When I realized I needed some life insurance, COVID-19 was already a significant issue and I was very concerned with avoiding exposure. Steve worked with us to help us use my own physician for the physical and then negotiated heavily with the life insurance companies to get us a very favorable price.

Since our parents had needed long-term care we were very aware of the costs that can be incurred, especially when the illness drags on. Steve was the first one we met who could explain how these policies work so we could understand them. He helped us obtain a policy that really allows us peace of mind if something should happen to either one of us.

Steve and his associate provided our CPA firm with a very informative CPE seminar about the long term care market. I had not fully understood the options that our clients might consider when planning for that contingency and appreciated the chance to hear objectively what is happening with the products that are available. Steve is a great resource for us and always is willing to help answer our questions.

We were frustrated with the multitude of proposals for some life insurance on our shareholders to fund our buy-out agreement. We hired Steve to help us sort it through and his recommendation saved us a lot of money by buying the kind of insurance that aligned with our situation far better than what the agents had recommended. We selected a different agent and followed Steve's advice. In fact, we then hired him to help consult on a few business management issues and his deep experience as a business leader helped us position the company for a very successful sale.

We needed to place a significant amount of life insurance for estate liquidity requiring multiple policies on each person insured. We asked Steve to provide objective counsel as we dealt with the insurance agents who would handle the placement of the policies and he helped us understand the breadth of risks inherent in the products recommended. Due to his advice, we have a much better overall risk profile to the policies we purchased and a broader understanding of the varying risks particular to each.

We wanted to leave a gift to one of our favorite charities and Steve designed a remarkable way to gift an existing policy on my wife that we no longer needed while coupling it with additional coverage on me to help endow our annual giving to the charity - and it was incredibly cost-effective.

When my other advisors began encouraging me to consider various estate planning approaches to help minimize the potential tax burden, I thought of Steve as an independent advisor to help me think through the options. He has been remarkably helpful in overseeing my life insurance assets and I have come to trust his objective judgment. Frankly, it is nice to have someone totally sitting on your side of the table, not trying to sell something though he can help with product placement if needed. He is helping us slow down and carefully define our objectives, which I can tell will really help us move toward the right solution.

We had a deferred compensation plan for our employees that none of the key executives who are covered seemed to totally appreciate. Steve helped us review the entire plan, clean up a few rough spots with our accountants, and then talked with the employees to help them fully recognize the benefit that will be theirs – if they stay with the company and continue to perform well. Our agent is a good friend but Steve was able to help describe the benefits in terms our team could understand.

When I told Steve my financial situation and he told me I did not really need any more life insurance l knew I could trust him. I then told him additional information about my finances and we agreed that an additional $1,000,000 of life insurance was appropriate. He told me to buy term because my other assets and investments would continue to grow over time and take care of the cash gap and the need would no longer be there, saving significant premium from what another agent had recommended.

When Steve designed my disability policy I did not really believe I would ever need it. But several years later my health changed dramatically and the policy became essential. His advice and the policy he provided have taken the financial stress out of my health issues. He also found a Long Term Care policy that was more comprehensive, yet less costly, than ones being suggested by another advisor.