When Can I Retire? How much can I reasonably spend? How will my pension, Social Security, investments, and other income work together? What happens if I retire earlier or later?
When Should I Claim Social Security? Should I claim at 62, wait until full retirement age, or delay? How does Social Security fit with my pension, investments, taxes, and other retirement income?
Should I Consider a Roth Conversion? Would converting some of my retirement assets to Roth make sense? How much should I convert? How could paying taxes today affect my taxes and retirement income later?
Am I Taking the Right Amount of Investment Risk? What do I actually own? How much risk am I taking? Does my portfolio fit my goals? Should I manage my investments myself or have someone manage them for me?
How Do I Plan for Military or Federal Retirement? What should I do with my TSP? How do my pension, TSP, Social Security, investments, and other benefits work together? When can I realistically retire?
What Should I Do With the Money My Business Is Making? Am I using the right retirement plan? How much cash should I keep in the business? How should I invest outside of my business? How do these decisions affect my taxes and personal financial goals?
Ridge & Republic Financial often works with military members approaching retirement, recently retired veterans, small business owners, and individuals and families who have accumulated significant income and assets and are trying to figure out what to do next.
Most want help managing their investment portfolio. Many also need help answering complex financial questions. That's where financial planning comes in.
I've never met somebody who said they need financial planning.
But I've met plenty of people with financial questions.
They have TSPs, 401(k)s, IRAs, brokerage accounts, pensions, Social Security, business income, real estate, cash, or other assets. They have families they want to take care of, businesses they've spent years building, and assets they want to protect.
The harder part is figuring out what all of it means for the decisions ahead.
Can I retire when I want?
What should I do with my TSP when I retire from the military?
When should I take Social Security?
Would a Roth conversion make sense?
What should I be doing with the money my business is making?
Am I using the right retirement plan for my business?
Am I taking the right amount of investment risk?
How do all of these pieces fit together?
These are financial planning questions.
Answering them often requires looking beyond an individual account or investment and understanding how your income, investments, taxes, retirement benefits, business, spending, and long-term goals interact.
That's the work I do at Ridge & Republic Financial.
Adam Betzelberger
Managing Principal
Ridge and Republic Financial
Military Retirement | Small Businesses | Investments | Financial Planning | Fiduciary
1. Schedule a Brief Conversation
Begin by scheduling a short introductory call.
I'll ask a few simple questions ahead of time about what you'd like to discuss. Share as much or as little as you'd like.
You don't need to organize all of your financial information before we talk. The purpose of the conversation is to understand your situation and the financial questions you're trying to answer.
2. Talk Through Your Questions
During our conversation, we'll discuss what's on your mind.
That might be retirement, Social Security, a Roth conversion, your investments, military or federal benefits, a business decision, or another financial planning question.
I'll ask questions, learn more about your situation, and help identify what information or analysis might be needed to answer the question.
This introductory conversation is educational in nature and does not establish an advisory relationship.
3. Identify What Would Be Helpful
Some questions are relatively straightforward. Others may require financial modeling, investment analysis, tax-aware planning, retirement-income projections, or a broader review of your financial situation.
If I think I can help, I'll explain what I would recommend analyzing, what information would be needed, and what the work would involve.
If I don't think additional planning is necessary or that I'm the right person to help, I'll tell you that too.
4. Decide Whether to Move Forward
If additional guidance would be helpful, we'll discuss the service that best fits what you're trying to accomplish.
Depending on your needs, that may include Financial Planning, Ongoing Financial Planning & Advisory Support, or Investment Management.
There is no obligation to continue beyond the introductory conversation. Moving forward with advisory services requires entering into an appropriate written advisory agreement.
Adam Betzelberger
Ridge and Republic Financial
Beavercreek and Dayton OH
My name is Adam Betzelberger. I'm the founder and Managing Principal of Ridge & Republic Financial.
I came to financial planning through a somewhat different path. I've spent about 15 years teaching economics, finance, investing, history, and government, while also building and operating my own businesses. I've worked with hundreds of students and families, managed investments, built companies, and spent a lot of time studying how financial markets and the economy actually work.
That background has a big influence on how I work as an adviser. I'm an educator by nature. If we're talking about a Roth conversion, Social Security, investment risk, retirement income, or a major financial decision, I want you to understand what we're looking at, why it matters, and what choices you have.
Most of the people I work with have already done a lot right. They've built careers and businesses, saved money, invested, and accumulated assets. What they often haven't had is someone helping them put all of those pieces together and answer the bigger planning questions.
When can I retire?
How much can I reasonably spend?
What should I do with the investments I've accumulated?
How can I manage taxes over the next 10, 20, or 30 years?
When should I take Social Security?
What risks am I missing?
My job is to help work through those questions, run the numbers, explain the tradeoffs, and develop a plan that makes sense.
I operate Ridge & Republic as an independent fiduciary investment adviser. I provide financial planning and ongoing advice for people who prefer to manage their own investments, as well as discretionary investment management for clients who would rather delegate that responsibility.
I've spent most of my professional life teaching, building businesses, and making decisions with my own capital. Ridge & Republic brings those experiences together in work I genuinely enjoy: helping people think carefully about their money and make better financial decisions.
Adam Betzelberger
Founder & Managing Principal
Ridge and Republic Financial
Beavercreek | Dayton
Disclosure: Ridge & Republic Financial is an independent registered investment adviser and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Armed Forces, or Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.