Our Philosophy

Life is always changing and growing more complex. Your needs and priorities specific to your family, work, health and home are continuously evolving. And since your finances are so deeply connected with the rest of your life, strategies that are specific to your unique situations can be helpful. Even if you’re accustomed to managing your wealth on your own, you may find value in having a relationship with someone who understands your priorities and who has the knowledge and resources to help you make more informed decisions, no matter where in your life you are.

Approach

Our approach to investing is grounded in an understanding of you. It all begins with a conversation. We take the time to get to know you — your children's names, how hard you worked to get where you are and how you define success. We'll work together with you to help understand your personal investment style, prioritize your goals and build an individualized plan that reflects your needs. As an investor you can benefit from the investment insights of Merrill, along with access to trust and fiduciary services from Bank of America Private Bank and credit and lending solutions from Bank of America. There’s only one financial approach that really matters — yours.

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 Individuals, Families and Small Businesses

We believe that financial success can be achieved when you’re able to make investment-related decisions and trade-offs that can help you reach personally meaningful goals. Whether you’re planning your retirement, saving to buy a home or funding a child’s education, the process begins by getting to know you and how you feel about 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 others and giving to charities
• Work: Working in retirement, selling or starting a business
• Finance: Bringing it all together and defining your financial goals

Success will be measured by the amount of progress you are making toward reaching your goals, making thoughtfully considered adjustments as events and conditions warrant.

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.