Finance / Estate Planner recommendation
Does anyone have a trusted financial planner they would recommend in the East Bay?
My parents are ready to retire but need help getting their affairs in order. They haven’t started the process and don’t know where to begin.
I don’t really have any expertise in this area either and they are leaning on me heavily to help with the process and transition.
I think they might also need an estate planner to help with wills, trust, etc.
Not entirely sure where to start, any recommendations are greatly appreciated!
Thank you BPN network!
Mar 10, 2025
Parent Replies
For estate planning, we were very happy working with Christina Chung in Castro Valley (https://www.christinachunglaw.com/). She charges a flat fee for will/revokable trust/POA/health care directives and so we never felt like the clock was running with regard to getting questions answered. We did 2 meetings via zoom and a final meeting for signing all the documents in person. She was well-organized, a good listener & seems very competent.
For financial planning, I recommend Tammy Plotkin-Oren, https://tpofinancial.com/, and for legal services, I recommend Brian O’Toole, http://www.brianotoolelaw.com/. My family has worked with both of them, and they have provided excellent advice and services.
We recently went through the estate planning process with Christina Chung, she was recommended on previous threads here. It was not cheap, but is what very thorough and we met a couple of times via Zoom and then a final time to sign and notarize everything. She was also very open and receptive to email questions throughout. https://www.christinachunglaw.com/
Financial planners come in two flavors: fee-based, or percentage of the money they are planning around.
We went with a fee-based planner, Autumn Kruse, https://www.krusefinancialstrategy.com. She's straightforward and we like her a lot.
Charles Schwab provides a modicum of planning for their customers. It's free. Of course they may not be objective in their recommendations, but it's a starting point and another perspective to compare with an independent planner.
There are a lot of estate planning companies out there. Many offer a more-or-less cookie-cutter will and estate plan. If your parents' situation is not complex, that may be all they would need. We like Summerall Law, summeralllaw.com.
Berkeley Adult School offers a Saturday Workshop on Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning. It is the first Saturday in May at the school across from Sports Basement. The cost is very reasonable for a four hour, hands-on workshop. It is taught by an attorney who is a Certified Specialist in Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning. It is great for the basics of selecting fiduciaries, forms of title, considerations of wills, vs. trusts, and the Proposition 13 implications of property transfers.
I worked with Debra Garcia for estate planning: www.debragarcialaw.com - east bay based, makes things easy to understand, handles wills and trusts and has clear and transparent fixed fee pricing.
Hi, I conducted a similar search last year. I suggest not limiting yourself to "local" financial planners, as many have a national scope of coverage. Some will travel to you when you finalize plans.