Financial planning is about identifying, quantifying and prioritizing your financial and life goals. Let me help you make make informed decisions

Liz Landau, CFP®, MBA, MA 

Liz is a life-long student and educator. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in Economics, Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard College and received an MBA in Finance from The Columbia Business School. She worked for several years at McKinsey & Company, a leading global management consulting firm before choosing to focus on her family. During her time raising her four children, she was an active board member at several community organizations and held multiple lay leadership positions at her children’s school. She also developed and taught a high school elective on entrepreneurship and financial literacy.  In 2012, Liz became a student again and earned a Masters degree at New York University in International Political Economy. Her interest in the global financial markets and macroeconomics led her to High Frequency Economics, a global macroeconomic research firm, where she served as its Interim Chief Operating Officer and Director of Business Development.

Liz ultimately realized that she wanted to directly help individuals and families and chose a new path: a career as a personal financial planner.

She completed a CFP Board approved financial planning program at New York University and established Landau Advisory LLC, a fee only financial planning firm, to fuse her academic interests, analytical skills and her passion for educating and counseling people about their personal finances. Liz views her role as listening to, and partnering with, her clients to provide professional, independent, caring, and economical advice that will guide and empower them to make informed decisions so that they achieve their financial and life goals.

Liz focuses her practice on individuals and couples in their 20s and 30s, helping clients understand and organize their financial lives and navigate, clarify, simplify and prioritize the maze of financial choices that are available. Although she focuses on Generation Y, she serves clients of any age and regardless of how much money someone makes or has to invest. She believes strongly that everyone can benefit from financial planning and that objective, high quality and individualized advice should be accessible to all.

Financial Planning for GENERATION Y

My primary focus on helping individuals and couples in their 20s and 30s, many as they start out in their financial lives. I not only want to provide advice to help reach my client's financial goals, but also to educate them on the about the confusing financial issues they may face. 

struggling with student loans or credit card debt?  

Whether you need help with cash flow, spending plans, debt reduction, making a buy vs. rent decision, or any other financial-related question you may have, I can help. No matter what your situation may be, the financial choices that you have made and will make will impact all areas of your life and relationships. As your financial planner, I will help you make the best decisions for your life making the most of what you have now and help you build a future that you feel good about.

OUR CLIENTS COME TO US FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS

Here are just a few of the many questions clients may have that lead them to engage with us as their financial counselor:

• How can I best balance my current spending with my future needs?
• How much can I afford to spend on a home?
• Am I saving enough to retire when I want?
• Am I saving enough to meet my short and long term needs?
• How should I invest the money in my retirement accounts and other saving accounts?
• How do we merge our finances now that we are married?
• Am I saving properly for my child's education? 
• Can my family afford to have a stay-at-home parent?
• Can I afford to make a career change?
• Is my family protected if something happens to me?

ANSWERING YOUR financial QUESTIONS WITH CLARITY AND GUIDANCE

Through my collaborative, educational planning process I provide financial confidence and peace of mind. Whether you need help with one specific financial issue, a second opinion, or a comprehensive financial plan that is on-going, I can help.

Clients turn to me with questions such as:

• How much should I withhold for taxes?
• How do I manage debt while saving for the future?
• What’s the best option for converting my 401k?
• How do I pay off my student loans?
• What’s the best way to save for my children’s college education?
• How much can I spend each month on expenses such as entertainment, groceries, or clothes?
• Do my current investments match my tolerance for risk?
• Am I on track to retire?
• How are the taxes I am paying impacting my financial plan?
• What legal documents should I have in place?
• Do I have adequate insurance coverage?

THE “WHY” MATTERS

No matter your questions, I will not only work to develop a plan to answer them, but most importantly, ensure you understand the WHY behind the course of action chosen. I believe my job is to not only help you with your finances, but to explore your dreams, help you quantify your goals, and develop a realistic plan to achieve them—to understand the WHY behind both your current decision making and future goals.

accessible financial planning in westchester new york

I don’t believe financial planning is just for older people who have built up their assets. I truly believe that financial planning should be accessible to everyone—and that everyone can benefit from working with a financial planner, regardless of what stage of life he or she is in. There is no “minimum assets under management” to get started. Through our partnership, I will help educate and empower you—getting started is more important than having all of the answers.

FINANCIAL PLANNING that isn't OVERWHELMING OR SCARY

I understand that discussing money is personal and can be difficult for many people. My job is to make it the least intimidating as possible. By breaking things down into smaller projects and tasks, we will stay organized while we work through your goals and dreams and develop a roadmap to align those life goals with your personal finances. No matter where you are in your financial journey, I can help. 

Helping you FEEL SECURE ABOUT YOUR TOMORROW

Throughout your lifetime, there will be many instances of market volatility, as well as events in your personal life that may cause emotional reactions around money. From budgeting and buying a home to daycare expenses and saving for college, the financial decisions you make everyday can be overwhelming. I am here to act as your trusted partner and ensure you are simplifying your life through your finances. My mission is to assist you through these obstacles and provide clarity and behavioral coaching to ensure you stay the course. I help you plan for and navigate the milestones that make up your life. 

A Financial Checkup is a working session that typically lasts around two hours. During this session, I will review your overall financial picture and address one or two more pressing questions or concerns. A summary report will be provided after the meeting. Example checkups:

GETTING STARTED CHECKUP:

This consultation is ideal for young individuals and couples who are just starting their independent financial lives. This checkup provides financial education and planning for recent college graduates, young professionals, newlyweds or new families. In this meeting, I will provide direction on how to avoid common pitfalls and steps you can take now to start a down a path toward long-term financial success.

MAKE IT A GIFT:  This package also makes a great gift! I offer gift certificates that make the perfect present for graduations, weddings, or baby showers. 

CASH FLOW CHECKUP:

Helps you understand how, where and why you spend your money. It will also compare your income to your expenses and provide tools to help manage spending.

FINANCIAL LITERACY EDUCATION:

So many young people are often overwhelmed and intimidated by the jargon and options available to them as they navigate their financial lives. I provide personal financial literacy education and financial behavior coaching for recent college graduates and young professionals. This allows you to make sense of and clearly weigh all your options.

Analyzing your specific personal finance issues

For instance, let's say you’ve been married for a few years and have just started a family. Now what? You might have some questions such as:

• Can you help me with a budget or spending plan?
• Which payment plan should I choose for my student loans and how can I pay them off faster?
• How much should I set aside for emergency savings vs. savings for other goals?
• How do I start a Roth IRA and where should I set up the account?
• Can you help me read my company benefits package and choose my benefits?
• How much do I need to save for my children’s college education and/or how am I going to pay for my children's college expenses?
• How can I best pay off debt while saving for retirement?
• Are my investment holdings in line with my needs and goals?

Financial Planning Tailored to You

Comprehensive financial planning provides an in-depth analysis of your financial circumstances including an assessment of the key risks to your income and wealth and how well you are managing these risks. This integrated planning will help you identify and synthesize all the pieces of your financial puzzle and will provide you with a plan for achieving your financial and life goals. Each plan is tailored to your unique goals and objectives.

CURRENT FINANCIAL STATUS: I will look at your current income, expenses, and debt management, as well as spending habits and overall goals.

RETIREMENT & LIFETIME INCOME PROJECTIONS: I will analyze whether you are on track to retire when you wish, as well as how much you will need in retirement to avoid the risk of outliving your resources. 

INVESTMENT ANALYSIS: I will ensure that your current investments and asset allocation match your risk tolerance, as well as make sure you are not being charged excessive fees.

EDUCATION EXPENSE PLANNING: I will provide you with the projections you need to save for your children’s education expenses, as well as provide advice on the best vehicles.

ESTATE PLANNING: I will make sure you have the legal documents you need in place, and can help provide strategies for minimizing estate tax and probate expenses. I can also help you identify the best way to maximize transfer of wealth to heirs.

RISK MANAGEMENT: Insurance is important, and I will make sure you are well protected about the most important risks in your life.

INVESTMENT Planning in Westchester New York  

• I recommend a well-diversified, balanced portfolio of low-cost funds that match your tolerance for risk
• I study historic trends and relationships of asset classes
• I take into account your current needs for income and liquidity
• I utilize long-term buy-and-hold strategies
• I periodically rebalance as needed to meet your objectives

I help you focus on what you CAN control and tune out what you cannot. 

WHAT WE CAN CONTROL: 

• Your mix of stocks/bonds/mutual funds/ETFs
• Diversification
• Fees & costs
• Discipline
• Portfolio rebalancing

WHAT WE CANNOT CONTROL:

• Short-term market movements
• The news media
• Which companies/sectors/countries/asset classes will perform best 

To be a successful investor you need a sound philosophy and strategy, and then the discipline to stick with it. Landau Advisory provides the philosophy, strategy and accountability.

FEE-ONLY financial planning

Landau Advisory is a Fee-Only firm. I am paid directly by my clients for my services, and this is my only source of income. I receive no compensation, commissions, or any other financial incentives from brokerages, banks, insurance companies or other financial service providers. My advice is free from potential conflicts of interest that such outside compensation may induce.

HOURLY & PROJECT-BASED PLANNING

My fee is $225/hour. Typically, the amount clients end up paying ranges from a few hundred dollars for a limited financial issue to several thousand dollars for a complex, broad-based financial plan. 

ALWAYS TRANSPARENT 

In most cases, after determining the extent of your planning needs, I will quote a fixed fee to complete the requested service. In other cases. Where the amount of time needed is difficult to project, I may simply track my time and bill per hour. In that case, I will provide a time estimate at the outset of an engagement and will touch base with you as we go so there are no surprises.

ONGOING WORK

After completing a financial planning engagement, you may wish to work together on a regular basis to monitor the implementation and ongoing status of your financial plan, or to receive periodic investment advice. We can continue to work together on an hourly fee basis or develop a fixed-retainer plan, the choice is yours.

AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR FUTURE

Financial Planning is truly an investment in your future. While an hourly fee may seem more costly up-front than a percentage of assets under management, in the long term it can be far less costly. You only pay for the time we spend meeting together, and the time I spend analyzing your information and providing the results of my planning.