Comprehensive
Financial Planning
in the Greater
Houston Area
Finances can feel like a jumble of account statements, pressing needs, and far-off goals. We believe in bringing retirement, investments, taxes, estate planning, and insurance into a single conversation.
The financial planning we do for you, whether you are a client or a prospect, is complimentary.
What Is
Comprehensive
Financial Planning?
It all starts with a conversation. We’ll ask you questions about your:
• Income sources.
• Retirement accounts.
• Investment portfolios.
• Estate planning.
• Insurance coverage.
• Long-term goals.
• Tax picture.
We’ll likely request documents that provide greater detail on each of the areas listed above, so that when we produce your planning, we’ll have all the information we need.
Planning Beyond
Investments
Managing your investment portfolio is only one portion of your overall financial picture. If you neglect your tax structure and estate planning, you could be leaving significant money on the table or have assets pass in a way you didn’t intend.
Retirement Planning Conversations
1. “Can I retire?”
2. “Am I going to be okay?”
If there are two questions we hear regularly from new clients and prospects, it would be those.
The only way we can answer these questions is by turning your financial goals into a detailed plan. By identifying the risks and opportunities you face, we can determine whether your plan is sustainable in the long term.
Who We Work With
Business Owners and
Entrepreneurial
Families
Our first clients were successful business owners, and to this day, the wealth we manage comes from the sale of closely-held businesses.
If you’re a business owner, your largest asset is illiquid, difficult to value, and has multiple stakeholders involved, most of whom you know as family or are like family.
Conventional finance advice doesn’t account for your distinct needs. We help business owners explore options like tax-advantaged, owner-focused retirement plans and guide them through the personal financial components of intergenerational sales or sales to a third party.
Families
Managing
Inherited Wealth
Have you inherited significant assets and are unsure how to incorporate them into your personal financial plan? Do some of those come in the form of an Inherited IRA, which requires you to take the balance as income within 10 years?
We’re here to guide you through the tax planning, stewardship, and investment management questions that arise upon inheritance.
Pre-Retirees
When pre-retirees in their 50s or 60s come to meet with us, they often have a variety of accounts from previous employers, or maybe a 401(k) that contains their lifetime retirement savings.
They may have a few small accounts with various advisory firms. Kids are either approaching college or leaving the house.
Common questions include: At what age can I retire? What kind of retirement income can I expect?
High-Income
Professionals and Physicians
If you’re a professional whose compensation puts you in the top tax brackets, your benefit structure and tax situation are worth examining.
Our Financial
Planning Process
Here is what your experience will look like:
1. Discovery
Call
We need to know more about your personal financial situation. We can meet with you in person or via Zoom, whichever is most convenient.
In this complimentary 30-minute meeting, we’ll get a better idea of what is important to you and where we need to focus our planning efforts.
2. Information
Gathering
After our meeting, we’ll request a set of documents (sent via secure file upload link) and information to prepare your plan.
Once received, we’ll build the financial plan we’ll present to you in the next meeting.
3. Plan
Presentation
In our next conversation, usually 2-4 weeks later, we’ll walk through your financial plan, discuss the assumptions that went into the planning, highlight opportunities, and summarize our recommendations.
Oftentimes new planning opportunities arise in this meeting. We’re happy to explore as many scenarios as needed to develop a plan you feel comfortable with.
4. Implementation
If you’ve decided to move forward with our firm, we will help you implement the strategy and coordinate with CPAs, estate attorneys, and other professionals when necessary.
If you’re transferring accounts to our management, our operations team will guide you through the process step by step.
5. Ongoing Guidance
We reach out to meet with clients semi-annually. Outside of the regular meeting schedule, we remain available throughout the year to answer any questions you have by phone or email.
Given our years of experience and the diversity of client situations we encounter, we either know the answer or know where to find the resources you need.
Why Texas Families Work With M.C. Byrd
M.C. Byrd Wealth Management is a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor.
What does this mean for you?
It means we don’t get paid by investment companies to sell their products, removing a potential conflict of interest.
We aim to sit on the same side of the table as our clients when evaluating investment options and planning opportunities.
Independent
Fiduciary
Guidance
Fiduciaries are required by law to act in the client’s best interest.
Commission-based advisors are not bound by these same rules.
Long-Term
Relationships
We’ve had the privilege of serving multiple generations of families in Texas and Louisiana since the late 1980s.
Hands-On
Personalized
Service
Our office knows your name, preferences, and history with our firm.
Whenever you run into a difficulty, whether it involves a financial decision or an operational hurdle, we’re here to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Comprehensive financial planning is multi-faceted and tailored to the client. It often includes retirement planning, investment management, tax planning, estate planning coordination, insurance review, and cash flow analysis.
While we believe everyone can benefit from a closer look at their financial situation, we find that pre-retirees, business owners, and high-income professionals have the most opportunities to benefit from comprehensive financial planning.
Financial plans can reach their “expiry date” for many reasons. Changes in our clients’ lives, as well as changes in tax law, can both prompt a review of their financial plan. The benefit of working with us on an ongoing basis is that we can update your plan over time.
A financial advisor serving as a fiduciary is legally obligated to act in the client’s best interest when making financial recommendations.