Wealth planning for
Evanston families.

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

Evanston is home to Northwestern University and NorthShore University HealthSystem, two major employers whose faculty, administrators, and clinicians frequently approach us with pension decisions, 403(b) rollovers, and the question of when to retire relative to their benefit vesting schedules. Our office has been at 909 Davis Street since 1977, which means we have helped multiple generations of Evanston families through this transition and know its specific financial landscape better than any out-of-town firm. 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 Evanston cost of living.

Evanston residents benefit from proximity to world-class healthcare at NorthShore University HealthSystem, a strong public transit system (Metra and CTA), and a cultural scene that makes retirement anything but boring. Evanston's median home value of $380,000 and median household income of $82,000 mean planning here's shaped by local cost-of-living realities, not a national average. Roughly 28% of Evanston residents are over 55, and many have spent decades building equity that now needs to be coordinated with retirement income, healthcare, and estate decisions.

Cook County's property tax rates, averaging 1.8-2.3% of assessed value, among the highest in the nation, are the single largest variable in most North Shore retirement budgets. A home assessed at $900,000 in Northbrook, Glenview, or Wilmette can carry an annual tax obligation of $16,000-$22,000 that persists through retirement unless the home is sold or downsized. Illinois partially offsets this with one of the most retirement-friendly income tax structures in the country: Social Security, IRA distributions, and pension income are entirely exempt from state income tax, leaving the property tax burden as the primary financial challenge to plan around. For Evanston 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.

Illinois's exemption of retirement income from state tax is especially valuable in Evanston, where the overall cost of living is high and every dollar of after-tax income matters. We focus Evanston tax planning on Roth conversion timing in the lower-income window before Social Security claiming, managing the allocation between taxable and tax-advantaged accounts, and using qualified charitable distributions from IRAs to satisfy philanthropic goals, a common priority among Evanston retirees, without increasing taxable income.