management firm.

What you may not have is one written plan connecting all of it.

Wealth Management Starts with the Plan

A large portfolio can hide a simple problem. No one has written down what the money needs to do.

We start with your spending, your income and the dates that matter to you: when work stops, when Social Security starts, when a gift or a home purchase is likely. From there, we can see how much of the portfolio has to support you and how much is really for someone else.

That distinction changes the investment decisions. Money that has to support you for thirty years has a different job from money you expect to leave to your children or grandchildren.

Taxes run through those decisions too. Which account pays for which expense, when to realize gains, and whether Roth conversions make sense in lower-income years can change what you keep after tax over a lifetime. Our guide to asset location explains one part of that process, while retirement planning brings the pieces together.

You Already Have a Wealth Manager

Your money may already be at a large firm. The reports arrive. You have someone to call. You meet once or twice a year and review the portfolio.

But try answering a few questions without looking at an investment report.

How much can you spend every year and still be comfortable that the money will last? Which accounts should fund that spending first? How much risk do you actually need to take? What are you paying for the entire arrangement? If you want to give money to your children, should you do it now or later?

Those are planning questions, not performance questions.

A review starts with what you already have. What do you own, and where? What do you pay in total? Does the level of risk match what your plan requires? Are you holding essentially the same investments in different accounts? Are the investment decisions being coordinated with the work your CPA and estate attorney are doing?

The answers may show that your current arrangement is doing exactly what you need it to do. If so, there may be nothing to change.

If something should change, we show you what and why, including the tax cost of moving. Our portfolio construction guide explains how we think about building the portfolio itself.

The Order Matters guide cover

RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™

The Order Matters

Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.

If You Work at NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy’s headquarters is in Juno Beach, in northern Palm Beach County.

Your paycheck, retirement benefits and some of your investments may all be connected to the same company. As retirement gets closer, the decisions can include how much company stock to keep, when to leave, how to take your retirement benefits and how the rest of the portfolio should account for what you already own through your employer.

Our guide to NextEra Energy retirement planning covers more.

Managing the Portfolio

Once the plan tells us what the money needs to do, the portfolio has a job.

Some of the money may need to fund spending in the next several years. Some may not be touched for decades. Some may ultimately go to your children or grandchildren.

We build around those different time frames rather than treating every dollar as though it has the same purpose.

We also start with what you already own. If you have held a stock for years and selling it would create a large tax bill, the question is not simply whether we would buy it today. The question is whether changing it improves the plan enough to justify the tax cost.

The same thinking applies when one stock or one company already represents a large part of your wealth. The rest of the portfolio should account for what is already there rather than adding more of the same risk.

That is investment management at Holland Capital: the plan carried out through the portfolio and adjusted as your life changes.

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.

The first meeting is about understanding your situation. We ask what you own, what you want the money to do, and what is on your mind. If you have recent statements from your current firm, they help.

Afterward, we tell you what we see, including when we think your current setup already works.

We coordinate with your CPA and estate attorney. They keep their roles. We make sure the portfolio and the plan agree with the tax return and the documents.

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 Florida office is in Winter Park. If you are looking for a financial advisor in West Palm Beach, we can work together without your adviser being down the street. Most meetings are by video or phone. When it makes sense to sit down together, we can meet by appointment at the Regus center at 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach. Holland Capital does not maintain a branch office in West Palm Beach.

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.

The Order Matters guide cover

RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™

The Order Matters

Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Chad Holland a Certified Financial Planner?

Yes. M. Chad Holland, CFA, CFP® holds the CFP® certification and the CFA charter. He does the planning and gives the advice himself.

You can confirm anyone’s CFP® certification with CFP Board’s verification tool.

What Is the Difference Between Wealth Management and Financial Planning?

Financial planning decides what your money needs to do: when you can retire, what you can spend, how much you can give, and how to handle taxes and your estate.

Wealth management usually includes the ongoing management of the investments and coordination around them.

We put the plan first. Once we know what the money needs to accomplish, the portfolio can be built and managed around those goals.

Can You Review a Portfolio That Is Already Managed by Another Firm?

Yes. We can start with the accounts and investments you already have rather than assuming they need to move.

The review looks at what you own, how much risk you are taking, what you are paying and whether the portfolio fits the financial plan. If changing an investment would create a tax cost, that is part of the decision too.

Do You Work with My Estate Planning Attorney?

Yes. Your attorney drafts the documents. We handle the financial side that makes them work.

That includes a complete list of accounts and how each is titled, beneficiary forms that match the plan, moving assets into a trust when the documents call for it, and making sure there is enough cash available for taxes and expenses when an estate is settled.

Our guide to estate and wealth transfer planning covers the planning side in more depth.

Photo: Jared / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0, cropped.