Financial planning should leave you better informed not more overwhelmed.
You may be preparing to retire, navigating a demanding career, or adjusting to a change you did not anticipate. Your finances may be sound, yet the decisions ahead feel more interconnectedand more consequential than before.
Meridian Atlas Planning helps professionals and families bring those decisions into focus. We organize the details, explain the alternatives, and build a strategy around what matters to you.
Important decisions deserve more than a rule of thumb.
You can have substantial savings, a successful career, and a collection of financial accounts and still feel uncertain about your next step.
Can you retire? How much can you spend? What should you do with your workplace benefits? How do you balance your own needs with the people you want to support?
These questions are connected. Answering one without considering the others can leave important trade-offs unexplored.
I founded Meridian Atlas Planning to bring those decisions together. My aim is to combine careful analysis with practical guidance, helping you understand both the recommendations and the reasoning behind them.
You should not need to become a financial expert to make an informed decision. But you should understand your plan well enough to know why it fits your life.
Understanding is part of the service.
As a financial-planning professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, I help students work through the technical and human dimensions of financial decisions.
My earlier experience includes serving as an Assistant Professor of Retirement at The American College of Financial Services and as Assistant Director of its New York Life Center for Retirement Income.
That background shapes how I approach planning.
01
I ask questions before offering answers.
02
I examine assumptions.
03
I make room for questions.
04
I connect analysis to action.
Building wealth and using it require different decisions.
Much of my teaching and research has focused on retirement income and the decisions people face as they transition away from work.
During your career, saving regularly can provide a familiar sense of progress. Retirement introduces a different set of questions: how to create income, when to draw from different resources, how to respond to uncertainty, and how to spend without feeling that every withdrawal is a setback.
I help clients explore those questions in the context of their broader lives.
Retirement may mean leaving work entirely. It may also mean teaching less, consulting, changing careers, or having more control over your time. The plan should reflect your definition not someone else’s.
Planning for People, Not Just Portfolios
The numbers matter. So does how you feel about the decisions.
My interest in behavioral finance reflects a simple observation: knowing what to do and feeling ready to do it are not always the same.
You may understand that you can afford a purchase and still hesitate to spend. You may want to reduce investment risk but feel reluctant to sell employer stock. You and your spouse may view the same financial decision differently.
Those concerns deserve attention.
I believe effective planning considers your preferences, habits, and comfort with uncertainty alongside the financial analysis. A strategy needs to make sense on paper and be workable in your life.
Planning for People, Not Just Portfolios
The numbers matter. So does how you feel about the decisions.
My interest in behavioral finance reflects a simple observation: knowing what to do and feeling ready to do it are not always the same.
You may understand that you can afford a purchase and still hesitate to spend. You may want to reduce investment risk but feel reluctant to sell employer stock. You and your spouse may view the same financial decision differently.
Those concerns deserve attention.
I believe effective planning considers your preferences, habits, and comfort with uncertainty alongside the financial analysis. A strategy needs to make sense on paper and be workable in your life.
Clarity for what comes next.
A meridian can represent a high point. It can also provide a reference for direction.
For many people, retirement marks the culmination of years spent building a career and accumulating resources. Other life events can create a turning point much sooner or unexpectedly.
“Atlas” reflects the importance of seeing the whole picture before choosing a path.
Together, the name expresses what I want Meridian Atlas Planning to provide: perspective on where you stand, an understanding of your options, and a practical direction forward.
The destination remains yours.
Beyond My Professional Work
I live in Florham Park, New Jersey, with my wife and our young child.
Marriage, parenthood, and homeownership have added a personal perspective to the transitions I study and teach. They are reminders that financial decisions rarely happen in isolation and that priorities can change as life unfolds.
That perspective reinforces how I want clients to experience planning: as a thoughtful conversation about their lives, supported by careful financial work.
You do not need a perfectly organized financial life or a fully formed retirement vision to begin.
Bring your questions, the decision you are weighing, or the concern you have been putting off. We can discuss what you need and whether Meridian Atlas Planning is the right fit.