Women’s superpower: Investing

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Insights, observations, and ideas to help you in your pursuit of your financial goals.

Important Video Disclosures

How we help clients during times of market volatility.

How we help clients during times of market volatility.

How we help clients build a plan that plots a steady course to retirement.

How we help clients prepare for the joys and challenges of retirement.

Profile

Focusing on serving the best interest of your clients teaches you a lot about what it means to help a family grow and preserve their wealth; about the importance of understanding where you are today and the priorities in life that define where you want to be in the future. Ranging from retirement to leisure to funding your children’s college education, the focus in working with you is to ensure that your personal wealth plan is continually aligned to the goals that matter most to you and your family.

As a client you are provided with the full range of services and benefits associated with the investment insights of Merrill and 24/7 access to the banking convenience of Bank of America. From your mortgage to your investments, life insurance, and day-to-day banking/credit needs, being a client of Merrill provides you with the comfort and confidence of knowing that you and your family are taken care of.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management with a double major in Economics from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to a FINRA Series 7 and 66 registration, I also hold a Life, Accident, and Long Term Care insurance license NPN #2054917, mortgage loan license NMLS #1817203, and also the Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA) designation. I focus on helping business owners establish and maintain the appropriate fiduciary standards associated with their 401(k) plans and other workplace retirement plans.

I currently live at Lake Wylie in Charlotte with my husband, Steve, and our four children. I have four children who attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For leisure I enjoy playing golf and attending events as a member of the Uptown Charlotte Rotary and NAWBO.

  • EDUCATION

    Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business, Pittsburgh, PA

Professional Staff

Supported by the global resources of Merrill, my team is comprised of talented and experienced individuals committed to building strong client relationships based on trust and personalized service.

Additional Resources

The following specialists do not make securities recommendations. Please contact your Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Advisor if you have questions about how a specialist might be able to assist you.

Yolanda Tolton

Wealth Management Banking Specialist

Merrill

Chris J. Reilly

Employee Benefits Specialist

Bank of America, N.A.

Scott Griffin

Wealth Management Lending Officer

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #112175

Where do we begin? It starts with you.

At Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, your financial advisor focuses on the things you care about most- family, goals and priorities - even as they change over the years.

Understanding Your Life

Welcome

As your Merrill advisor, I offer advice and guidance based on your goals and priorities -- for yourself and your family. Our approach to financial planning places you -- not the market -- at the center of our focus. I can help you understand the pros and cons of every potential decision, and help you maintain discipline so you can pursue your most important goals. As your needs or market conditions change, I will continue to collaborate with you and help you organize your financial life so that we can agree upon adjustments to your plan, as needed.

Philosophy

I believe the best financial approach is the one that helps you pursue your goals. That's why, from the start, we talk about your aspirations and encourage you to ask questions about issues that matter most to you. Calculating how to manage future health care expenses? College on the horizon? Considering the sale of a business or purchase of a home? Preparing to pass your wealth to future generations? It all starts with a plan intended to help you manage, grow, and preserve your wealth today, while also considering the impact it can have for years to come. With access to the investment insights of Merrill and banking solutions from Bank of America, I will work with you to develop an approach designed to help address your financial needs.

Approach

Every relationship begins with a conversation, helping you identify and prioritize which goals matter most to you. Whether it's transferring wealth to the next generation, customizing your financial approach to help you pursue your passions, or providing advice and guidance to help you stay informed, I start by listening to learn more about you and your family.

Your approach to investing

Drawing upon research in the field of behavioral finance, Merrill developed the Investment Personality Assessment to help us get to know you better as an investor and potentially help you refine your own investing preferences. By gaining a deeper understanding of how you think and feel about investing through this assessment, we can customize the financial approach we develop together to help you pursue what matters most to you. Our Investment Personality Assessment is one of the ways to help us get to know you - to understand your goals and priorities. These questions will help us provide you with additional insights and resources.

Understanding your goals and priorities

Your life and goals change. We have tools to help you keep track of these changes so they can be reflected in your financial approach.

Social Impact Investing

I can offer wealth management strategies that come from years of combined wealth management knowledge and experience working with clients. The team’s role in supporting you goes beyond wealth management services. Leveraging the global resources of Merrill makes it possible to help you in areas such as retirement income planning, guidance on concentrated stock positions, traditional investment and potential sustainable and impact investing solutions.

All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.

Sustainable and Impact Investing and/or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) managers may take into consideration factors beyond traditional financial information to select securities, which could result in relative investment performance deviating from other strategies or broad market benchmarks, depending on whether such sectors or investments are in or out of favor in the market. Further, ESG strategies may rely on certain values based criteria to eliminate exposures found in similar strategies or broad market benchmarks, which could also result in relative investment performance deviating.

Focus On High-Net-Worth Individuals and Business Owners

I offer clients a breadth of potential solutions, premier customer service and financial tools based on their unique circumstances. No matter what your goals may be, the process begins by defining and prioritizing your financial goals based on the following:

  • Health: Managing healthcare expenses, now and in the future
  • Home: Upsizing, downsizing, remodeling or buying a vacation home
  • Family: Taking care of your family and other people in your life
  • Leisure: Spending your free time in meaningful ways
  • Giving: Volunteering, mentoring and giving to charities
  • Work: Working in retirement, selling or starting a business
  • Finance: Bringing it all together; defining your financial goals
The team’s industry knowledge and experience helps them provide you with:
  • Potential risk management strategies
  • Trust and estate planning services
  • Tax-minimization strategies
  • Access to Bank of America for your credit and banking needs
This material should be regarded as general or educational information on healthcare or Social Security considerations and is not intended to provide specific healthcare or social security advice. If you have questions regarding your particular situation, please contact your legal or tax advisor.

Staying on Track

We understand that both your life and the financial markets can change over time. By checking in to discuss changes in your life and revisiting your financial approach, our goal is to help you stay on track to achieve what's most important to you.



Reviews to help you
stay on track

We’ll meet with you to review your goals and the progress you’ve made toward reaching them. We’ll also discuss any adjustments needed to your financial approach to help you stay on course.



    Changes in your life
    and to your goals

    Your life and goals change. As these changes occur, we can update your approach to reflect them.

    #DigitalMerrill

    MyMerrill is your online destination for access to your financial information, secure communications, and a robust offering of tools and capabilities.

    Your advisor is a click away within our site or mobile apps

    You can manage account security with our customizable security capabilities such as touch ID, one time passcode, and other security features

    Access to your complete financial life is available with My Financial Picture, Merrill’s asset aggregation tool

      Let’s Have a Conversation

      Helping you reach your goals starts with getting to know you personally. Through understanding what matters most to you, together I can help you create a financial approach that reflects your personality. Only then can I offer an approach that is built around your life priorities and the advice you need to help you address fluctuations in the market and changes in your life. Let’s work together to help you achieve your goals.

      Why Merrill?

      As Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Advisors, we will sort through the financial complexities of your life, helping you build a customized investment approach to address your needs and pursue your goals.


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      We put you first, every day.
      Learn more about the dedicated one-on-one relationship you can have with a Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Advisor.

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      Transcript of Video 

      No question too big or moment too small
      For every question you have, every decision you make and every answer you need, we are with you to listen and help guide you along the many paths your life can take. Watch this video to see some questions we can address together.


      The Power of the Right Advisor®
      Working with a dedicated Merrill advisor means you get personalized investment strategies from Merrill plus access to comprehensive financial solutions only Bank of America can deliver.

      Personalized advice from a dedicated financial advisor.

      We get to know you and your family, your financial situation and what matters most to you.

      A comprehensive approach, built around your life’s priorities.

      Drawing from our experience and the best thinking of Merrill, together we will design an approach that reflects your unique needs, priorities and financial situation.

      Adjusting your investment approach as your life and the markets change.

      We will work to help you stay on track, regardless of what the markets are doing.