The Family Office began with us, just four families…
a retired CEO & Chairman of multiple publicly-traded companies, a prominent local OB/GYN, the family of a senior oil & gas executive, and a self-made entrepreneur.
We were frustrated by the increasing conflicts of interest and adverse politics coming from the wealth management banks where we held accounts. Instead of serving our needs, the banks seemed increasingly more interested in selling us their “off the rack” investment products, sold to us by teams trying to serve several hundreds of clients, with no real understanding of what each of us needed our money to do in our lives.
Finally, we decided to form our own Family Office, leased convenient office space near our homes in Plano and Far North Dallas, and hired an experienced Executive Director to be our shared fiduciary who understood our lives and our needs, who would keep our confidences, protect our money, and who would come running when we needed him. Years later, our ranks include a few dozen families with members in more than a dozen states and five foreign countries. Two of those families today have four living generations, from two great-grandmothers to their great-grandkids. Our staff has grown accordingly, with the Executive Director supported by a Family Advisor, a Family Services Administrator, and part-time project coordinators.
And, we have room for a few more families just like us.
Were you given a Courtesy Card
or a business card from one of our families?
Our officers are here to help…
simply call us at 214 550-8790.
Would you like to know more about how our staff works?
For every part of our lives, financial or otherwise,
our Family Office serves us in dedicated stewardship.
It plans for our defined purposes and needs,
manages our incomes and investments across multiple generations,
provides guidance for our businesses and real estate holdings,
develops and manages our income tax and estate tax strategies,
teaches our teenagers and adult kids to make good financial decisions,
and stands on-call to help with our emergencies, problems, and decisions.
If you would like to receive a copy of our
Operational Principles Guide
or would like to schedule a visit to see our facilities, please call:
Amanda Farrar,
Family Office Advisor
214 550-8790.
Would you like to see some of our defined purposes the staff helps us pursue?
Financial independence is achieved by having a stream of recurring passive income that is abundant enough to support the comfortable lifestyle you want, adjusted for inflation, for the rest of your life.
The challenging work of building and managing our cash flows is at the core of their stewardship to us.
Do you have countermeasures in place to defend your family members, resources, property, information, values, and directives?
We review your security, critical documents, account titling, insurance policies, and beneficiary designations to help coordinate your active protections.
Relinquishing control of a business you built can be bittersweet. We help you prepare for and connect to various solutions for transition: generational-transfer, private equity or end-operator buyout, employee-purchase, and more. The more lead-time we have to plan and prepare, the better your outcome.
It isn’t what you make that counts,
it’s what they let you keep.
We pursue greater tax efficiency by understanding and using the seven core tax characterizations of income, selecting the correct account types to collect each kind of income, integrating advantageous tax code, and coordinating with your CPA.
For tithing, funding missions,
supporting the education of young minds, donating to charities, or even establishing your own charitable trust or donor advised fund, we can serve you by developing gifting strategies that integrate with tax strategy so that every dollar you give
has maximum effect.
We fight the curse, “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” Too often, descendants are unable to conserve the wealth that was built and passed on to them from an older generation. We can help teach, prepare, and incentivize each generation—even when they refuse to listen to their elders.
Legacy is measured by how well we provided for others. Whether that involves a tax-efficient estate transfer or simply helping others build their own futures, we’ll listen to your priorities, discuss what might be best for each family member, plan trusts as appropriate, and coordinate with your attorneys as needed.
There are few moments in life
as precious as celebrations of the people you love. It would be our honor to help you plan, save, and fund moments like these… weddings, b’nai/b’not mitzvah, anniversary cruises, mountain retreats for the extended family, and many more. What would you like to plan?
One of the scariest questions in life is comprised of just two words, “Now what?” After a lifetime of hard work, many find themselves asking this question. Enjoying the fruits of your labor will be fun, but a healthy sense of purpose needs more than just fruit. Let’s talk about the five keys to a rewarding life in retirement.
Would you like to meet our staff?
Bill Blake is our chief steward, financial architect, problem-solver, advisor, and confidante.
Over the past 30+ years, Bill’s service to affluent families has encompassed virtually every aspect of stewardship, including cash flow, securities portfolios, business and real estate interests, tax strategy, risk mitigation, and estate planning. Bill earned a Master of Science with Honours of Merit from The London School of Economics in the disciplines of economics, international finance, political science, and the history of international relations for which he earned the Honour of Distinction. He conducted graduate research with the World Bank and the Int’l Monetary Fund, served on the Executive Committee of The Centennial Fund and on the board of AFLSE. He serves as the President of The Lincoln Society, one of the oldest co-educational conservative organizations in Texas, and has been a keynote speaker to university groups from Harvard to Texas Tech, to oil & gas groups in the Permian Basin, and to numerous business, civic, and political organizations. Bill and his wife Vicki have three children and attend Stonebriar Community Church.
Amanda Farrar is a true servant in stewardship.
She possesses over twenty-five years of experience in financial services, a seasoned executive and former Director and Chief Operating Officer in the mortgage industry. Amanda possesses the skills and commitment to accuracy to ensure optimal service to our families. She is a resource and navigator for major life transitions, budgeting, savings discipline, tax strategy, debt management and elimination, cash flow planning and comprehensive financial planning. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from The University of Texas at Austin, a certificate of Executive Leadership from Cornell University and the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a Series 65 securities license. With her extensive credentials and her diligent work as a Family Advisor, what distinguishes Amanda the most is her servant’s heart. Our families will attest to that.
Tracy Lujan works diligently to see that our families are served.
As Family Services Administrator, Tracy oversees the office and is the nexus of communications with families. She ensures that distributions of cash flow to families and their contributions of savings are executed precisely. She maintains the books and records of the Family Office, interacts with our custodians, monitors our holdings throughout the day. But, most importantly, Tracy has been blessed with a servant’s heart combined with a calm, confident presence, attributes our families enjoy everyday but especially when they are in need.