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Gelb Retirement & Advisory Team

Learn more about an advisor's background on
FINRA's BrokerCheck

Whatever your personal goals may be, we will work with you to design a custom financial strategy, so you can pursue what’s most important to you.

 

Our Videos

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

Important Video Disclosures

Wealth Management Experience

401(k) Experience

Corporate Wellness Experience

The Roadmap

We start with what’s important to you

We take the time to listen and learn about the needs and goals of your institution and the people it serves – it’s these real-world insights that guide our strategies and personalized service.

About Us

GRAT Team's Mission


Our mission is to be a GPS for individuals, families and corporations and guide them to their financial destination. With our diverse age base and focus on retirement & individual planning, we feel that our team can be your one-stop shop for generational wealth creation and transfer. No matter what your value on paper is, you are always treated as one of us.

Our team is made up of two advisors with a 30 year age spread and three supporting associates. We are unique in the fact that every teammate helps every client. Our goal is to find the best way to treat your money by starting with a plan, executing on the service as well as investment side, and to continually be a resource.

Our saying is "Our clients are our family, and your financial plan will not out live our team."

Wealth Management for Families and Institutions


For Private Wealth & Families

 
For Institutions/ Retirement Plans Planning Documents

GRAT Team's Approach


Our business is broken-up into two overlapping segments, private wealth & institutional retirement. We strive to connect with our clients on a personal level, being a part of their everyday lives. Understanding personal goals and aspirations helps our team to coordinate and better serve our clients in an array of financial areas, including estate planning services and retirement income planning, including healthcare cost planning, through Merrill, and access to banking and lending through Bank of America.

Meet the Team

Our team is comprised of talented and experienced individuals committed to building strong client relationships based on trust and personalized service.

Additional FA Relationships

Gelb Retirement & Advisory Team, when appropriate, works with other advisors and teams for specific clients’ situations.

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Stephen W Peters, CPFA®, CRPSTM
First Vice President | Senior Financial Advisor
Retirement Benefits Consultant






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Michael P. Rennels, CIMA®, C(k)P®, CFP®, ChFC®
Senior Vice President | Wealth Management Advisor
Retirement Benefits Consultant | Portfolio Advisor








Additional Advisor Resources
Gelb Retirement & Advisory Team is supported by talented; specialists who have experience working with institutions and share a strong commitment to guiding investment programs and strategic decision making. The following specialists do not make securities recommendations. Please contact your Financial Advisor if you have questions about how a specialist might be able to assist you.

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Theodore D. DeGaetano Jr., CPFA®, C(k)P®, CRPS®
Director | BAC/ML Institutional Retirement
Employee Benefits Specialist







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  Kelley Crosse, LUTCF
   Regional Insurance Strategist
   Crump Life Insurance Services, Inc.






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Marcy O’Brien
Vice President | Wealth Management Lending Officer
Bank of America, N.A.
NMLS# 559813






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Julie Novitskiy
Wealth Management Banking Specialist
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management







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Jermaine J. Gomes, CRPC®
Vice President
Personal Retirement Specialist
Merrill






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   Heather S. Tahmooressi
   Senior Vice President
   Senior Trust Officer
   National Trust Services
   Bank of America, N.A.





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  Brian C. Lighty, CPFA®
   Vice President
   Employee Benefits Specialist
   Retirement & Personal Wealth Solutions
   Bank of America





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  Bryant Wolfson, CRPC™
   Vice President
   Alternative Investment Regional Specialist
   Merrill


















*Investments & Wealth Institute™ (The Institute) is the owner of the certification marks CIMA® and Certified Investment Management Analyst®.  Use of CIMA®, and/or Certified Investment Management Analyst® signifies that the user has successfully completed the Institute’s initial and ongoing credentialing requirements for investment management professionals.

*Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® in the U.S.

*C(k)P® is a registered trademark of The Retirement Advisor University, Inc.               

*ChFC® and Chartered Financial Consultant® marks are the property of The American College, which reserves the sole rights to its use, and is used by permission.

*Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™, CRPC™, and the CRPC™ logo are certification marks or registered certification marks of The College for Financial Planning Institutes Corp. in the United States..

*Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist™, CRPS™, and the CRPS™ logo are certification marks or registered certification marks of The College for Financial Planning Institutes Corp. in the United States.

2024 Participant Live Education


All Times Below are CST

January 18th : BIG Questions to ask Before Retirement

February 15th : Investing Through the Ups & Downs
March 12th : Taxes & Your Portfolio
April 16th : Social Security & Medicare - The Basics
May 15th : Stressed? How to Balance Financial & Physical Fitness
June 12th : 6 Gs of Money - What I Wish I Knew Growing Up

Education On-Demand


Budgeting & Debt
 (click to view)


Plan for the Unexpected  (click to view)

Retirement & Investing  (click to view)

Life Events  (click to view)

Company Stock Education  (click to view)

Better Money Habits  (Click to view)

Health & Benefits Learning Center  (Click to view)

HR Toolkit: click below to view

   
     GRAT Employee Wellness Program - Questionnaire

     Lifestyle Spending Accounts - Flyer

     Employee Banking and Investing Program - Video

     Merrill Bank of America Integration - Video

     Employer Toolkit: Health & Benefits - Resources

Looking for Live Education?

Please see "Participant Live Education" tab

Fiduciary Fundamentals
   
 
      Basics & Best Practices  (click to view)

      Basics of Fiduciary Law  (click to view)
 
      ERISA Litigation  (click to view)
 
      ERISA Safe Harbors  (click to view)
 
      Governance Best Practices  (click to view)


      Legislative & Regulatory Brief (click to view)

      Legislative & Regulatory Insights  (click to view)

Digital Engagement:

     MyMerrill Security - Video 
     MyMerrill Overview - Video 
     MyMerrill Mobile App - Video 
     MyMerrill Mobil​e Enrollment - Video 
     My Financi​al Picture - Video 
     Merrill Bank of America Integration - Video 
     Mobile & E-signature - Video 
     Send Documents to Your Advisor - Video 
     Digital Welcome Kit - PDF


Five 401(k) Options - PDF
401(k) Participant Vendors - PDF

Recognition

Merrill is proud of our advisors who’ve received recognition from financial industry publications or directly from Bank of America Corporation. We believe they are setting the standard for exemplary client service.

Jordan M Gelb

Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" in 2018-2023
Published annually Jan- April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.

Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2024
Published on January 12, 2024. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2023.*

Financial Times "401 Top Retirement Advisers" in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020
Published annually May - Oct. Rankings based on data as of Dec 31 of prior year.

Solutions for Institutions

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Supporting a strong retirement plan and helping to keep it on track

The retirement and financial needs of your employees, as well as the responsibility those needs create for you as an employer, are important to you. We offer the solutions your employees may need to help pursue their financial goals and maintain financial wellness. Our array of resources and experience is designed to help meet your employees’ financial needs in ways that make sense for your company — strategically, operationally and financially. You and your employees will have a team of experienced and passionate advocates for financial wellness on your side. Our team will make your priorities their own so you can focus more on your business.

For Plan Sponsors

Your role as a plan sponsor is more challenging than ever, and it’s not something to face alone. We bring the resources and thought leadership from Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates to bear in helping you provide a strong, healthy and fully compliant program that runs smoothly, engages your employees and makes your job easier. We can help you focus on the areas that may be helpful to plan success, including Fiduciary Advisory Services 1 and Education and Plan Services 2 appropriate for your plan.

Fiduciary Advisory Services1

Through Fiduciary Advisory Services, we can help you design and maintain an investment menu.
  • Investment Policy Statement (IPS)3
  • Comprehensive due diligence processes to identify appropriate investments 
  • Proactive delivery – online and by your designated advisor – of investment performance reporting every quarter 
  • Report providing fund analysis and market trends.

1 Fiduciary Advisory Services is an investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”). Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. There are important differences between brokerage and investment advisory services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the differences, particularly when determining which service or services to select. Please refer to the Fiduciary Advisory Services Brochure for information on the program including a description of the series and related fees.

2 Education and Plan Services are non-fiduciary services required for Advisor Alliance clients and optional for MLII clients.

3 IPS service is not available for FAS Discretionary. The plan sponsor is responsible for the approval and final adoption of the IPS.

For Employees

All our efforts revolve around helping your employees pursue their goals. With Bank of America Corporation’s long legacy of service excellence, we take a holistic approach to helping your employees connect their life priorities and financial priorities—in and beyond their benefit plans. By broadening our view to include an employee’s entire financial picture, both in and out of plan, we believe we can help your employees better manage and gain control of their finances.

  • Holistic approach to helping improve overall financial wellness
  • Online investment advisory programs that offer participant advice; Personal Retirement Strategy that provides online advice and guidance to help participants pursue their retirement income goals through a recommended asset allocation and, if the participant elects, a discretionary managed account, Merrill Managed, for an additional fee or Advice Access that helps participants by providing asset allocation recommendations and ongoing investment management through its optional PersonalManager® service, for a fee.
  • Comprehensive employee education program

Personal Retirement Strategy is an online investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (“MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) that uses a probabilistic approach to determine the likelihood that participants in the program will accumulate sufficient total assets to achieve their annual retirement income goal. The recommendations provided by Personal Retirement Strategy may include a higher level of investment risk than a participant may be personally comfortable with. Participants are strongly advised to consider their personal goals, overall risk tolerance and retirement horizon before accepting any recommendations made by Personal Retirement Strategy. Participants should carefully review the explanation of the methodology used, including key assumptions and limitations, as well as a description of services and related fees, which is provided in the Personal Retirement Strategy Brochure (ADV Part 2A). It can be obtained through Benefits OnLine or through the Retirement Benefits Contact Center.

Advice Access is an online investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (“MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) that uses a probabilistic approach to determine the likelihood that participants in the program may be able to achieve their specified annual retirement income goal and/or to identify a potential wealth outcome that could be realized. The recommendations provided by Advice Access may include a higher level of investment risk than a participant may be personally comfortable with. Participants are strongly advised to consider their personal goals, overall risk tolerance, and retirement horizon before accepting any recommendations made by Advice Access. Participants should carefully review the explanation of the methodology used, including key assumptions and limitations as well as a description of services and related fees, which is provided in the Advice Access disclosure document (ADV Part 2A). It can be obtained through Benefits OnLine or through the Retirement Benefits Contact Center.

Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. There are important differences between brokerage and investment advisory services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the differences, particularly when determining which service or services to select.

IMPORTANT: The projections or other information shown in the Advice Access program regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. Results may vary with each use and over time.

And More

Beyond our experience, we offer access to the deep intellectual capital and broad capabilities of Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates. If we identify a need we can’t service ourselves, we can connect you with the people and resources to help you. Through our network of advisors, we strive to deliver strategies to help you manage the day-to-day and long-term responsibilities required in pursuing your institution’s goals. As we work together to address your evolving needs, we can help make the broad capabilities of Bank of America Corporation feel more accessible.

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Solutions for Individuals

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Approach

Wealth Management is a dynamic process. As we focus on you today and help you identify your goals for tomorrow, we can strive to work together throughout life’s ups, downs, triumphs, and transitions. Helping you pursue your goals starts with getting to know you, your family and developing a plan. Our job is to understand what matters most to you. We will work together to create a financial strategy that reflects your investment personality and is built around your life priorities. We will be here to help you make adjustments to your plan if and when necessary over time.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

Wealth Management Your Way

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

Your Financial Approach

We offer you access to the investing insights of Merrill, trust and fiduciary services from Bank of America Private Bank, and the banking convenience of Bank of America to help you pursue your goals. We will work to help you stay on track, regardless of what the markets are doing.

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FAMILY
Taking care of your family and other people in your life
  • Trust & Estate Services4
  • Education Funding1
  • Insurance3
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HEALTH
Planning for healthcare expenses now and in the future
  • Long-term Care Insurance3
  • Health Savings Account2
  • Disability Insurance3
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HOME
Upsizing, downsizing, remodeling or buying a vacation home
  • Home Loans2
  • Home Equity Lines of Credit2
  • Securities-Based Lending2
  • Credit Cards2
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WORK
Working in retirement, selling or starting a business
  • Bank of America Business Banking2
  • Exchange Funds1
  • Concentrated Stock Management1
  • Succession Planning1
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LEISURE
Spending your free time in meaningful ways
  • Credit Cards2
  • Securities-Based Lending2
  • Structured Lending2
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GIVING
Volunteering, mentoring others and giving to charities
  • Donor-Advised Funds4
  • Private Foundations4
  • Charitable Trusts4
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FINANCE
Using your finances to bring it all together
  • Merrill Investment Accounts1
  • Investment Advisory Accounts1
  • Alternative Investments1
  • Exchange-Traded Funds1
  • Mutual Funds1
  • Closed-end Funds1
  • Fixed Income Products1
  • Options1
  • Annuities3
  • Impact Portfolios1
  • Market-Linked Investments1
  • Securities-Based Lending2
  • Margin1
  • Home Loans2
  • Bank of America Checking and Savings Accounts2
  • Credit Cards2
  • Online Account Access1,2

¹ Investment products are offered by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated.
² Banking, mortgage and home equity products offered by Bank of America, N.A.
³ Insurance and annuity products offered through Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc.
4 Trust and fiduciary services are provided by Bank of America Private Bank.

Philosophy

No two people are alike. Consequently, there is no single approach to wealth management that is appropriate for everyone. What matters most to you is what matters most to us. Once we get to know you, your priorities, your goals, risk tolerance, time horizons, liquidity needs and what you want to accomplish over time, only then can the team help you position yourself to identify and address financial challenges and potential opportunities. To that end, we thoughtfully employ our experience and resources to help guide you as you pursue your goals.

Join us

Let’s Have a Conversation

There is no substitute for a one-on-one relationship with a Merrill financial advisor committed to your needs.