Wealth planning for
Lake Forest families.

Yes. Lake Forest 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 Lake Forest clients in the Evanston office, at their home, or by video call.

Lake Forest is home to the headquarters of AbbVie, Brunswick Corporation, and Trustmark Insurance, major employers whose senior executives and professionals frequently arrive at retirement with complex compensation packages including stock options, deferred compensation, and supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs) that require careful sequencing. We have worked with Lake Forest clients on every component of this transition, from the final year of pre-retirement income optimization to the multi-year income plan that follows. 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 Lake Forest cost of living.

Lake Forest families often have complex financial situations involving business ownership, stock options, multiple properties, and multi-generational wealth transfer. Our estate planning and tax strategy expertise is especially relevant here. Lake Forest's median home value of $850,000 and median household income of $200,000 mean planning here's shaped by local cost-of-living realities, not a national average. Roughly 29% of Lake Forest 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 Lake Forest 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.

AbbVie and other Lake Forest corporate executives who retire with concentrated stock positions and significant deferred compensation face some of the most complex tax situations we encounter. Multi-year income averaging for deferred compensation payouts, net unrealized appreciation (NUA) strategy for company stock in 401(k) plans, and the timing of Roth conversions around these lumpy income events require coordinated planning across multiple tax years, which is where our long-term relationship with Lake Forest clients pays off.