Why CAISSA [ky-suh]
Named after the Roman Goddess of Chess
You have many complex ‘pieces’ in your financial board of life. We analyze every detail to create wealth strategies that are fully integrated and think multiple steps ahead, much like one would do to win at chess.
CAISSA Wealth Strategies – a Fee-only financial and investment advisory firm
Expect More…
Are you craving more clarity and confidence in your financial plan? Have you been searching for a wealth manager who can bring all the pieces of your financial life together into one comprehensive solution? Are you eager to work with a financial advisor who appreciates that your legacy is as important as portfolio returns?
We get it.
For more than 20 years, CAISSA has been the trusted financial advisor for women, business owners, executives and high-net-worth families, developing financial plans designed to meet them where they are … and propel them to where they want to be. In short, we are the personal CFO you’ve been looking for.
At CAISSA Wealth Strategies, we are fiercely devoted to your financial prosperity, so you can be fully devoted to what matters most.
What you’ll experience with CAISSA
The day we hired CAISSA is the day we stopped worrying about our finances. They are our personal CFO and trusted advisor.
CAISSA is fiercely devoted to us and our financial wellbeing. A truly unmatched experience of care and personal attention we have received.
CAISSA’s “Tranches of Income” unique investment approach helped us understand how our investment strategy needs to be in alignment with our financial plan. The result is reduced anxiety regarding the impact of market volatility on our income resources.
We appreciate our CAISSA team’s level of service to our needs and questions. Our team is truly dedicated to being available for any questions we have and consistently communicates with us regarding our personal plan, investments, and provides timely commentary on news impacting our situation.
CAISSA is our trusted advisor. They consistently exceed our expectations and make it so easy to understand complex topics so that we can confidently make wise decisions for our financial success. I would recommend CAISSA to anyone who is looking for a dedicated partner in achieving your wealth goals!
We trust our experienced team at CAISSA to make high stakes investment and financial decisions for us. They are well versed in our high net worth needs.
The financial planning process has been invaluable to us. We have confidence and clarity for our financial future -attributable to CAISSA’s “Torpedo Proofing” and detailed planning approach. The integration of our complex tax and estate strategies, as well as how to manage unforeseen variables, has provided repeated value.
After every conversation with our CAISSA team, we understand precisely how we are achieving our quality of life needs as well as our legacy goals. We have clarity on our financial position and plan, without having to understand the complex details. Our strategy is communicated clearly to us, which allows us to feel confident we are making educated decisions.
We had no idea what we were missing with our last advisor until we started to work with CAISSA. You can expect more from the CAISSA team.
Serving Women, High Net Worth Families, And Business Owners
- Guiding women through unforeseen events like a divorce or becoming a widow to provide clarity for how your finances and investments will support your quality of life. Taking the next step to help with taxes and updating wills in post divorce.
- Thoughtfully integrating retirement visions with legacy planning. Incorporating charitable goals, gifting and investment strategies to create your perfect plan using a variety of simple and sophisticated tools.
- Assisting Corporate Executives with their executive compensation programs, tax planning and personal financial strategies so they can focus on their own goals.
- Building the foundation for a Strategic Business Succession. Stress testing viable options and setting the stage for clarity of next steps after transition.
- Evaluating and composing Legacy and Estate Strategies for clients aspiring to pass on their financial achievements to their families or charities.
Wealth Management Services
Strategically aligning your personal and financial wellbeing
Remove the stress of wealth management by aligning with a team of fiercely devoted financial advisors. CAISSA understands all pieces of your financial board of life. You will experience customized financial solutions that integrate your unique goals and visions that are implemented, actionable and accountable through CAISSA.
Financial Planning
“A prudent investment plan is only as strong as the financial plan that directs it”
Our CFP® team takes great pride in our approach to financial planning. We believe the financial plan is your essential guide that must be updated, reviewed and stressed tested continually. The value we bring to our clients is in our attention to detail, experience and the knowledge to not only think ahead, but to think outside of the box.
Your plan will begin with your cash flow and net worth pieces as well as assessing your investment structures and tax returns to generate your financial projection. We will then integrate and stress test potential retirement issues to be sure every aspect of your retirement vision is on track.
Investment Management
Our team of Investment Advisors’ philosophy is not one of frequent trading or timing markets, but instead focused on intense due diligence to assemble the best portfolio yielding the most efficient returns. We do this by going beyond the numbers and vetting each portfolio manager in person. Once your portfolio is assembled, we then lean into areas of opportunity or the asset classes where we feel will be rewarded.
Our role is also to provide discipline and help you avoid making emotional decisions, usually fueled by greed or fear, when it comes to your finances.
We apply an investment allocation overlay to your portfolio called, CAISSA “Tranches of Income.” Our clients tell us this strategy helps remove the stress that comes with volatile markets because they always know, no matter what the market is doing, that they have enough cash flows available to provide a personal paycheck to get them through the next market dip while allowing for your other assets to revert to their true value instead of being sold in the time of crisis. It is this well thought out plan that will let you sleep better at night.
Insurance (Disability, Life, Long Term Care)
It is easy to lose track of the events in life that you “think” you are insured for assuming you’re “covered”, only to find out there was a gap in your coverage, just when you need it the most. We help find those gaps and fix them in advance.
We analyze your current disability, life and liability coverage looking for any gaps that may need to be fixed. We can also review your current legacy plan.
This process helps to prepare for the “what ifs” or unfortunate events, such as an accident or untimely death; allowing you to feel secure knowing you have a plan in place to maintain your lifestyle and protect the nest egg you’ve worked so hard to build.
Estate Planning
An untimely death can be emotionally devastating. Providing your loved ones a plan to implement and a team beside them, can help remove unneeded stress.
You will receive a thorough review of what your current documents say (wills, trusts, healthcare directives, etc.) and a summary of things that may need updating. We will explain to you all the roles for people in your plan, things we have encountered in our experience, and make sure you fully understand what your estate plan is doing for you. We will provide you with tips and tools to help you navigate the digital world of assets.
We commonly see clients with detailed trusts that aren’t implemented properly. We work alongside your attorney to help you make sure it’s implemented, now and ongoing.
Divorce Planning
For anyone going through the stressful time of divorce, we can help. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), Kelly will analyze your tax situations, project cash flows and strategize asset settlements pre-divorce.
Caissa will also guide you post-divorce through everything from investment and cash flows management to updating and revoking old wills/beneficiaries.
Divorce can be a very stressful time as there are usually a lot of unknowns. We help illustrate all the “what-if” scenarios so you are better equipped to navigate your new path.
Executive Plans
We utilize our years of experience in dealing with CEOs of many large organizations to help you understand and manage your executive compensation plans. Often times people do not have the time to gain a full understanding of what their executive plans may mean to them. We will walk you through it and help you see its role in your overall financial picture.
A partial listing of plans we work with:
- Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
- Stock option plans
- Option grants
- Non-qualified plans
- Defined benefit plans
- Split dollar life insurance
- Supplemental executive retirement plan
Tax Strategies
We have prepared tax returns, so we understand how to make them work smarter for you.
Through our financial planning process, we review your cash flows and tax return to make sure your tax calculation is as efficient as possible. We will help you structure retirement benefits, Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA), rollovers, and 72(t) withdrawals; as well as strategically planning for deductible charitable contributions and itemized deductions (when applicable).
We realize we are not in the business of preparing your tax returns, so we work alongside your accountant to make sure we are implementing the best plan possible.
Social Security
We know that successful financial planning requires an understanding of you and your unique situation. That’s why we provide unparalleled attention to you, the client, as we develop smart strategies to help you understand your finances and plan ten steps ahead. Our goal is that the day you start working with our team is the day you stop worrying about your finances.
Investments can only be as strong as the financial plan that directs them. That’s why our clients receive a personalized plan that integrates their whole financial picture and is updated regularly. Using this plan as the driver, we create a detailed torpedo-proof investment strategy that meets your goals and long-term plans. Our expertise matched with our fierce loyalty to our clients’ prosperity is the reason clients stay with Caissa long term.
Health Care
Health care costs are rising rapidly. It has become such a large expense that we line item it out in our financial plans. Should you find yourself in a position to review benefits at a new employer or needing new alternatives, we will guide you.
Many of our retirees younger than age 65 find themselves in need of individual policies to bridge them until they are eligible for Medicare. We will work with you on this as well.
Education / College Planning
For our clients with children aspiring to attend college, you will receive a projection of how much your current college savings will afford, how much more is needed and how to save for this large expense without detriment to your retirement goals.
We also team up with a local expert who will guide you through the application process starting when your child is a high school junior. We have had stellar results from this process. It’s one additional perk to working with CAISSA.
CAISSA’s Unique Approach
Triple-Process Approach for Portfolio Resilience and Wealth Management
Our value at CAISSA Wealth Strategies is in our process, not a product. We believe in creating a customized financial strategy for our clients by using three key CAISSA processes, Torpedo Proofing our clients’ retirement plans, conducting personal on-site investment due diligence visits, and using a ‘tranches of income’ approach.
