Woodstock Advisor Helps Set & Maintain Financial Strategies

Financial planner Gary Alpert has made Woodstock home for him, his wife Wendy Helen and their pups, Chloe and Skeeter.

“I am a member of the Woodstock Rotary Club and really enjoy giving back to the community,” Gary said. “Wendy Helen and I enjoy supporting various local charities and participating in the business community. We love our neighborhood, and we enjoy participating in activities within our subdivision, South on Main. We really feel at home here.”

Gary and his team, Director of Client Services Patty O’Toole and Wealth Manager Assistant Tyler Cetrulo, help executives, business owners and retirees develop and manage their financial plans.

Client comfort and satisfaction is a priority for the team, even if it means meeting in the privacy and convenience of a client’s home or another location. It is one more way the financial planner can offer the best customer service, while covering each client’s specific needs.

“Our motto is ‘we can help with that,’ and it is sincere. We want to help our clients with every aspect of their financial life,” Gary said. “This can include estate planning, tax planning, investment planning and retirement planning — any aspect of their life that will involve a financial decision.”

A Voice of Experience
With more than 23 years of navigating market fluctuations and servicing long-standing client relationships, Gary takes dealing with his clients’ wealth very seriously. He believes that experience
matters in this industry, more than in almost any other.

In 2014, Gary was asked to join the Integrated Financial Group, a consortium of independent LPL financial planners from across the country. Since its inception in 2003, Integrated Financial Group has gathered passionate, strictly vetted independent financial planners who support the notion that many minds are greater than one. This consortium of experienced professionals is called the Brain Trust.

By sharing information and working on best practices as a collaborative group, the level of experience available to clients is multiplied. The Integrated Financial Group is an asset to its financial planners. Their association with Integrated has resulted in improved services for their clients.

A Wide Range of Services
Gary and his team work together with executives, business owners and retirees.

While they aren’t CPAs or estate attorneys, Gary’s team can assist with tax and estate planning by highlighting planning issues that help their clients to be proactive. They also will work directly with their clients’ trusted professionals, such as accountants and estate attorneys.

The breadth and depth of services includes, but is not limited to:

Establishing financial goals and and preparing a road map for achieving them.
Helping families develop a cohesive investment strategy.
Helping executives optimize their compensation programs, including stock options, restricted stock and performance shares.
Navigating complex tax issues and developing strategies for minimizing taxes.
Planning income for retirement.
Helping retirees with their Social Security claiming strategy, and with navigating Medicare.
Assisting small-business owners in establishing a retirement plan.
Assisting families with planning their beneficiaries, wills, powers of attorney, and overall estate.
Helping in the financial decision-making process upon the death of a spouse.

“We have an extensive network of professional service providers — health care, tax, estate planning, Social Security, insurance, business brokers — and we work directly with other providers to determine what is in our client’s best interest,” Gary said.

With Gary and Wendy Helen now in their new hometown, he talked about plans to expand his business.

“We plan to grow in a purposeful way, continuing to provide additional services to all of our clients, while maintaining our commitment to the highest level of client responsiveness. We recently added an additional team member to achieve this end,” he said.

“Our growth in assets under management has been significant in the past five years, and our growth has been almost 100% referral-driven. We are expanding our established program of educational seminars to Woodstock this fall and aim to help more people each year. We look forward to meeting and working with our Woodstock neighbors.”

Education & Certification
Gary opened Gary Alpert Financial Strategies in December 2014, has been a financial planner since July 1998, and has attained advanced degrees and certifications.

Certified Financial Planner™ professional
MBA, University of Georgia, Terry College of Business
B.S. in Economics, SUNY, Binghamton
General Securities Representative, FINRA Series 7**
Uniform Securities Agent, FINRA Series 63**
General Securities Principal, FINRA Series 24**
Registered Options Principal, FINRA Series 4**
Municipal Securities Principal, FINRA Series 53**

**Securities registrations currently held with LPL Financial.

CFP June 2002 Certified Financial Planner™ certification is the standard of excellence in financial planning. CFP professionals meet rigorous education, training and ethical standards, and are committed to serving their clients’ best interests today to prepare them for a more secure tomorrow.

The Mission
Financial Confidence

“It is gratifying to see clients obtain confidence and reduce financial worry. We continue to surprise our clients with respect to the number of concerns we can assist with,” Gary said. Some specifics of the help his team has provided include:

Balancing taxable and nontaxable resources in retirement income planning.
Walking a widow, with no previous financial experience, through finances, insurance and managing the details of home and business properties.
Navigating complex tax issues and developing strategies for minimizing taxes.
Setting up education funds for children.
Helping victims of identity and romance scams.

“Our educational programs address topics such as financial planning concerns specific to women, cybersecurity, planning for retirement income distributions, and estate planning,” Gary said.