I finally took my own advice

After 17 years on my own, I've joined a team I trust

Last week’s essay included a postscript, and today I wanted to expand on it.

After 17 years as a one-man band, I’ve joined a team.

It’s the biggest change to my work since I left Merrill Lynch 20 years ago.

As of October 1st, I’m a wealth advisor and shareholder at TVAMP, a planning-first wealth management firm based in Knoxville, TN. (I’m staying in Atlanta)

If you’re a client, you’ve already heard this from me directly.

If you’re not, I wanted to share the news.

Some of you have been reading my writing for years. I feel like I know many of you who reply regularly.

Why?

Since 2009, I’ve run Wealthcare for Women as my own solo practice inside a larger firm, Wealthcare Capital Management. They handled the back office. I was my clients’ only point of contact.

It was a great setup. It gave me a lot of freedom and flexibility.

But a few years ago I started asking myself a question I ask clients all the time.

What’s the plan when something happens to you?

As a solo advisor, I didn’t have a good answer.

The women I work with trust me with decisions that play out over 20, 30, or more years. They deserve a better answer than “I hope I stay healthy” and “I have no plans to retire.”

Now I have a solid answer. One I feel good about.

It’s a team of people I like and trust, who plan the way I plan, and who would step in if I couldn’t.

I’ve known one of them, Perry Chesney, for more than 20 years. Since our days at Merrill Lynch.

Last month, Elizabeth and I spent a few days in Knoxville with the TVAMP team. One evening we had dinner with all of the partners and shareholders. There was a lot of laughing. At one point, one of my colleagues stood up and told a joke about two whales in a bar.

Let’s just say you had to be there.

A dinner like that tells you more about a group of people than any meeting or PowerPoint presentation.

I also will have dedicated support for the first time in almost two decades. That frees up more of my time for the part of this work I love most: sitting with a client and figuring out how she can use her money to live her best life.

Saying goodbye

The Wealthcare for Women name is going away.

I’ve poured a lot of myself into it over the past 15-plus years. Saying goodbye to it is bittersweet.

What it stood for will continue. I started Wealthcare for Women to serve women, and that’s still the work I’ll be doing every day.

This newsletter is staying, too. It will come from me, under the TVAMP brand, every Wednesday morning like always.

What’s changing

For years I tried to be helpful to anyone who might be reading. With topics ranging from Medicare enrollment to why you should never “tip” the IRS. I hope it’s been helpful, and all 500+ of my essays will remain available in the archive.

Going forward, I’ll often be writing with a particular reader in mind. She’s a lot like the women I’ve worked with for much of my career.

She’s somewhere between her late 50s and early 70s. Through saving, inheritance, or maybe a divorce settlement, she’s responsible for a meaningful amount of money. Maybe she’s newly single. Maybe she’s married to someone who always “handled the money,” and she’s realizing she needs to understand it too.

She’s smart. And capable.

She can find information anywhere. What’s harder to find is someone who will tell her what they honestly think. What they believe.

So you’ll see more of that from me. Fewer explainers, and more of my opinions about what I’d do in her shoes and where I think the typical advice gets it wrong.

Some weeks will be about taxes, income, and investing. Other weeks will be less about the numbers and more about the things that might keep you awake at night. Like actually giving yourself permission to use your own money, or deciding how to balance taking care of yourself versus caring for your aging parents or adult children.

Everyone’s welcome

If that doesn’t sound exactly like you, I invite you to stick around. Most of what I write will still apply to a lot of people, and I’m glad you’re here.

And if you know someone who’d enjoy these weekly letters, I’d be grateful if you forwarded this one or invited her to subscribe. Word of mouth is how most of my readers and clients have found me over the years.

Your turn

Hit reply and tell me about the money decision you keep putting off. The one you’d rather not make alone. Or you’re worried about getting wrong.

I read every reply. Some will shape my future writing, with any identifying details removed.

One more thing. I’m taking on new clients. If you’ve been reading for a while and wondering whether we’d be a good fit, just reply and tell me. We’ll find a time to have a conversation. Or maybe you know someone I should talk to…

Until next Wednesday,

Russ

Retirement Planning for Women

P.S. Zilly is not changing firms. She remains fiercely independent and reports to no one. 😉

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Disclosures