What are your goals?
Retirement planning, investments, tax preparation and estate planning — under one roof in East Lansing, explained in plain English by the person who actually manages your money.
No question is too big or too small. Pick the one that feels closest and we’ll take it from there, together.
Run your numbers
Move the sliders to see roughly where you land. It's a rough sketch, not a plan — but it's a good place to start a conversation.
Roughly $0 a month in retirement income, before tax, if you drew 4% a year.
Hypothetical illustration only. Assumes a steady rate of return and steady contributions, and ignores tax, fees, inflation and market ups and downs. Real results will differ. This is not a projection, a recommendation or a guarantee of performance.
Why people pick an advisor from Lansing
There are plenty of firms that will manage your money from a tower in another state. Here's what's different about working with us.
- We're from hereA Michigan business with a Lansing owner. We understand farm income, state pensions, auto retirements and MSU tuition because they're our neighbors' situations too.
- No jargon, everIf we can't explain a recommendation in language you'd use at your kitchen table, it isn't a good enough recommendation.
- Credentials you can checkJeff holds the CFA charter. Our registration is public on FINRA BrokerCheck — we'd rather you look.
- One roofInvestments, tax preparation and estate coordination in the same conversation, instead of three people who never speak.
- Specialists on callAttorneys, accountants and insurance professionals join the conversation when your situation calls for it.
Planning for your future takes listening, patience and hard work. You own the outcome — we walk it with you.
We're a small shop in mid-Michigan, which means you talk to the person managing your money, not a call center. We say what we're doing and why, and if a strategy needs a lawyer, an accountant or an insurance specialist at the table, we bring them in rather than pretend we do everything.
What we do
Six things, done properly, for families and business owners across mid-Michigan.
Retirement planning
Years out, months out, or already in it — the same pieces need checking on a schedule.
- Portfolio management
- Cash flow analysis
- Social Security timing
- Withdrawal sequencing
Estate planning
Making sure what you built lands where you intended, without putting your family through probate court.
- Wills and trusts, with your attorney
- Beneficiary review
- Farm and business succession
- Charitable giving
Tax preparation
Returns prepared by people who also manage the investments, so the two actually talk to each other.
- Individual and joint returns
- Small business and farm returns
- Year-round planning, not just April
- Roth conversion analysis
Life milestones
The decisions that arrive with a deadline attached, usually while everything else is busy.
- Buying a home
- A growing family
- Career changes
- Education savings
Wealth management
Building and protecting what you've got, and directing it toward the people and causes you care about.
- Long-term portfolio strategy
- Risk and insurance review
- Coordination with your attorney and CPA
- Legacy giving
401(k) plans for businesses
Set up and run a retirement plan your employees will actually use, without it eating your week.
- 401(k), SIMPLE IRA and SEP IRA
- Plan design and provider selection
- Employee enrollment meetings
- Annual compliance support
Estate planning
Where your money goes when you're not the one deciding
Most people put this off because it feels morbid and expensive. It's usually neither. An afternoon of paperwork now spares your family months in probate court later.
What we handle
- Beneficiary review. The most common and most expensive mistake we find: an ex-spouse or a deceased parent still named on an old account. Beneficiary designations override your will.
- Working with your attorney. We don't draft documents — that's legal work. We sit in, make sure the financial side matches the legal side, and keep the two from drifting apart.
- Trust funding. A trust that never had assets moved into it does nothing. We make sure the accounts actually get retitled.
- Farm and business succession. Illiquid assets and multiple children are a hard combination. It takes planning, not a paragraph in a will.
- Charitable giving. Donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions from an IRA, and gifts of appreciated stock.
What's different in Michigan
- No state estate or inheritance tax. Your heirs owe Michigan nothing on what they inherit. The federal estate tax still applies above the federal exemption, which is worth checking if you own a farm or a business that looks illiquid on paper.
- The lady bird deed. Michigan is one of a small number of states that recognise an enhanced life estate deed, which can pass a home to your heirs outside probate while you keep full control of it during your lifetime.
- Patient advocate designation. Michigan's name for the health care power of attorney, and a separate document from the financial one. Plenty of people sign one and assume they have both.
- Probate is slow here. Michigan gives creditors months to come forward before an estate can close. That delay, more than tax, is why families work to keep assets out of probate in the first place.
We are not attorneys and do not provide legal advice. Estate documents are drafted by a licensed Michigan attorney; we coordinate the financial side of the plan. Rules change, so we confirm the current position with your attorney before anything is signed.
Estate readiness check
Six things most Michigan families need. Tick what you already have.
0 of 6 in placeStart ticking to see where you stand.
Tax preparation
Tax work that talks to your investments
When your preparer and your advisor are different people who never speak, opportunities fall in the gap. We do both, so decisions in November show up on the return in April.
Your tax year with us
- September to December — the planning windowThe only time of year most tax decisions can still be changed. Roth conversions, harvesting losses, bunching charitable gifts, taking required distributions, checking withholding.
- January and February — documents arriveW-2s, 1099s, K-1s and mortgage statements. We send you a checklist and a secure upload link so nothing goes by email.
- February and March — preparation and reviewWe prepare the return, then walk you through it before anything is filed. No surprises, no jargon.
- By April 15 — file or extendAn extension is a normal tool, not a failure. It extends the filing date, not the payment date, and we'll tell you what to pay.
- After filing — adjustIf the result wasn't what you wanted, we change withholding or estimates for next year while it's fresh.
Who we prepare returns for
- Individuals and married couples
- Retirees with multiple income sources
- Small business owners and sole proprietors
- Farm returns
- Rental property owners
- Estates and trusts, alongside the attorney
Things worth asking us about
- Whether a Roth conversion makes sense in a low-income year
- Giving appreciated stock instead of cash
- Qualified charitable distributions once you're taking RMDs
- Michigan's treatment of retirement income
- Whether your withholding is quietly wrong
What to bring us
Tick what you already have. Not everything applies to everyone — that's normal, and we'll tell you what's actually missing when we talk.
- Income
- Deductions and credits
- Everything else
0 of 17 tickedStart ticking to keep track of what you've gathered.
Tax preparation and planning services are separate from investment advisory services. Nothing here is tax advice for your particular situation.
For business owners
A retirement plan for your employees
If you employ people in mid-Michigan, a retirement plan is one of the few benefits that helps you keep them and lowers your own tax bill at the same time. The trick is picking the right one — and not creating a second job for yourself.
| 2026 | 401(k) | SIMPLE IRA | SEP IRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | Businesses that want the highest savings limits and flexible matching | Under 100 employees, low cost and low admin | Owner-only businesses, or very few employees |
| Employees can contribute | Yes, up to $24,500 | Yes, up to $17,000 | No — employer contributions only |
| Catch-up at 50 and over | An extra $8,000 | An extra $4,000 | Not applicable |
| Employer contribution | Optional match or profit sharing, on your terms | Required: 3% match or 2% for everyone | Up to 25% of compensation, and you choose each year |
| Total per person | Up to $72,000 | Employee deferral plus the required match | Up to $72,000 |
| Annual admin | Form 5500 and compliance testing — we coordinate it | Very little; no annual government filing | Minimal |
| Roth option | Commonly available | Available in many plans | Generally not |
2026 IRS limits. Compensation counted toward these formulas is capped at $360,000. Limits are adjusted annually — we confirm the current figures during plan design.
The startup tax credit
Small employers starting their first plan may be able to claim a federal credit covering plan startup costs — up to $5,000 a year for the first three years for businesses with 50 or fewer employees, plus an additional credit for adding automatic enrollment.
For a lot of small Lansing businesses, that means the first few years of running a plan cost close to nothing. Eligibility depends on your headcount and whether you've had a plan before, so it's worth a ten-minute conversation.
What we actually do for you
- Pick the plan type based on your payroll, your headcount and what you want out of it personally.
- Choose and negotiate the provider, and tell you plainly what the plan costs and who pays it.
- Build the investment lineup and review it on a schedule, documented.
- Run enrollment meetings in plain English, on site, including the ones for employees who have never invested before.
- Keep the compliance calendar so filings and notices don't land on your desk in a panic.
New clients
Five questions before we meet
So the first conversation starts somewhere useful instead of at the beginning. It takes about a minute, and there is no obligation at the end of it.
What happens after you reach out
No pressure and no cost to find out whether we're a fit.
A 20-minute call
You tell us what's on your mind. We tell you honestly whether we're the right people for it.
We look at the whole picture
Accounts, income, debts, goals, the things that worry you at 2am. Then we come back with what we'd actually do.
You decide, we keep watch
Nothing moves without your say-so. After that we review on a set schedule, and we call you when something changes.
Plain English
The terms that come up most often, without the sales pitch. Tap any of them.
What's a 401(k) rollover, and do I need one?
When you leave a job, the retirement account you built there stays put unless you move it. A rollover moves that money into an IRA or your new employer's plan without triggering tax, as long as it's done correctly.
You don't always need one. Sometimes the old plan has cheaper funds than anything you'd move to. The point is to look, rather than to leave three accounts scattered and forgotten.
Traditional or Roth — what's the difference?
Traditional means you skip the tax now and pay it when you withdraw. Roth means you pay the tax now and withdraw tax-free later.
Which wins depends on whether your tax rate is higher today or in retirement. For most people the honest answer is "some of each," which is why we usually look at the whole picture before recommending one.
Do I need a trust, or is a will enough?
A will directs what happens to assets that go through probate. A trust can keep assets out of probate entirely, which saves time, cost and publicity for your family — and it's often worth it if you own real estate, a business or a farm, or if you have young children.
Plenty of people are fine with a will plus correct beneficiary designations. An attorney makes that call; our job is to make sure the accounts line up with whatever gets drafted.
What does "fiduciary" actually mean?
It means the advisor is required to put your interests ahead of their own when making a recommendation, rather than simply recommending something that's merely suitable for you.
It's worth asking any advisor directly, in writing, whether they act as a fiduciary for your whole relationship or only part of it.
How do advisors get paid?
Three common ways: a percentage of the money they manage, a flat or hourly fee for planning work, or commission on products they sell. Some firms mix them.
None of these is automatically bad, but they create different incentives. You should be able to get a plain answer about how your advisor is paid before you sign anything.
Should my small business offer a retirement plan?
If you have employees you want to keep, usually yes — it's one of the few benefits that costs less than a raise and is valued more. If you're the only employee, a plan can be a large personal tax deduction.
The question is which type. A SIMPLE IRA is cheap and nearly admin-free; a 401(k) allows far higher contributions and flexible matching but comes with filing and testing. We'll show you both against your actual payroll.
Start a conversation
Talking about money can be uneasy. Tell us as much or as little as you like — a first message is not a commitment.
Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.Thomas Edison
- Office1760 Abbey Rd, Suite 200
East Lansing, MI 48823 - Phone(517) 275-1000
- Emailjh@acefinancialadvisors.com
- HoursMonday to Friday, 9:30am – 4:00pm ET
- Where we workAcross greater Lansing and mid-Michigan — East Lansing, Okemos, Haslett, DeWitt, Grand Ledge, Mason, Holt, Williamston, St. Johns and Charlotte. In the office, at your kitchen table, or by video.