Private Wealth Management
We deliver comprehensive personal financial planning by seamlessly integrating wealth management, investment advisory, retirement planning, tax strategies, estate planning, and business succession all into one coordinated approach, tailored to your unique life and goals.
Our investment management is the professional handling of financial assets, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and commodities, to help clients achieve their financial goals. We provide specialized investment management services for clients who prefer to focus on investing while we manage execution, oversight, and ongoing portfolio optimization. Investment management can be offered as a standalone service, or as an integral part of a comprehensive private wealth management experience.
How Private Wealth Management Works
We begin with a thorough discovery process, diving deep into your current financial situation, long-term goals, potential risks, and what matters most to you. Because every client is unique, we invest the necessary time to fully understand your circumstances before designing any strategy.
True wealth management goes far beyond asset growth. It’s about protecting what you’ve built, preserving it efficiently, and transferring it successfully to the next generation.
We integrate every aspect of your financial life, investments, insurance, tax strategies, retirement planning, and estate coordination, into one cohesive, comprehensive blueprint. Every recommendation works in harmony, ensuring your wealth is protected, preserved, and positioned for efficient transfer.
The Six-Phase Process
Our Six-Phase Process ensures every dimension of your financial life is thoroughly understood, seamlessly coordinated, and continuously optimized, never just planned once and set aside.
Discover → Design → Protect → Implement → Monitor → Refine
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Discover — We conduct a deep, comprehensive discovery of your assets, liabilities, goals, family dynamics, and core values.
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Design — We build a fully integrated, customized financial plan that aligns across all areas of your financial life.
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Protect — We identify and address key risk exposures in your investments, insurance, estate, and tax strategies.
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Implement — We execute the plan with precision, coordination, and full accountability.
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Monitor — We provide ongoing oversight through regular reporting and direct access to your advisory team.
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Refine — We continuously adapt your plan as your life, goals, and market conditions evolve
The Duncan Difference
By combining deep strategic expertise with truly personalized service, we deliver a level of care and coordination that sets us apart.
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Direct access to your dedicated advisory team
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Seamless coordination with your attorneys, CPAs, and insurance professionals
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Hands-on assistance during major life events
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Family meeting facilitation to align everyone on the plan
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Customized reporting and priority service
We simplify financialcomplexities, so that you can focus on living your life with confidence and peace of mind.
Investment Management
We serve as independent, fiduciary advisors dedicated to crafting personalized wealth management solutions tailored precisely to your individual goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. With no proprietary product quotas or conflicts of interest, our focus remains solely on what best serves you. We help you accumulate, preserve, and transfer wealth across generations.
Our Investment Policy Committee is composed of 22 seasoned members with an average of 18 years of hands-on experience.It convenes weekly to rigorously analyze market conditions, monitor existing holdings, and implement forward-looking strategies. This disciplined process ensures your portfolio remains optimized for long-term success in a dynamic.
Our Core Investment and Wealth Management Services Include:
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Customized Portfolio Construction: We design risk-aligned allocations using a broad range of vehicles, including individual stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, and REITs. Every portfolio reflects your personal objectives while incorporating tax-aware strategies to enhance after-tax returns.
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Investment Policy Statement (IPS) Development: We create a clear, written IPS that serves as the foundational roadmap for your financial journey, documenting your goals, constraints, and guidelines for ongoing decision-making.
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Ongoing Monitoring, Rebalancing, and Oversight: Your dedicated advisory team provides continuous portfolio surveillance, proactive rebalancing, and timely adjustments to keep your strategy on track amid changing markets or life events.
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Integrated Financial Planning: Beyond investments, we coordinate wealth management with insurance needs, tax optimization, retirement income planning, and estate strategies, ensuring all elements work together holistically.
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Independent, Fee-Based Advice: As fiduciaries, we operate without pressure to recommend specific products. Our compensation aligns with your success, delivering transparent guidance focused exclusively on your long-term financial outcomes.
Whether you're planning for retirement, managing a growing portfolio, protecting your family through insurance solutions, or navigating complex tax and estate matters, we deliver the expertise of a large firm with the personalized attention of a boutique advisor.
Insurance
Protection is the foundation of every sound financial strategy, not an afterthought. We work to ensure your family and your wealth are properly protected today and for generations to come.
We provide comprehensive insurance analysis and planning tailored to high-net-worth individuals and successful families. Our services include:
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Life Insurance Analysis & Optimization – We analyze your current life insurance portfolio for adequacy, cost-efficiency, and alignment with your family’s needs, estate plans, and wealth transfer goals. Whether through term, whole life, universal life, or specialized estate planning vehicles, we build solutions that are designed to minimize taxes.
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Disability Income Protection – A serious illness or injury can derail even the strongest financial plan. We evaluate your existing disability coverage (group and individual) and design robust income replacement strategies that protect your lifestyle and earning potential well into the future.
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Long-Term Care Planning – With rising healthcare costs and longer lifespans, we help you prepare for potential extended care needs. We explore traditional long-term care insurance, hybrid life/LTC policies, and alternative funding strategies to preserve your assets and dignity.
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Umbrella Liability Coverage Review – High-net-worth individuals and successful families face increased liability exposure. We review your underlying policies and recommend comprehensive umbrella coverage to protect your personal and financial assets from costly lawsuits and unforeseen claims.
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Health Insurance - Duncan offers individual and group health insurance, including Medicare Advantage, Medigap, Part D plans, and employee benefits like traditional or self-funded health coverage, dental, and vision.
Protection is the cornerstone upon which all other financial strategies are built. At Duncan Financial Group, we ensure your family and your wealth are properly protected today and for generations to come.
Taxes
Taxes can significantly erode long-term wealth. At Duncan Financial Group, we focus on minimizing unnecessary tax exposure through proactive, coordinated tax planning.
We work closely with your CPA to ensure your financial strategies remain aligned with current tax laws and regulatory changes. Our tax-efficient approach includes
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Tax-Efficient Investment Strategies - Structuring your portfolio to reduce taxable events and improve after-tax returns.
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Retirement Income Tax Optimization - Designing retirement withdrawal strategies that minimize your lifetime tax burden.
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Roth Conversion Analysis - Evaluating opportunities to convert traditional retirement accounts to Roth IRAs for tax-free growth and distributions.
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Capital Gains Management - Strategic planning to defer, reduce, or manage capital gains taxes effectively.
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Charitable Giving Strategies - Leveraging tax-advantaged methods to support causes you care about while reducing your taxable income.
By integrating tax planning with your overall financial strategy, we help preserve more of your wealth for you and your family.
Estate Planning
Estate planning is not just for the wealthy.
It’s how every family ensures their wishes are carried out, their loved ones are protected, and their assets are transferred efficiently and according to their intentions.
We work alongside your attorney to coordinate a comprehensive estate strategy that is designed to minimize taxes, reduce disruption, and helps build a lasting legacy.
Our Estate Planning Services Include:
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Asset titling and beneficiary designation review
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Key legal documents: Will, Revocable Living Trust, Durable Power of Attorney, and Healthcare Surrogate
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Tax-efficient wealth transfer strategies
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Trust funding and ongoing review
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Generational wealth education and legacy planning
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Charitable legacy strategies
Wealth should transfer according to your wishes in a way that is efficient, private, and with minimal disruption.
Additional Coordination Services:
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Estate planning coordination with attorneys
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Trust funding and beneficiary reviews
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Generational wealth education
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Charitable legacy strategies
Retirement Income Planning
Building a reliable retirement income strategy goes far beyond saving. It requires a comprehensive, coordinated plan to withdraw, protect, and sustain your assets over decades of retirement.
Our advisors work with clients to optimize every aspect of retirement income, including withdrawal sequencing, Social Security timing, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), Roth conversion strategies, and tax-efficient income layering. The goal is to: minimize taxes, reduce sequence-of-returns risk, and maximize the longevity of your portfolio.
Key Elements of Our Retirement Income Planning
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Safe Withdrawal Rate Guidance — Incorporating Morningstar’s latest 2025-26 research, which supports a base-case safe starting withdrawal rate of approximately 3.9% for a 30-year retirement with a balanced portfolio and 90% success probability.
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Social Security Optimization — Strategic claiming decisions to maximize lifetime benefits, coordinate with other income sources, and enhance overall portfolio sustainability.
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RMD and Roth Conversion Analysis — Proactive planning to manage Required Minimum Distributions, reduce future tax burdens, and determine optimal timing for Roth conversions.
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Monte Carlo Stress Testing — Rigorous scenario analysis to evaluate how your income plan performs under various market, inflation, and longevity conditions.
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Income Layering Strategies — A diversified “bucket” approach that combines guaranteed income sources, growth-oriented investments, and liquid reserves to support your lifestyle with confidence.
Comprehensive Services Include
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Sustainable withdrawal strategies tailored to your risk tolerance and time horizon
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Social Security optimization and coordination
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Pension analysis and integration
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Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) planning
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Multi-asset income layering to balance stability, growth, and flexibility
We design personalized retirement income plans that adapt as your needs and market conditions evolve, in order to help you enjoy retirement with greater peace of mind and financial security.
Education Funding
College costs continue to rise steadily. With the right strategy and savings vehicles, your family can dramatically reduce the actual amount you pay, without compromising your retirement security.
College Cost Benchmarks
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In-State Public Colleges: Approximately $27,000 – $38,000 per year (tuition, fees, room & board)
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Private Colleges: Approximately $61,000 – $65,000 per year (tuition, fees, room & board)
These are published “sticker prices.” Most families pay significantly less after scholarships, grants, and strategic financial aid planning.
Comprehensive College Savings Solutions
We guide families across the country through the evaluation, setup, and ongoing management of the most effective education funding vehicles, including:
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529 College Savings Plans Expert setup, investment selection, contribution strategies, and “superfunding” options to maximize growth and tax advantages.
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Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) Flexible accounts ideal for families seeking broad investment choices and coverage for K-12 expenses.
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UGMA/UTMA Custodial Accounts When greater flexibility is needed beyond traditional education expenses.
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Roth IRA Strategies for Education Funding Innovative dual-purpose approach that prioritizes retirement security while keeping funds available for college with favorable financial aid treatment.
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Financial Aid Impact Analysis Detailed modeling to understand how different savings strategies affect your eligibility for grants, scholarships, and need-based aid.
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Holistic Coordination with Your Overall Financial & Tax Plan We ensure your college savings strategy integrates seamlessly with retirement planning, tax minimization, and long-term wealth building
Business Perpetuation Planning
Successful business owners and families understand that a well-crafted succession plan is essential for preserving wealth, ensuring business continuity, and protecting what you've built for the next generation.
We help you develop comprehensive succession strategies that address both personal and business transitions. We work collaboratively with your attorney, CPA, and other advisors to create a seamless plan tailored to your unique goals.
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Business Succession Planning — Designing structured transition plans for family businesses or closely held companies, including buy-sell agreements, leadership transitions, and strategies designed to maximize business value while minimizing taxes and disruption.
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Wealth Transfer & Legacy Planning — Coordinating the efficient transfer of assets to heirs or beneficiaries while reducing estate taxes and preserving family harmony.
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Estate Integration — Aligning succession strategies with your overall estate plan, including the use of trusts, gifting strategies, and liquidity planning to ensure smooth asset distribution.
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Key Person & Contingency Planning — Protecting your business and family from the unexpected through proper insurance and contingency measures for owners and key executives.
By integrating succession planning with your broader financial, tax, and estate strategies, we help ensure a confident and orderly transition that safeguards your legacy and provides peace of mind for you and your family.
