Introducing SAGEbroadview Financial Planning

SAGEbroadview: Once Upon a Time, There Were Two Firms …

While many of our friends, clients and colleagues are already aware of our exciting New Year’s Day news, it doesn’t seem fully official until it’s posted on the World Wide Web. So here goes:

Effective January 1, 2014, SAGE Advisory Group, LLC of Morristown, NJ and BroadView Financial Planning of Farmington, CT became SAGEbroadview Financial Planning, LLC, a lasting financial planning firm for serving generations of families for a lifetime … and beyond.

Once Upon a Time, There Were Two Firms …
Larry Annello, CPA/PFS, CFP® and I met at a 2004 financial planning conference. At the time, he was managing principal for BroadView and I was founding principal at SAGE. Larry also remains a partner at the Del Conte, Hyde, Annello & Schuch, P.C. (DHAS) accounting firm.

Our formal press release describes that, upon meeting, we “found rich ground for collaboration.” In other words, we clicked. As we sat next to each other in deepening conversation, we both sensed something powerful in our complementary differences as well as our common perspectives. By the end of the conference, we agreed to act on the potential before it slipped away. After additional brainstorming, we decided we would try sharing select services and staff as a way to cost-effectively strengthen client care at both of our firms.

Our Kingdoms Unite

Fast forward to 2013. Our collaboration was going so well that one of us finally posed the inevitable question: “Why don’t we officially combine forces?” As Larry describes, “After ‘dating’ for nearly a decade, it was a good time to officially get ‘married’.”As we come together in a spirit of respect, camaraderie and thoughtful collaboration, the possibilities seem endless – for us, our staff and, most importantly, our clients. I hope to continue bringing a sage business woman’s perspective and fee-only planning to busy professionals and their families, particularly those with complex executive compensation packages. Larry specializes in broad, fee-only planning for closely held business owners and their families, augmented by tax and accounting services through DHAS. Together, we’ll continue offering far-reaching financial life planning and investment management services for busy professionals, small business owners and their families, throughout their careers and into retirement. We will also continue to specialize in our shared passive investment management strategy primarily using Dimensional Fund Advisor solutions.

Living Happily Ever After?
As we often remind our financial clients, none of us knows what the future holds. But if everything goes as expected, our merging will seem nearly seamless for our clients and colleagues. So far, so good on that front, as our union represents such a natural next step in our existing relationship.

We also look forward to maintaining our blog, adding Larry’s voice to periodically harmonize with my own. We began that initiative with his popular Halloween guest post, “Boo! The Lurking 3.8% Medicare (Medi-scare) Surtax,” as well as with a year-end Roth IRA guest post provided by his DHAS partner Robert C. Lickwar, CPA, MST.

As an added benefit, we hope to serve as an inspirational model for other independent business owners who may be seeking ways to optimize their experiences and values through collaborative synergies. Of course the merger hasn’t been all rainbows and puppy dogs. It’s also been a lot of hard work, with reams of legal paperwork, a website overhaul, and minute tasks galore. But when it is work that’s worthwhile, alongside team members we value, we can’t help but be energized and optimistic about the results.

Please join us in celebrating the founding of SAGEbroadview Financial Planning. We hope you’ll stay in touch with us at our new web address: www.SAGEbroadview.com.