Tag: Tax Optimization
Client Concierge and Paperwork Queen: How Lauren Morris Makes Your Life Easier at Gessner Wealth Strategies (Ep. 27)

Client Concierge and Paperwork Queen: How Lauren Morris Makes Your Life Easier at Gessner Wealth Strategies (Ep. 27)

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Join Michelle Gessner, CFP®, as she welcomes Lauren Morris, the client services extraordinaire at Gessner Wealth Strategies. Lauren shares her behind-the-scenes skills on simplifying the financial complexities that often perplex us. Whether it’s navigating the ins and outs of accessing funds, ensuring tax efficiency, managing paperwork with Schwab, and knowing what questions to ask, or better safeguarding finances with seamless bank links, Lauren’s insights are invaluable. 

Discover how Gessner Wealth Strategies strives to enhance your overall financial well-being through proactive management and exceptional client support.

Michelle and Lauren discuss:

  • [00:03:03] How new clients can easily access their funds and why understanding “custodians” like Charles Schwab is crucial
  • [00:05:35] Setting up secure bank links without compromising cybersecurity
  • [00:08:47] Tips for onboarding: Gathering account statements, checking beneficiaries, and preparing for financial planning
  • [00:13:37] Tackling paperwork and navigating RMD processes to minimize tax burdens
  • [00:17:18] Real-life examples where proactive steps prevented financial mishaps due to unreported cost basis
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Michelle Gessner: 

Connect with Lauren Morris:

About Our Guest:

As the Client Services Manager at Gessner Wealth Strategies, Lauren Morris takes great pride in working with clients daily, assisting them with important questions about their accounts. Lauren is responsible for more than just answering phones—they ensure that files meet compliance standards, projects are completed on time, tasks and follow-ups are handled, and data is collected with care and security. In many ways, Lauren runs the office like a well-oiled machine.

With over 14 years of administrative experience, Lauren is a native Houstonian who spent some time living in Georgia and Washington before returning to the Houston area in October of 2015. Lauren earned a degree in Pharmacy Technology from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado, in 2011. Additionally, they have experience in both the mortgage and jewelry industries, earning a Gemological Institute of America Certification in Diamonds. Outside of work, she serves as the Kids Church Coordinator and Elementary Youth Program Leader at their church, while also being a proud parent of two children. In their free time, they enjoy reading, spending time at the beach, and visiting family in Dallas.
You Got Laid Off – Now What? 10 Important Steps to Take (Ep.26 )

You Got Laid Off – Now What? 10 Important Steps to Take (Ep.26 )

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What do you do when life throws you a curveball, like an unexpected job layoff?

Join Michelle Gessner, CFP®, on navigating the uncertainty of job loss and crafting a viable plan forward. Michelle shares her personal layoff experience post-9/11, and delves into ten essential action steps everyone should consider when faced with sudden unemployment. From prioritizing self-care to understanding health insurance options and other items you may not have thought about, Michelle offers guidance on protecting your assets and planning for your future.

Michelle discusses: 

  • Self-care strategies to maintain your wellbeing and resilience during tough times [00:03:18]
  • Managing health insurance options, including understanding COBRA [00:04:52]
  • Evaluating and negotiating separation agreements to ensure fair terms [00:06:10]
  • How to file for unemployment benefits effectively and without delay [00:07:56]
  • Handling stock options and making informed 401(k) decisions during transitions [00:09:10]
  • Exploring new career paths and seizing emerging opportunities [00:15:39]
  • And more

Resources:

Connect with Michelle Gessner: 

About Michelle Gessner: 

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Michelle is passionate about building a life plan for her clients and helping them see that they have choices, which often comes to them as a pleasant surprise. She is an independent thinker and a huge advocate of her clients’ interests. Her greatest joy is working to do what is right for them and be their voice.

Michelle has a B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an M.S. in Management from Boston University, Brussels. Growing up in Montana and moving to Colorado for college, she took out student loans and worked her way through all four years. After graduating in 1987 with honors, she accepted a job at Shell Oil in Houston, and worked her way up the corporate ladder to a management position before leaving in 1992 for Brussels, Belgium, where she lived for 4 years. In Brussels, she learned about different cultures and basic conversational French as well as pursuing and earning a graduate degree in management. 

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional,  she is held to the highest standards set forth in the industry. She surrounds herself with a back office of experts in tax and investment research so that her clients have the best of both worlds – the resources of a large firm with the caring, dedication, and personal service of a small firm.