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Meet the Team

Supported by the global resources of Merrill, our 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.

Jim Goodrich

Wealth Strategies Advisor

Bank of America, N.A.

Casey L Glisson

Wealth Management Lending Officer

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #1077099

Yvonne Gomez

Wealth Management Banking Specialist

Merrill

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

Dedication. Experience. Multi-generational. At The Allen Wealth Management Group, we believe these characteristics best describe our proactive, client-focused approach and commitment to addressing the complex wealth considerations facing affluent client families.

Feeling like stakeholders in clients’ lives, we are as serious about our roles as clients are about their money. Having cultivated trust with generations of families, our clientele has been largely referred to us. We believe that says more about us than we could ever say.

With ages that align nicely with clients “young and older,” our team caters to an impressive, but limited circle of clients whose education and sophistication demand a superior level of wealth management. Residing in more than 25 states and at all stages of the wealth continuum, our clients include successful business owners, C-suite executives in the financial and health care fields, corporate and personal attorneys, as well as physicians and their practices.

By assisting fewer clients, we can do more – and care more – for each. With daily demands on our busy clientele, we are determined to help enrich and simplify their lives, while giving meaning to their money.

All of our efforts revolve around our rigorous planning-based approach – something analogous to a full medical work-up. Like good physicians, we scrutinize “past records” (financial and trust documents), and take careful measure of a client’s financial wellness – even asking about their aches and pains:

“Why are you here? How are your liabilities and cash flow hurting your ability to save and invest? Does a rewarding retirement lifestyle seem out of reach? Is your partner making spending decisions that concern you? What financial task occupies too much of your time? What’s your greatest joy and greatest fear? Achieving which goal would make your heart beat fastest?”

Our desire to listen and learn from clients is a hallmark of our approach. With an appreciation of their visions and values, our strategies can embrace a client’s past, present and ambitions. By recognizing family dynamics and desires, we bring clarity to our clients and then craft customized strategies that help clients navigate a rewarding journey.

Each day, we look to help clients leverage their wealth by offering strategic and creative credit solutions with ready access to Bank of America, N.A. for residential and securities-based lending and custom credit solutions. We also nurture close relationships with clients’ CPAs and attorneys, to create solid blueprints for clients to enjoy productive, tax-efficient outcomes that can span generations.

Our clients’ achievements, hard work, and values have led to financial and personal success. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to help manage that wealth responsibly and in the most respectful manner.

Serving an Impressive Clientele

At The Allen Wealth Management Group, we take pride in the multi-generational aspect of our group. This helps ensure continuous attention to our clients and enables our team members to share personal experiences and professional insights with generations of client families – in the Chicago area and 29 states.

As we have for decades, we continue to nurture client relationships with actuaries, chemists, scientists, senior corporate executives, successful entrepreneurs, retirees, widows, families with inherited assets, as well as clients’ grown children and elderly parents.

Each of us shares a mission – to bring clients positive long-term outcomes that coincide with their view of wealth and the world. To accomplish that, we aim to engage regularly with clients, their spouses, grown children and elderly parents. It’s also important that we coordinate consistently with clients’ other advisors and our own network of tax and legal professionals. Doing so can save clients’ time and reduce the cost of managing multiple advisory relationships.

For busy clients seeking a proactive approach to optimizing their wealth and minimizing their efforts, we aim to do more than clients might expect – by helping them:
-Achieve their desired retirement lifestyle
-Arrange real estate financing
-Leave a legacy to their heirs
-Ensure the protection of their family
-Establish long-term care solutions

We combine our knowledge of investment, liability, tax minimization and estate planning strategies – often with the input of clients’ other advisors – to align efforts and put clients’ most cherished goals within reach.

Treating Clients Like Family

At the foundation of our highly personalized approach is a sincere admiration for our clients – who they are and what they value. While diverse in their accomplishments, many clients come to us with similar concerns. They ask, “How am I doing financially? Will I make it (and when)? What am I missing? – should I have long-term care or other insurance?”

To answer clients’ questions, we ask our own, including: “What lifestyle do you envision in five or ten years? What legacy would you like to leave your children? What do you want from our relationship – and how often do you want to hear from us?”

At The Allen Wealth Management Group, we also ask clients to identify their feelings about market fluctuation (or risk, in general), so that we can “protect clients from themselves” and help them avoid emotional decisions.

Talking to clients frequently (as we would with good friends or family members), we discuss topics as far-ranging as generating retirement income, transferring wealth and minimizing taxes, saving for college, planning for a child to return home after graduation, purchasing a vacation home, financing a business expansion, creating a special needs trust, and caring for aging parents. These real-life situations are why we remind clients to call for our recommendations, or simply a second opinion.

Ultimately, we craft a “living strategy” for each client that we review and adjust over time. It reflects our appreciation of clients’ financial challenges, what they want for themselves, their kids and grandkids, and whether they want their wealth to benefit society. This is what we call “putting clients’ values into action.”

Deep Knowledge and Experience

Each of us strives to provide clients with “best practices” and work tirelessly to allow for best-case scenarios. By complementing each other’s skills, we also help clients plan and prepare for likely and unlikely circumstances.

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 we can help you create a financial approach that reflects your personality. Only then can we 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.