There are five main reasons people hire us for help creating a financial plan for their retirement:

• They don’t know how much they need to retire. They haven’t sat down and done the math.

• They know how much they need to retire, but don’t have that amount saved. They need guidance on savings and investing strategies to ensure they will have enough by the time they retire.

• They have assets saved, but have no idea how to convert them efficiently into a retirement income stream.

• They have a specific retirement concern. Some people are worried about taxes, others about the risk of inflation or rising healthcare costs. If there is an extenuating condition that needs to be dealth with, you may need retirement planning.

• ​They have enough money to retire and are likely to leave money behind, but have not put together a strategy for gifting it. Transferring assets to the future generations of your family can get complicated!

In an ideal scenario you should start planning for your retirement as early as possible and as soon as you start earning income. In reality, most people don’t focus on retirement planning until 5-10 years before they retire, usually in their mid-50s.

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Here is a roadmap for what you should be doing at each stage of life to prepare for retirement.

Age 20-40:

The most important thing to do when you are young to prepare for your retirement is to sock away as much money as you can into tax-advantaged accounts such as 401ks and other employer-sponsored plans, Roth and Traditional IRAs, and even your HSA account. This will allow the money to compound without paying tax on the dividends and interest, or any capital gains you recognize by selling securities.

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You should also create a debt repayment plan for any student loans.

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Age 40-55:

The most important thing to do in mid-life is to put together an actual retirement plan. Review your savings rates and your portfolio, and make any adjustments so that you can have enough to retire at the age you wish to.

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Apply great focus and do the heavy lifting now; time and energy spent on retirement planning in mid-life is very likely to pay off.

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Age 55-60:

This is the most critical time in your life in terms of retirement plan. You should:

• Figure out what age you want to start taking Social Security

• Plan a withdrawal strategy

• Execute any Roth conversions

• Project healthcare costs

• Purchase long-term care insurance, if applicable

• Continue saving, and if possible, save more aggressively. Consider making catch-up contributions.

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A retirement plan has many components to it, and varies with your personal situation. A financial advisor can help you decide which parts of your retirement preparation to focus on at different times of your life.

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Once a year it’s important to review your retirement tax strategy. However, it is also critical when major life events happen, such as:

• Marriage

• Retirement

• Losing a job or getting a new job

• Selling or buying a home

• Getting divorced

• Receiving an inheritance

• Selling a business

Yes, it’s possible to create a do-it-yourself retirement financial plan under certain circumstances. It’s useful to ask yourself if you meet these qualifications below when trying to figure out if you really need a financial advisor for retirement, or if you can do this on your own.

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• You need to have the knowledge or the willingness to gain all the necessary skills and information in order to do this effectively. To create a retirement plan for yourself, you’ll need to become fluent in tax planning, withdrawal strategy, Social Security, portfolio management, risk management, and cash flow forecasting.

• You need to have the proper temperament in order to manage your own retirement planning. Making erratic or emotional decisions is a disaster when it comes to finances, and especially retirement where every dollar matters.

• DIYing your retirement requires a significant contribution of time. You may have commitments that demand your attention, and contingencies can arise. Allow for at least 2-3 hours a week to manage this.

• It helps if you are more than 10 years away from retirement and have a simple financial situation. More complexity can mean more potential for error.

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If you aren’t ready to DIY your retirement, you have other options. You can work with a financial advisor who specializes in retirement and taxation, either on an ongoing or a periodic basis. While these services do come with a cost, retirement money mistakes come with big price tags.​

A fiduciary is bound ethically to serve in the clients’ best interests. We are fiduciaries and always place our clients’ goals ahead of our own. We are proud of our belief and wouldn’t have it any other way!

In order to be a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) we are required to take fiduciary oaths, in which we must act as a fiduciary when we represent our clients.

​Focused Up Financial is a firm that is solely fee-only and a fiduciary, which means we work only for you.  We are not driven to sell products, because there are no products to sell. Our main goal is to care about you. Many times, in the financial industry, people can feel like a small fish in a big pond. At Focused Up Financial no matter how many assets you have we will give you focused, personalized care.

Our approach is different too. Rather than starting with your financial goals, we first focus on you to get a good understanding of who you are and how you view your finances. We want to ensure that your finances are giving you the most satisfaction out of life.

Because we are CPAs, we are also able to integrate tax planning and preparation into our planning and services. We have a complete view of your financial picture so that we can help save you the most money at tax time.

The short answer
We serve everyone. We want to help everyone, in all walks of life. Our primary goal is to care about our clients, as we feel all financial planners should.

The not-so-short answer
Our primary focus is pre-retirees and retirees who want to be tax efficient and have a passion for personal development. What does this mean?

From the tax perspective: Being CPAs, we understand Uncle Sam's "share" will be one of the biggest expenses you have in retirement, proper planning can greatly reduce that burden.

From the personal development perspective: If you are someone who loves reading books such as The 7 Effective Habits for Highly Efficient People or Think and Grow Rich. If you are someone who dreams big and always wants to try to become a better person, welcome! If you are constantly asking if there is more, then you are in good company. We want to help you achieve success at your finances and also achieve your dreams. Retirement is a journey, and we want to help you successfully navigate the retirement waters. 

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We also work with entrepreneurs, particularly psychologists, social workers and those in the life and business coaching industry. We recognize that you are busy developing and running your business, helping people become the best they can be. Why not have someone help you focus on the financial aspects, so you can continue to focus on your business? 

I am a financial advisor for people who are about to retire. I chose this specialization because due to my skills as a CPA, I am able  to provide tax-efficient financial advice to retirees and pre-retirees. I also provide guidance about other aspects of retirement planning such as Social Security, Medicare planning, tax planning, and estate planning.

Fee-only means that we do not sell any products. We do not receive any commission. The only way we are compensated is through the fees we charge directly to our clients. We are not compensated by any third parties. This ensures that we are working for our clients -- and only for our clients -- at all times.

Yes, I am a fiduciary financial advisor. Chicago is where I live and so many of my clients are from the area, but I have many clients from across the country.

Here are some reasons why working with a fiduciary financial advisor makes sense:

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• A fiduciary is bound to put your interest before theirs. This means they can’t recommend an investment solely because it makes them a high commission or allows them to meet their sales quota.

• Financial advisors who are bound by the fiduciary standard must conduct ongoing monitoring of the recommendations they make.

• The fiduciary standard requires the financial advisor to minimize and disclose any conflicts of interest that may exist.

• You get objective advice about your total wealth picture, not just a set of products.

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If you want to know if your financial advisor is a fiduciary, ask them if they have taken the Fiduciary Oath.​​

Nope. I am a financial planner in Chicagoland, but I work with people across Chicago and across the nation.

Nope. We designed this firm for everyone. Whether you have $5 or $50 million we will treat you with the same amount of personalized care. There is a minimum fee of $400/month, so depending on your circumstances, it may or may not make sense. 

Focused Up Financial has a three-pronged meaning:

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The uptrend of clients’ lives: We want to be always looking up when it comes to your future. The past is the past. There is no changing it. However, the future is full of opportunity to achieve, thrive, and be the best you can be. We are always “focused up” on the future.

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The uptrend of the market: Historically, the market trends up over time. According to historical records, the average annual return for the S&P 500  (from 1928 through 2020) is approximately 10%. Remember this isn’t straight up (the market has down years like 2008-09), but the long-term trend is “focused up".

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Focused up toward God: We believe that we are all placed on the Earth for a short time.  In that time, we are called to develop innate good within ourselves. We focus our lives on being a good steward of our talents and have “focused up” our lives toward God.  As Bob Dylan puts it, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody".

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