Sophisticated Solutions.
Real Relationships.
At CJM, we understand that no two clients’ situations or aspirations are the same. That’s why we bring together experts from across the financial services spectrum to provide the most comprehensive and active management of your wealth.
Financial Planning
At CJM, we realize that investments are not the only tool used to achieve financial independence. By using tailored solutions that integrate all of the financial needs, we help our clients identify and reach their financial goals. Every situation is unique, so we start by listening and understanding the clients’ competing priorities.
Net Worth & Goal Setting
Find out your current financial status and how to use those assets effectively to achieve your goals.
- How much should I spend and save each year?
- What is my net worth?
- How do I save for my retirement and kids’ college?
Education Planning
Develop strategies to save and pay for education expenses while balancing other financial priorities.
- How much does college cost?
- What is a 529 plan?
Transition Planning
Change happens. We act as a resource to help you navigate a new path forward.
- What should I do with my old retirement plans?
- How can I afford to take care of an aging parent?
- I’m newly single, what should I do now?
Retirement Planning
Financial independence looks different for everyone, we help you get there.
- When can I retire?
- How much do I need to save for retirement?
- When should I claim Social Security?
Insurance & Risk Management
Protecting who you love the most.
- Do I need life insurance?
- Do I need long term care Insurance?
Tax & Estate Planning
Collaborate with experts to ensure your needs are carried out.
- What else should I do to save on taxes?
- Is my estate plan up to date?
Investment Management
Customized asset allocation strategies tested across multiple market cycles to suit each client’s unique needs. Your Investment Strategy is Tailored to Your Phase of Life and Investment Goals
Wealth Accumulation Phase
Retirement Income Phase
- Focus on growing your wealth while protecting against major market setbacks.
- Use a more aggressive strategy to capture the benefits of investing over the long term.
- Thoughtful approach to providing income both efficiently and effectively throughout various market cycles.
- Utilizes a conservative strategy to preserve the nest egg you have built over a lifetime.
Because of our years in the industry, we are able to look at investment vehicles through the lens of experience, recognizing gimmicks when we see them, and steering clients toward more appropriate means to achieve their respective goals.
- Expenses: Mutual funds and ETFs with lower fees outperform higher expense funds over the long term.
- Downside Protection: Our funds manage downside risk in order to avoid the full impact of negative periods.
- Active/Passive: We use a combination of active and passive funds to profit on the upside, limit the downside and keep expenses low.
- Diversification: We invest across a variety of asset classes to take advantage of outperformance and reduce risk.
- Long Term: We have our eyes on the horizon while not being distracted by every ripple along the way.
These are commonly asked questions we receive from people who choose to work with us:
- Am I taking enough or too much risk to achieve my financial goals?
- Are my investment management expenses too high?
- How much risk am I taking with my concentrated employer stock?
- What investments do I own?
- How are my investments performing?
Success Stories
It can be difficult to test-drive an advisory relationship. Since 1978, we have many stories about how we’ve helped clients over the years and their experience working with us.
Transition Planning
The Situation
Susan, after being forced out of her executive position due to her company’s restructuring, needed to quickly make decisions about the severance package offered her.
The Solution
CJM created income scenarios to help Susan understand the longevity and tax implications of her severance package and healthcare benefits. Because of our in-house expertise in insurance, investments, and taxation, CJM was also able to tailor a plan to manage and divest Susan’s 401(k) and stock holdings over a period of time, reducing her exposure to her former company, and managing her income tax obligations in the medium term.
Value to the Client
CJM’s analysis provided Susan critical information on how best to manage her transitional financial situation, inclusive of tax implications, within a compressed timeframe.
Concentrated Company Stock
The Situation
Tom’s company gave him the choice of relocating to the West Coast or taking early retirement. Reluctant to move but unsure if early retirement was financially feasible, Tom and his wife called CJM.
The Solution
CJM took into account not only the couple’s financial information but their personal hesitation about making yet another move for Tom’s career. Tom’s ESOP contributions—which had done extremely well over the past few years—in addition to healthy 401(k) growth and compounding shares of company stock via matching contributions, allowed CJM to develop an early retirement income plan that retained the couple’s current lifestyle. CJM also determined that Tom could better manage company stock within his 401(k) by taking it as a distribution upon retirement.
Value to the Client
CJM’s retirement planning expertise, due diligence, and financial planning analysis—in conjunction with actively listening to the client’s preferences—helped the couple to clearly realize financial independence earlier than anticipated and in the location that they desired.
Spouse’s Passing
The Situation
When Patricia’s husband unexpectedly passed away, she was thrust into the role of financial decision maker, a task for which she was wholly unprepared. Although her husband had been very successful, Patricia didn’t want to make missteps that could put her and her children’s financial future in jeopardy.
The Solution
CJM helped create an action plan outlining the items that required her immediate attention and those that were less time-sensitive. Our team of professionals advised Patricia on ways to maximize her Social Security survivor benefits, laid out options for her husband’s pension and retirement plans, and implemented a new asset allocation that would provide her with income from life insurance policies and investments. We also connected Patricia with a counselor to help her cope with her extraordinary loss and new reality.
Value to the Client
CJM guided Patricia through this difficult time, helping her make sound financial decisions and providing confidence that she would be able to maintain her lifestyle and still provide the financial legacy she and her late husband envisioned for their children.
Retirement Planning
The Situation
Ann, ready to retire from her successful government career, was concerned that she would not be able to replicate her income in retirement.
The Solution
CJM’s first step was to create a balance sheet that included a comprehensive list of Ann’s assets and liabilities. Compiling pension projections, Social Security benefits, and the sale of rental property, we determined how much income Ann could generate from her investment portfolio, and then created a customized plan that would provide the portfolio cash distributions to meet her income needs.
Value to the Client
CJM’s analysis supplied Ann with the comprehensive and critical information necessary for her to comfortably move on to her next phase of life.
Investment Management
The Situation
Rick and Stella needed a second opinion on their investment portfolio, which they suspected was primarily comprised of high-fee, proprietary mutual funds sold by their current investment manager.
The Solution
CJM’s team of advisors found that Rick and Stella’s suspicions were correct. Not only was their portfolio full of costly proprietary funds, but their portfolio was not managed with their income tax situation in mind. CJM provided much-needed third-party due diligence on their portfolio and asset allocation. We helped Rick and Stella reallocate to include low-cost, no-load, non-proprietary mutual and exchange-traded funds, and repositioned accounts to be more tax advantageous.
Value to the Client
Leveraging CJM’s decades of experience, Rick and Stella were able to reduce their income tax burden without reducing portfolio-generated income. Our quarterly statements also provided the couple with consistent and trackable performance and fees.
CJM custodies client monies at Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company and leading global provider of financial business solutions to more than 1,500 institutional and retail financial organizations and independent registered investment advisors, collectively representing over five million active investors.
BNY Mellon is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 36 countries and serving more than 100 markets. BNY Mellon is the oldest private bank in the United States with roots dating back to 1784 and is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations, and high net-worth individuals. BNY Mellon has $25.0 trillion in assets under custody and administration.
Private Banking & Lending
The Situation
Ken and Laura were unable to find a home in the area they wanted. They decided to buy a smaller home in their desired location, raze it, and build a new home, but worried about how to manage the mortgage process.
The Solution
CJM’s team immediately recognized that instead of spending countless hours with mortgage brokers to secure lending, Ken and Laura could customize a tailored approach by structuring an investment credit line against their personal portfolio. This would supply the needed construction funds without having to sell holdings and incur long-term capital gains taxes in the process.
Value to the Client
CJM understood Ken and Laura’s irregular cash flow requirements without compromising long-term wealth strategies, and helped transform what could have been a costly, time-consuming process into a manageable and financially sound solution.
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