Roth IRA Conversions | Inherited IRA Tax Rules | Consolidating Accounts | Goal-Focused Investment Strategies
One of the most powerful yet underused retirement planning moves is converting portions of a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA during the years when your taxable income is unusually low. These “low-income” years create empty space in the lower federal tax brackets—space you can deliberately fill by triggering conversion income at today’s known tax…
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As working parents, with two young children, you’re likely juggling a busy life—balancing careers, family time, and planning for the future. You’ve already taken a proactive step by setting up 529 college savings plans for your kids, ensuring they’ll have funds for higher education. But what if there’s a way to cover potential gaps in…
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With AI-related stocks experiencing dramatic price increases (see table below) there is increasing fear of an AI bubble (that could soon burst). However, considering the five new signals of growth for leading AI chip maker, Nvidia (NVDA), the risks of a bubble seem overblown. After reviewing the new signals and risks, as well as Nvidia’s…
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1155 S. Washington St, #105, Naperville, IL 60540
Understanding your unique situation and needs is a prerequisite to working together.
Herrick Lake Investments (HLI) is a fiduciary, registered investment advisor (RIA) firm, based in Naperville, Illinois, and with clients across the US.
Its uniqueness stems from its independent, fiduciary approach, delivering knowledgeable, personalized investment solutions without corporate-driven product pressures or commissions, and with no salespeople or disinterested staff. Learn more about The HLI Advantage here.
With over 20 years of experience, Mark is founder and investment director at Herrick Lake Investments. Previously a multibillion-dollar fund manager and asset allocator for a private pension, and an associate portfolio manager (on the institutional growth equities team for a large bank in Chicago), he founded HLI to bring an investments-first approach to people typically inundated with conflicted salespeople and ill-fitted corporate products. He builds disciplined goal-focused portfolios, prioritizing tax-efficiency and a long-term view. Mark is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BS, Finance), the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (MBA) and holds the Series 65 (Investment Advisor Law Exam) designation.
Outside of HLI, Mark is treasurer of a local non-profit, and he has done extensive consulting work for mutual and hedge fund portfolio managers, wealth management firms, investment research companies and very high net worth individuals. He is also a firm believer in eliminating unnecessary stress by spending time outside.
Whether you’re getting organized/consolidating old accounts (IRAs, 401Ks, taxable brokerage accounts), leaving behind a bad experience, or seeking a more prudent goal-focused investment strategy, HLI can help you get on track to a better financial future. Take the first step by requesting more information, or continue reading to learn about investment strategies, HLI advantages and what to expect.
Getting to know each other is a critical first step in onboarding. This is a chance to vet each other to determine if working together makes sense. Meeting in person is ideal, however Zoom video conference calls (and even simple phone calls) can work great too.
In addition to discussion, this 15-minute online “quiz” is another important input in determining an appropriate investment strategy for you. You’ll get a score (on a scale of 1 to 100) to help determine next steps.
Reviewing your current investments can be a critical part of the recommendation process. This “Secure Document Upload” link allows you to share information without passing it through your email system and thereby providing an additional level of security. This also provides an opportunity for additional discussion.
Once we’ve gathered the required information, your new account will be set up (at Interactive Brokers) and you’ll receive a DocuSign (for your electronic signture). At this point, you will have already received a copy of the HLI privacy policy, form ADV and investment advisor agreement (also for your electronic signature). Next, we can initiate the electronic transfer of your holdings (from your old account(s) to your new account(s)). You’ll be able to link your bank account (to easily transfer money to and from your investment accounts). At this time, HLI will be able to place “buy and sell” orders in managing your account as per your investment objectives.
Your investment account(s) will be managed according to your objectives, and ongoing discussion is a critical component to keep you on track. Depending on your preference, conversations can happen as frequently (or as infrequently) as you like. You will receive regular account statements (and annual tax documents) in the mail (or electronically, if that is your preference) and you are ecouraged to read content on this site for timely market insights).
Seeks to deliver superior returns over time by investing in a broadly diversified equity portfolio (typically consisting of 25-40 individual stocks and 0-5 exchange traded funds (ETFs)). Careful consideration is given to each individual investor’s aggregate situation (are all investment accounts working together), tax needs (prudent allocation to tax-advantaged accounts) and timeframe (tolerance for near-term volatility). The primary objective is long-term growth of capital.
Offering access to best-in-class high-income opportunities, including public and private credit (through publicly traded closed-end funds (CEFs) and business development companies (BDCs)). The strategy may also include oil-and-gas midstream companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), dividend stocks (common and preferred shares), exchange traded funds (ETFs) and other publicly traded securities. The primary objective is current income; the secondary objective is capital appreciation.
Ask about a custom investment strategy for your unique situation. Request information.
Helping you establish an appropriate mix (in percentage terms) of stocks, bonds, real estate and alternative investments, based on your individual situation.
Helping you fill out your asset allocation buckets (efficiently and effectively) by investing in a prudent mix of individual stocks, bonds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and other investments.
Tax-advantaged individual retirement accounts (such as Roth, traditional and inherited IRAs) as well as capital gain and loss harvesting (for taxable brokerage accounts) to optimize your after tax returns.
Estate planning (e.g. beneficiaries, living trust discussions), health insurance budgeting, social security considerations, mortgage and other loan conversations, cash flow and income strategies, building an appropriate “paycheck” from your nest egg (when it’s time), career counseling and additional financial topics.
Discuss the topics that are important to you (including the ones keeping you up at night, and the ones you may be overlooking) to make sure you are on track to achieving your goals.
The HLI Advantage stems from its independent, fiduciary approach, delivering knowledgeable, personalized investment strategies without corporate-driven products or commissions.
As an independent advisor, HLI is never forced to push any corporate products or strategies, and never receives commissions for selling anything. The goal is simply to get you the best and most appropriate solutions possible.
With a deep background in investments and finance, HLI founder Mark Hines enjoys working with individuals to help them achieve their goals. You can learn more about his background here.
As a fiduciary, HLI is legally obligated to act in your best interest. This is different than many “financial advisors” you may come across who are held to a lower standard.
Trust is earned over time. You are encouraged to connect on social media: hinesmarkd (LinkedIn), continue reading this website, and call/email to get more information and/or to discuss.
If you are a good sales person, you can make a lot of money. The problem is, you’re incentivized to sell people things they don’t necessarily need. At Herrick Lake Investments, there are no sales people–only investments people. And that is one of the big differences between HLI and almost every other investment company you will come across.
As an indepenent, one-person, registered investment advisor (RIA) firm, there are no disinterested employees. If you become a client, you won’t have to worry about interacting with any unhappy employees–there to just gather a paycheck–and with little to no interest in you. At HLI, you (and your investments) will get the attention and care you deserve.
If you have ever worked for (or with) a corporation, big bank or large organization in general, you have likely experienced some form of corporate politics that are not necessarily in the best interest of anyone. At HLI, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, passed down from high, with little to no regard for who you are as an individual. Rather, everyone’s individual situation is unique, and you will be given the focused attention and care you deserve.
Just a genuine interest in helping each individual client make the best decisions possible based on their own individual situation.
Request information:
Take the first step: Please use the following form to get in touch (or call at 630-581-8119) and I will be back to you soon. Thank you.
