Great Lakes Legacy Group, LLC, is a boutique financial services firm headquartered in South Bend, Indiana. The organization was created in 2010 by co-founders Wade Ritchie and William Kerestury. With combined experience of 35 years in the financial services industry, Wade and William created Great Lakes Legacy Group to address the under-served financial, estate, and legacy planning needs of an aging middle class.
While most financial advisors have a sole focus on “Wealth Accumulation”, Great Lakes Legacy Group, LLC focuses first and foremost on “Wealth Preservation”. “Wealth Accumulation” strategies benefit younger generations because investment risks are taken in an attempt to build up a significant nest egg to use in retirement. Near or at retirement though, the client’s goal for that nest egg will often change. Rather than wanting to continue taking risks and building more wealth, most people near or at retirement need to rely on that nest egg and would rather minimize risk and hold on to the wealth that they have managed to accumulate. We find that many financial advisors often fail their clients at this critical point in time because they choose to “stay the course” and follow a post-retirement plan that is too similar in nature to the client’s pre-retirement plan. Great Lakes Legacy Group, LLC recognizes that clients at or near retirement have a different set of concerns and goals that often place more emphasis on safety over risk. This is the fundamental building block of our unique focus.
While advanced techniques in financial, estate, and legacy planning have been utilized by those of more affluent means for years, Great Lakes Legacy Group, LLC takes our unique focus on “wealth preservation” and educates clients of more modest means on various techniques available to accumulate, preserve, and distribute wealth. Not only is it critical to help clients make their nest egg last throughout retirement, but it is also critical to help clients pass along what is leftover of that nest egg to their heirs with minimum expense, minimum tax, and minimum effort. Great Lakes Legacy Group, LLC utilizes proper financial, estate, and legacy planning concepts to accomplish these goals for the client through well-designed and well-executed plans personally tailored to each client’s unique situation.