Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrei Hall, CFP®, CRPC®.
Hi Andrei, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The death of several employees while I was a VP at Xerox inspired me to start Hall Wealth Management. It’s important for everyone reading this to realize — you will pass away, you don’t know when that will be, and it could even be tomorrow. You also need to realize; it may be possible to achieve your financial goals and live the life you’ve always wanted…. but the most important thing to also ask yourself is–What kind of life legacy do you want to leave your loved ones? What do you want them to remember about you when you’re gone? What key things do you want to ensure your children remember about you? What key things do you want to ensure your grandchildren hear about you especially if you pass before they come into this world? You must be prepared for anything that comes your way financially and strategically. Assets could get stuck in court and you accidentally disinherit a child or loved one. A major financial crisis could also occur because the right kind of planning wasn’t done. You could lose everything because failing to plan is planning to fail. When I was at Xerox, sometimes it was the employee who passed away or the spouse of the employee.
Through this process, I listened to their worries and concerns. I did a lot of research on financial planning because they had sought advice from advisors but didn’t always feel good about the advice they received. I was able to deliver concrete actionable things that they could implement vs cryptic stuff that had no real impact on what they were trying to do. Around this time my youngest son was born, I was in China and the SARS outbreak occurred. When I got back, I had to quarantine myself in a hotel. Through this time, it became even more clear to me that my time was precious, I wanted to be there for my son, and I wanted to make more of an impact. A impact by helping families or remaining family members preserve wealth while navigating losses due to poor planning or no financial planning. From that day on, I vowed to help individuals preserve finances and help them through life issues. Hall Wealth Management has been in business for 18 years because clients keep referring their friends, they trust us, and know we have their best interest at heart while helping to achieve their goals, aspirations, and dreams.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I left Ameriprise in 2007 to open up HWMG. Going through 2007-2008, two things happened. The first, I started getting a lot of referrals in 2008 which told me my current clients were very enthusiastic about the service and results they were getting with me.
The second, a large amount of my client’s assets were preserved & they had much smaller losses compared to the overall marketplace… Because of 2008, it’s been a smooth road. It was easy for me to get more referrals. My clients recommended me to their friends & work associates because we didn’t just focus on investments. We focused on tax planning, how to minimize taxes along the way, and in retirement. We also focused on how to preserve an estate for the next generation. My clients also felt that I would be a great person for their friends to work with who listens to their concerns and worries.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Hall Wealth Management?
Individuals work with me for many different reasons. I’m a CFP© which makes me a fiduciary. Being a fiduciary means I have a legal obligation to do what’s best for my clients, not something that’s just appropriate for my clients. Hall Wealth Management has been helping business owners, corporate executives and retirees preserve wealth through savvy tax management planning strategies, distribution strategies, in-depth customized financial planning and thinking out of the box. We rarely hear of any other advisor who inquires about pre-disposition to a disease, if there’s addiction in the family if the clients could end up footing the bill for a family member with a health crisis, etc. Plans need that incorporated to preserve wealth. Something that we also specialize in that is near and dear to my heart is financial planning for parents and families with special needs individuals. When parents die, I’ve seen brothers and sisters of special needs individuals put them in facilities or literally put them on the street. I’ve also seen special needs individuals not inherit the inheritances that they are supposed to get because there’s nothing in place to ensure that happens. I am a father to a special needs child and It’s dire to understand if you don’t have the right planning in place for someone with special needs they’ll lose out on their benefits. For example, if they do inherit money, without the right planning in place they could possibly no longer qualify for SSI, lose on health care(medicare), and more.
In general, Hall Wealth Management is focused on expanding our service offerings for our clients so they are experiencing service that’s mostly in-house or delivered by one of our partners. We’re also constantly enhancing our processes so our clients enjoy an easy streamlined experience. We’re adding tools and resources, implementing cutting-edge software as it comes out, and we make sure our clients never feel like just a number. We’ve set the stage for service. When’s the last time you walked into a big firm and they knew your favorite drink, food, what life goal you’re in the stages of currently accomplishing and had someone waiting at their door for you? Each year we’re only getting better at what we do in the financial planning realm, our client’s confidence as well as our confidence continues to grow, and the red-carpet service we’re known for gets more competitive. I’m also a member of Ed Slott’s Master Elite Advisor Group. Ed Slot is cited as the #1 expert in the world by the WSJ, Kiplinger’s and a host of others when it comes to retirement planning/ strategies. This group is comprised of financial professionals dedicated to the IRA industry. In addition, being a member gives me access to Ed Slott and his group of technical specialists, who are also attorneys, CPA’s and accountants to further help my clients.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The advisors who survive will be the ones that understand there will be less emphasis on picking out investment options (what people invest in). The way planning is done today is to save for retirement instead of having enough money to LIVE in retirement. Things need to be structured so that taxes are minimized in the present, in retirement, and when your estate is passed down so your heirs aren’t taxed on half of what you pass on. These strategies also tie into minimizing how much you will pay for Medicare in retirement. If you’re not doing tax planning, you can end up paying 3x more than what somebody else is paying for Medicare. A trend we’re also seeing is individuals with a decent amount of money utilizing do it yourself programs. These programs tell you how much you’ll need in retirement, but the issue is, they do not come close to analyzing all the variables that come into play. They aren’t going to consider the challenges families are going to have like health-care cost of $300,000 or more and if someone is going to have to support their parents by paying for long-term care. These programs also don’t take into account how to best utilize your assets from a planning standpoint that makes those assets last longer by the way you structure them.
Contact Info:
- Website: HWMG-LPL.COM
- Facebook: Facebook.com/hallwealth
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreihall/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hallwealth
