We help successful families and business owners coordinate sophisticated tax, estate, investment, business and charitable strategies around one objective: preserving more of what you've built for the people and purposes that matter.
Our ApproachEvery dollar you save in tax is another dollar to invest in your business, your family, and the causes you care most about.
Tax decisions affect investments.
Business decisions affect estate planning.
Estate decisions affect family.
Charitable decisions affect taxes.
Protect and preserve capital through intelligent tax and wealth strategies.
Bring the family's professional advisors and financial decisions into alignment.
Create deliberate strategies for transferring wealth to family, future generations and other beneficiaries.
Use wealth intentionally to support charitable, personal and legacy objectives.
Wealth has only a few destinations: lifestyle, family, taxes, charity and legacy. Smart Stewardship helps families make deliberate decisions about how wealth is preserved, deployed, transferred and ultimately used.
Taxes are involuntary philanthropy. Let us help you keep more, and then have more control over that which you do not keep.
A review of how your business and real estate holdings treat tangible property for tax purposes. Where accounting methods can be changed under the tangible property regulations, owners can capture large deductions (without future recapture) and improve cash flow without amending prior returns.
Discuss with Rich →Credits reduce tax dollar for dollar, which makes them among the most valuable tools in the code. We help identify the credits your business, property and activities may already qualify for, and coordinate the work with your CPA.
Discuss with Rich →Many owners are effectively self-insured for the risks the commercial market will not cover. This strategy lets a profitable business fund coverage for those exposures with deductible premiums, then participate in the underwriting results when claims are favorable.
Request the overview →An MSO divides the business in two: one company keeps the licensed professionals and client relationships, while a separate services company holds the support functions such as HR, marketing, IT and accounting. The owner keeps control of the people and culture that make the firm what it is, while gaining clarity, flexibility and planning opportunity.
Discuss with Rich →On a large tax obligation, your capital is usually better working in your business and investments. We show you how to fund it thoughtfully and carefully, so the tax is paid without draining the capital that builds your wealth.
Discuss with Rich →401(k) plans are great for workers, and rarely the best tool for owners. We show business owners compelling alternatives designed around their own objectives, while managing the fiduciary exposure that sits personally with them.
Discuss with Rich →“Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible.”
We begin by listening, then map your business interests, entities, tax returns, estate documents, insurance and the advisors already in your life.
We bring your CPA, attorney and investment advisor to the same table, so each is solving the same problem rather than three different ones.
Strategies are sequenced, documented and carried out with your own professionals, with a clear understanding of the risks, trade-offs and who is responsible for what.
Law, business and family circumstances change. We review annually and adjust, so the plan stays aligned with what you are trying to accomplish.
With the family and its business at the center, Smart Stewardship acts as strategic coordinator, helping each discipline work toward the same objectives. It is the operating model of a family office, without needing one.
Rich VanderSande is a graduate of Northwestern University (economics) and a 30-year veteran of the financial services industry. He has been a participating member of several national organizations, including the National Association of Family Wealth Counselors, Kingdom Advisors and the Legacy Wealth Coach Network.
Rich resides on the Gulf Coast of Florida with his wife and son. They enjoy traveling and playing sports of any kind. The VanderSandes actively support several ministry organizations, including Biblica, Orbis and their local church.
Evan helps individuals and families make thoughtful financial decisions rooted in what matters most to them. He approaches financial planning with curiosity, care and a commitment to helping clients steward their resources wisely for the future.
Evan earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Central Florida, combining coursework in commerce, behavioral and social sciences, and legal studies. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, golfing and being involved in his faith community.
These scenarios are illustrative composites for educational purposes. They do not represent actual clients or results, and individual circumstances and outcomes vary. Strategies involve risk and are not suitable for everyone.
Conversations begin with listening. Tell us about your business, your family and the decisions in front of you, and we will tell you plainly whether we can help.
