Last Saturday night, a client texted me a variation of: “Should I really take this summer vacation?” A well-compensated corporate executive, she was ruminating on how much more everything her family getaway would cost – the hotels, the daily excursions, the wonderful meals – due to rampant inflation.

3 questions to ask your investment professional about inflation

High-earning corporate executives should evaluate this overlooked deferred compensation benefit
Say you are a corporate executive making an annual salary of $250,000. Every year, you maximize your contributions to your 401(k), which for 2022 is $20,500 for individuals under 50 and anyone over 50 is eligible to contribute an additional $6,500. Although that’s clearly the right move, you can see how saving this amount will […]

An insider’s take on today’s residential real estate market
If you’re looking at buying or selling a home right now, what can you expect in this much-heralded hot residential real estate market? Last week, award-winning real estate expert and RE/MAX Hall of Fame realtor Smita Shah was interviewed by former TV news correspondent Diana Bishop for Van Leeuwen and Company’s client-only “Assets and Aspirations” […]

Plan for your upcoming retirement as a corporate executive with these 5 steps
As many of us rethink certain aspects of how we want to live in a post-Covid world (e.g., more time with friends), some corporate executives have increasingly been asking us at Van Leeuwen & Company about one area in particular: retirement. This uptick in interest in retirement is not merely anecdotal.

Meeting with Prospective Clients Can Be Like a Blind Date
By Kenneth Van Leeuwen, CFP Everyone knows you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. That’s one of thereasons why the initial meeting with a potential client is so important for financial advisors. Whenever I sit down with a prospect for the first time, I want to make sure I put […]

Why you need an investment professional
This is a hypothetical example: On a Saturday morning, Clay Hansen*, a successful senior information officer in his mid-40s, sat down at his home office computer and logged on to Morningstar. For months, he had been spending several hours of his Saturday researching investments on the site and others.

The 5 not-so-obvious questions corporate executives should ask their investment professionals this quarter
In hundreds of conversations with corporate executive clients over the last few months of this curveball-after-curveball year, I’ve been struck by how many have made the same incorrect assumptions. First assumption: there are few, if any, financial opportunities out there.

Summer Intern Program: Why VLC is a Great Place to Work
In the time-honored tradition of our Summer Intern Program Van Leeuwen & Company is pleased to welcome to our Summer Intern Program a dynamic group of young, ambitious students representing the University of Notre Dame. We are happy to welcome to our staff the following summer interns: Welcome, summer interns! This fantastic group of young individuals are […]

Planning Your Life Vision Through Rembrandt SocietySM
Advanced Wealth Management that Takes a Holistic Approach Planning a Life Vision represents the bigger picture of your life. It is comprised of what you strive for in short, mid and long-term goals. Goals are individual experiences and accomplishments for which you strive whether tomorrow, in five years or after you retire.

The Echelons of Rembrandt SocietySM
Rembrandt SocietySM is a special program that was originally founded by Ken Van Leeuwen, CFP®, after the Dutch artist Rembrandt. Of Dutch heritage himself, Ken felt a connection with Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 17th century painter and pioneer of the Dutch Golden Age.