Who we serve
For family stewards
Suddenly, you’re the one who has to know. Aspirean helps inheritors, widows and widowers, trustees, and the newly responsible take over a financial life they did not build, with the context nobody handed you, in plain language, until the decisions feel like yours.
The moment
What taking over actually involves
A family steward is the person a financial life lands on: after a death, an inheritance, a trust you now oversee, or a generational handoff. Most arrive with accounts at several institutions, an estate plan nobody has read in years, and advisors who only ever spoke to someone else.
Our work starts with an inventory rather than a strategy, and moves at the pace the decisions actually require. Two deadlines in the first year are real. Nearly everything else can wait until you understand it.
Meet with usThe first year
Cash flow first: know which accounts pay the bills for six months. Then the paperwork: death certificates, retitling, insurance claims. Two deadlines are real, the estate tax portability election and any qualified disclaimer, generally within nine months, and we put both on the calendar with your attorney and CPA. Nearly everything else can wait.
Income you can count on
Income is built rather than bought. We set a spending rate near 4 percent, tested against bad markets, hold two to three years of spending in cash and short-term bonds so a downturn never forces a sale, and pay you monthly from the accounts in a deliberate order.
Taking over without an expensive mistake
Start with an inventory, not a strategy: every account, policy, bill, and advisor, with the last two tax returns as the cheat sheet. Then check beneficiary designations and titling, because those forms override the will and a stale one is the costly mistake. We carry the corrections into the accounts and your attorney updates the documents.
Questions we answer
The questions this moment asks.
Each one started as a question a client asked. The short answer is here; the full answer is a perspective of its own.
It’s suddenly mine to manage. What actually needs to happen in the first year?
Cash flow first: know which accounts pay the bills for six months. Then the paperwork: death certificates, retitling, insurance claims. Two deadlines are real, the estate tax portability election and any qualified disclaimer, generally within nine months. Nearly everything else can wait.
Read the full answerHow do we turn what we have into income we can count on?
Build it rather than buy it. Set a spending rate near 4 percent, tested against bad markets. Hold two to three years of spending in cash and short-term bonds so a downturn never forces a sale, and pay yourself monthly.
Read the full answerMy spouse handled everything. How do I take this over without an expensive mistake?
Start with an inventory, not a strategy: every account, policy, bill, and advisor, with the last two tax returns as the cheat sheet. Then check beneficiary designations and titling, because those forms override the will and a stale one is the costly mistake.
Read the full answerHow we work with you
The services this moment leans on.
-
Financial Planning
A living plan for the decisions in front of you: exits, equity, income, education, the freedom to make a change.
-
Investment Management
Evidence-based portfolios built for your goals, not this quarter’s headlines.
-
Estate & Legacy Planning
Your intentions, drafted by your attorney, carried into your accounts and across generations by one coordinated team.
-
Tax Planning & Coordination
In-house tax planning, coordinated with the CPA who prepares your return, so April stops bringing surprises.
The situation
After losing her husband, a client inherited a financial life she had never been asked to manage: accounts spread across multiple institutions, an estate plan that hadn’t been touched in a decade, and advisors who had only ever spoken to him.
What we did together
We started with a full inventory, consolidated and retitled the accounts, worked with her attorney to bring the estate documents current, and met on a steady rhythm that built her context in plain language, one decision at a time.
Where it landed
A financial life she understands and runs with confidence, with one team accountable for the whole picture.
Drawn from a real engagement, with details generalized to protect the client’s privacy. Every situation is different; outcomes depend on circumstances and timing.
Offices
Three offices, one team.
Marin County, CA
6 Knoll Lane, Suite BMill Valley, CA 94941
(415) 383-8404
Marin County, CA · Mill Valley, CA · San Francisco Bay Area, CA
St. Joseph, MI
505 Pleasant St, Suite 401St. Joseph, MI 49085
(844) 687-5342
St. Joseph, MI · Benton Harbor, MI · Southwest Michigan
Chesterton, IN
160 Rail Rd, Suite 4Chesterton, IN 46304
(844) 687-5342
Chesterton, IN · Valparaiso, IN · Northwest Indiana
Frequently asked questions
The things you’re probably wondering.
Do you have a minimum asset level?
Yes. We best serve individuals with at least $1 million in investable assets, including 401(k) plan assets, or more complex financial situations. Our minimum annual fee is $7,500 for clients below that threshold.
How are you compensated?
We are a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor and a fiduciary, paid via a percentage of the assets we manage.
Do we have to decide everything at once?
No. Cash flow and the two dated elections come first. Consolidating accounts, revisiting the estate documents with your attorney, and the investment plan follow on a rhythm you set. We write down what is urgent and what only feels urgent, and most of the list is the second kind.
What if I have never managed money before?
That is a context problem, not a competence problem. We build the context: every account, policy, bill, and advisor in one inventory, the last two tax returns as the cheat sheet, and each decision explained in plain language before it is made. Both spouses are treated as equal clients from the beginning, so this handoff is the last cold start.
Do you work with my existing attorney and CPA?
Yes. Your attorney drafts and updates the estate documents and your CPA prepares the returns. We coordinate both, carry the plan into the accounts through retitling, beneficiary designations, and funding, and keep everyone working from one picture so nothing is decided in isolation.
Meet with us
Let’s talk.
We take on a limited number of new families each year, on purpose. If some version of this moment has arrived at your door, we’d like to hear from you.
Meet with us