Financial advisory, investment, and wealth management services for tech employees and high-net-worth households in Seattle.
Our goal: Give you back your time
We offer wealth management services that cater to top-earning tech employees, as well as high-net-worth individuals and families
Based in Seattle, Washington, Northern Lights is a fiduciary, fee-only, Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm that provides comprehensive wealth and investment management services.
Our deep investment and financial planning backgrounds span nearly two decades. We serve high-earning clients to ultra-high-net-worth, multiple-generational families.
Not only are our executive team members CFP®s, we hold Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designations, considered one of the highest distinctions in the investment management profession.
In other words, we are well-versed in all details that arise with security analysis and tax impacts of various types of securities (RSUs, ISOs, and ESPP) and how these impact an overall portfolio.
Our fundamental thesis in investments:
- Active management and stock picking does not work in the long run
- We focus on tax-efficient investments that have low fees and are predictable — not unknown
- Direct indexing fits perfectly into our framework of low-cost and tax-efficient investments, and is a service we include for our clients for no additional fees. It also opens up flexibility in managing single stock positions. (Great for tech employees!)
- In general, we believe that participating in the stock and bond markets consistently will yield the best long-term results. We do not try to time the markets, though we do make minor tactical adjustments when opportunities arise.
- We do asset location where tax-efficient investments are located in taxable accounts, and tax-inefficient holdings are placed in tax-free or tax-deferred accounts (IRA/Roth IRA).
To make sure we set you up properly
Financial Mapping
We begin with a complete financial picture, including all cash accounts, retirement funds at work, cash flows, benefits at work, pensions, social security, etc.
Risk Tolerance Review
If married, both partners complete a detailed risk tolerance questionnaire. We then discuss the results and any “mismatches” in risk tolerance so a consensus can be reached together.
Investment Portfolio Development
In light of current allocations, risk tolerance, and other factors affecting your ability to take on risk, we create an investment portfolio. For non-managed accounts (retirement accounts at work), we focus on locating assets in the most efficient accounts in terms of tax impacts and the marginal tax status of the client.
Ongoing Management Review
Ongoing management of assets is reviewed continually to account for any changes in tax circumstances, risk tolerance, specific requests for individual stocks or bonds, and the implications of these changes on any future plans.
What does it cost?
Our annual fee for portfolio management services is based on a percentage of assets in your account and is outlined in the adjacent annual fee schedule:
Making It Happen
We evaluate all considerations relevant to you and your circumstances, ensuring a sustainable long-term plan for handling inflows and outflows, efficiently allocating investments, maximizing benefits provided at work, and reviewing all risks and opportunities in your financial life.
Our goal is to boil complicated topics down to create the most sound financial decisions for you. No decision is too complex nor too minor — even considerations around getting a dog — as our role is to be a voice of reason in light of what is important to you.
Topics we can look at
As part of our wealth management services, your financial plan is devised from scenario feasibility analysis of each approach based on any number of the following considerations that make up your financial story:
How we integrate financial planning into your situation, step by step
1. Inception
We are very data-driven and start by collecting financial data: all holdings, balances, transactions, loans, estimates, assumptions, benefits, coverages, etc. This gives us all the inflows and outflows to verify a complete picture of your financial life.
2. Budget framework
Next, we extrapolate a “typical month” of spending, generate forward estimates for planning purposes, and a budget framework to track against.
3. Review & Future
Then we dive deeper into what’s important to you: your goals, nice-to-haves, and other future plans and requirements. We share other considerations — from experience with similar clients — that you might not have mentioned.
4. Plan Development
From here, we develop a financial plan with quantifiable paths for moving forward. The plan becomes our base, against which we tie future conversations and edit as life takes new forks in the road.
5. ongoing plan
As life unfolds, we adjust as needed and continue to support you with ongoing wealth management services.
Here is a sample calendar of what you can expect:
Comprehensive Family Estate Planning
Our extensive background serving ultra-high-net-worth families of multiple generations lends to understanding the importance of not only tax and wealth preservation but also keeping family relationships healthy for years to come.
When the estate planning process involves multiple generations, we cover more intricate discussion points to ensure smart financial decisions for you, your children, and your aging parents.
Expat Planning
As a foreign citizen (Swede) living and working in the US, we are well-versed in financial planning services for clients with cross-border earnings and portfolios — whether the clients live abroad and have a US-based portfolio or are foreign citizens residing in the US. Having valuable partnerships with experienced international tax attorneys and CPAs ensures we offer clients the most up-to-date reporting requirements for all applicable situations.