Wealth planning for
Bannockburn families.

Yes. Bannockburn is one of roughly thirty Lake County and Lake County communities we serve from its Evanston office at 909 Davis Street. The firm has been planning retirements for Lake County families since 1977, and meets Bannockburn clients in the Evanston office, at their home, or by video call.

Bannockburn's small, exclusive community of business owners and executives frequently arrives at retirement with wealth concentrated in a privately held business, concentrated stock positions from a corporate career, or a combination of both. The transition from illiquid business equity to a managed investment portfolio is one of the most consequential financial shifts these clients make, and the planning that surrounds it, pre-sale tax positioning, proceeds management, and income plan construction, is where we add the most value. we coordinate Social Security claiming, retirement account withdrawals, annuity and life insurance placements, long-term care funding, and estate decisions into one written plan tailored to the Bannockburn cost of living.

Bannockburn clients often arrive with wealth concentrated in a business or concentrated stock position, and are planning exits and transitions. Our work here typically involves pre-sale tax planning for business owners, concentrated equity strategies, and estate plans designed around properties and legacy assets that will span multiple generations. Bannockburn's median home value of $1,000,000 and median household income of $230,000 mean planning here's shaped by local cost-of-living realities, not a national average. Roughly 29% of Bannockburn residents are over 55, and many have spent decades building equity that now needs to be coordinated with retirement income, healthcare, and estate decisions.

Lake County's retirement landscape is shaped by its dual identity as home to some of Illinois's wealthiest communities and a concentration of major corporate employers. AbbVie, Baxter International, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Abbott Laboratories are all headquartered or substantially based here. Executives and professionals retiring from these firms often hold pensions, deferred compensation, and equity awards that require specialized coordination alongside Social Security and personal savings. Lake County property tax rates, while generally lower than Cook County for comparable properties, still represent a significant fixed cost, and Illinois's full exemption of retirement income means the property tax, not the income tax, is the primary budget variable to plan around. For Bannockburn retirees specifically, this means treating property taxes as a non-negotiable fixed expense and building a guaranteed income floor, typically from Social Security and, where appropriate, an annuity, that covers them regardless of market conditions.

Tax strategy for Bannockburn clients is among the most complex work we do, managing the interaction of large capital gains from business or stock sales, deferred compensation plan payouts, Roth conversion opportunities, and the estate tax minimization strategies that require multi-year coordination. Lake County's property tax advantage over Cook County is a real but modest component of the overall tax picture.