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Megan A. McNealy

Profile

Megan A. McNealy is a Wealth Management Advisor and CFP® certificant, a designation awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc*. With more than 26 years experience in the financial services industry, the last 24 of which have been at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Megan focuses on working with Senior Corporate Executives who have increasingly complex financial lives, but very limited time. She helps simplify, organize and facilitate the management of their growing wealth.

Combining her abilities as both a CFP® Professional and an Investment Professional, she frequently advises on ways to preserve wealth and to increase financial freedom. She designs and implements plans to manage cash flow, maximize company benefits, strategize stock options, hedge or sell concentrated positions and is especially known throughout the Bay Area for creating effective 10b5-1 trading plans.

Megan has been widely recognized for her professionalism in her industry. A frequent speaker on Benefits Planning for Executives and 10b5-1 Trading Plans, she has presented for numerous tech and biotech companies in the Bay Area, for CPAs and Attorneys, for the Financial Planning Association, the Northern CA Planned Giving Council, the San Francisco Bar Association, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and many other groups.

Within Merrill, Megan is a well-known best-practices Advisor-Trainer both locally and nationally. Over her career, she has presented to over 2,200 colleagues, and several educational videos with firm-wide distribution have been made featuring her success and innovative approaches. She also donates her time to mentor Advisors new to the business, and enjoys witnessing their success.

Before joining Merrill, Megan was a third-generation Member of the Chicago Board of Trade, and worked in both the commodity futures and U.S. bond futures markets. Megan graduated cum laude from Cornell University and earned her Masters degree from Northwestern University. She lives with her two daughters on the East Bay.

|*Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® in the U.S., which is awarded to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements

Community involvement is an integral part of how we interact with clients and communities. I am enthusiastically involved with volunteering and fundraising for Best Buddies International, which provides intellectually disabled students and adults with friends as well as job opportunities. Also, I support Virgin Unite's 100% Human at Work, which fosters total well-being within the workforce, a topic close to my heart. Lastly, as a professional author, I support the amazing work of PEN America.

  • EDUCATION

    Cornell University

    Northwestern University

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.

Mark H Kamian

Senior Wealth Management Lending Officer

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #483731

Samantha C Sylvester

Wealth Strategies Advisor

Bank of America, N.A.

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

My mission is to understand you and what matters most to you. To take the time to ask smart questions and listen carefully, then to understand, in great detail, exactly where you stand today, and where you’d like to be tomorrow. I will work with you to design and braing to life a comprehensive financial strategy that can help you and your family pursue personal financial goals while helping manage investment risk.

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.

Capabilities

Merrill’s process is designed to help deliver a customized, comprehensive experience to assist you not only in wealth accumulation and preservation, but in areas that go beyond investments. Providing you with access to the investment insights of Merrill, trust and fiduciary services from Bank of America Private Bank, and the banking and lending solutions of Bank of America offers a way to help you manage all of the pieces of your financial life. Working one-on-one with a Merrill advisor means you have a single point of contact to help you with potential strategies for transferring wealth to the younger generation.

Focus On Corporate Executives

For corporate executives, I offer guidance for diversification* of concentrated stock positions. Business owners receive the assistance needed to build company benefit plans and access to Bank of America for help in addressing cash flow, lending needs and other bank-related needs. Those corporate executives nearing retirement are provided with insight from which to consider inflation, health care costs and other factors to help you pursue your desired lifestyle. The team is available to talk with you and explore potential strategies available to you.

*Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

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.