Michael Garber Financial Planning

The firm operates within the RIA regulatory framework, providing fiduciary investment advice alongside comprehensive financial planning. This structure subjects the practice to SEC or state-level oversight, depending on assets under management, and imposes a legal duty to act in clients' best interests. The RIA designation also enables the firm to manage assets on a discretionary basis and charge advisory fees rather than commissions.

Portfolios are built using individual securities, exchange-traded funds, and mutual funds for public-market exposure, with access to private funds for qualified purchasers when suitable. The firm emphasizes tax-aware asset location — placing tax-inefficient assets in retirement accounts and tax-efficient assets in taxable accounts — and uses direct indexing where appropriate. Alternative investments, if employed, are typically accessed through institutional-quality private equity, private credit, or real asset funds rather than retail-structured products.

Estate planning is integrated into the broader financial planning process rather than outsourced. The firm coordinates with external estate attorneys and tax professionals to implement trust structures, gifting strategies, and charitable vehicles aligned with each family's wealth transfer goals. Donor-advised funds and private foundation coordination are standard components of the planning toolkit.

Manager selection for private funds relies on qualitative due diligence — assessing track records, team stability, alignment of interests, and strategy coherence — rather than quantitative screening alone. The firm likely concentrates on a small number of established general partners rather than spreading commitments widely. Co-investment opportunities, if pursued, would be evaluated on a deal-by-deal basis alongside existing manager relationships.

The distinction lies in scope and client concentration. A conventional planning firm may serve hundreds of clients and focus primarily on retirement projections and insurance placement. Michael Garber Financial Planning operates at family-office depth, coordinating investment management, tax planning, estate strategy, and philanthropic structuring for a small number of families. This concentrated model allows for principal-level attention and multi-generational continuity that mass-market practices cannot sustain.