About How It Works Portfolio Advisor Care Planning Community Join the Circle
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Private · By Invitation

Investing smarter,
together.

Real-world experience meets AI — portfolio strategy, retirement income, and legacy planning designed for the people we trust most.

See How It Works Explore the Tools
Goal-Based Planning
Define your timeline, risk tolerance, and target outcomes before you ever pick a single investment.
Portfolio Advisor
AI-powered allocation, income planning, tax optimization, and legacy strategy — personalized to your household.
Shared Knowledge
Decades of hard-won experience distilled into frameworks anyone in the group can apply immediately.
Our Story

Built from experience,
shared out of care

Over decades of active investing, I built a portfolio that generates meaningful passive income. The insights that made that possible are rarely accessible outside professional finance — Clear Lake changes that.

"The goal isn't to manage your money — it's to help you understand it well enough to make genuinely good decisions yourself."

We use AI not as a replacement for judgment, but to run rigorous scenarios and visualize outcomes. Portfolio Advisor, our purpose-built planning tool, covers fund selection, income modeling, tax strategy, and legacy planning in a single guided session — guidance that once cost thousands, now available to everyone in our circle.

A handshake between two people
The Process

From first conversation
to confident action

No forms, no compliance paperwork — just an honest conversation about where you are, where you want to go, and the best tools to help you get there.

01
Define Your Goals
Retirement, a home, education, financial independence — we start here, not with markets.
02
Understand Your Inputs
Income, savings rate, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Right inputs lead to right outcomes.
03
Model the Scenarios
AI runs "what if" scenarios across market conditions so you can see realistic outcomes before committing.
04
Build Your Plan
A clear, written plan reviewed together over time. Disciplined, consistent, yours.
AI-Powered Guidance

The tools that
make the difference

Institutional-grade financial modeling is now accessible to every member of our circle. Portfolio Advisor integrates four disciplines into one AI-powered tool — replacing what once required multiple advisors and thousands in fees.

Powered by Claude AI

Portfolio Advisor
Your complete financial planning tool

A single, guided workflow that covers the full spectrum of personal financial planning. Enter your household profile once and receive AI-generated fund recommendations, a retirement income model, a personalized tax strategy, and a legacy plan — all ranked by priority and sized to your specific situation.

01 — Portfolio Strategy
Fund Selection & Allocation
AI-ranked fund recommendations by account type — 401(k), Roth, HSA, and taxable brokerage — weighted to your risk profile and optimized for tax location. Expense ratios, dividend yields, and beta verified against 2026 data.
02 — Income Planning
Retirement Income Modeling
Maps Social Security timing, pension drawdown, dividend harvest, and earned income into a cohesive monthly cash flow model. Projects the income gap your portfolio must close and ranks strategies to close it.
03 — Tax Optimization
Lifetime Tax Minimization
Models Roth conversion windows, tax-loss harvesting, and account withdrawal sequencing. Identifies the highest-impact tax moves ranked by estimated savings — tailored to your bracket, filing status, and retirement timeline.
04 — Legacy Planning
Wealth Transfer Strategy
Structures accounts and beneficiary designations to maximize what transfers to the next generation. Addresses RMD timing, inherited IRA rules, and the role of Roth accounts as tax-free legacy assets.
Initializing advisor…
Skilled Nursing & Medicaid

Planning for the care
your family deserves

When a loved one's care needs exceed what can be managed at home, the financial implications are immediate and significant. A skilled nursing facility can cost $8,000 to $12,000 per month — costs that can exhaust a lifetime of savings in under two years without a coordinated strategy.

Pennsylvania Medicaid and most state programs provide coverage once assets are reduced to allowable levels. The key is that the law also protects the community spouse — the husband or wife who remains at home — from financial destitution through the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) and the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA).

"Every family facing this transition has options. The outcome — for both the patient and the spouse who remains at home — is almost entirely determined by whether a plan is in place before care begins."
01
Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA)
Federal law guarantees the at-home spouse the right to keep roughly half of all countable assets, up to a state-set cap (approximately $148,620 in Pennsylvania for 2024). Assets above this threshold must be spent down before Medicaid activates.
02
Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA)
The community spouse is entitled to a minimum monthly income floor. If their own income falls below that floor, a portion of the nursing home patient's income is diverted back to them. Housing costs can increase this allowance above the base level.
03
Medicaid Compliant Annuity (MCA)
Assets that exceed the CSRA — the "spend-down" — can be converted into an exempt income stream through a Medicaid Compliant Annuity rather than being paid directly to the nursing facility. This strategy preserves the economic value of excess assets for the community spouse.
04
Timing is Critical
All major planning steps — the annuity purchase, irrevocable funeral trusts, Medicaid application — must be coordinated before or concurrent with nursing home admission. Delays cost real money and reduce options. An elder law attorney must direct the execution.
Asset Protection Strategy
Calculate exactly how much can be protected, what must be spent, and the optimal sequencing of spend-down actions including funeral trusts and annuity conversion.
Community Spouse Income
Model the income diversion from the nursing home patient to the at-home spouse, and the impact of the MMMNA and excess shelter allowance on monthly cash flow.
Prioritized Action Plan
Receive a clear, time-sequenced action list — from retaining an elder law attorney to filing the Medicaid application — so nothing falls through the cracks when it matters most.

SNF & Medicaid Financial Planner

Enter your family's financial data to generate a personalized strategy

Estimates only. Rules vary by state and change annually. All planning must be directed by a licensed elder law attorney. Not legal, financial, or tax advice.
1
Situation
2
Income
3
Assets
4
Expenses
5
Strategy
About Your Situation
Tell us about your loved one and the nature of the care transition you are planning for.
Location & status
Marital status
Community spouse is at home
Care timeline
Estimated monthly nursing facility cost
Quick Reference
Federal CSRA maximum (2025)
$154,140
State-specific caps may be lower
MMMNA base allowance (2025)
$2,739 / mo
Before excess shelter adjustment
Avg. PA SNF daily rate (2025)
~$290 / day
~$8,700 / month. Varies by facility and level of care.
All figures are federal 2025 estimates. State rules and annual adjustments vary significantly. Always verify with an elder law attorney in your state.
Monthly Income
Enter all monthly income for both the nursing home patient and the community spouse. Leave any field at zero if it does not apply.
Nursing home patient income
Community spouse income
Income Summary
Patient monthly income
$0
Spouse monthly income
$0
Total combined $0 / mo
The patient's income (minus a small personal needs allowance) will be directed toward the nursing home cost. Any shortfall is the Medicaid gap.
Asset Inventory
List all assets below. Medicaid classifies assets as countable (included in the spend-down calculation) or exempt (protected regardless of value).
Countable assetsIncluded in spend-down calculation
Exempt assetsProtected under Medicaid rules
Asset Analysis
Total countable assets
$0
CSRA — spouse protected amount
$0
Based on selected state rules
Estimated spend-down required $0
Recommended funeral trusts $0
Estimated MCA amount $0
The spend-down is the amount above the CSRA that must be addressed before Medicaid activates. Irrevocable funeral trusts and a Medicaid Compliant Annuity are the primary spend-down tools.
Community Spouse Living Costs
Monthly living expenses for the spouse who remains at home. Housing costs directly affect the MMMNA calculation — the income floor the at-home spouse is entitled to.
Housing costs (affect MMMNA allowance)
Other monthly costs
Income Floor Analysis
Spouse monthly housing costs
$0
MMMNA (income floor for spouse)
$0
Includes excess shelter allowance
Spouse's own income $0
Income diversion from patient $0
Total spouse income w/ diversion $0
Spouse total expenses $0
Estimated monthly surplus $0
Income diversion is not a guarantee — it requires that the patient's income actually exceeds the personal needs allowance after the nursing facility co-pay is applied.
Next Step
Ready to take action?
The strategy above is a starting framework. Execution requires a licensed elder law attorney who specializes in Medicaid planning in your state. The NAELA attorney directory is the best place to start.
Find an Elder Law Attorney
Our Circle

More than tools —
a trusted community

Investment Reviews
Periodic portfolio check-ins using live market data and AI modeling to verify your allocation is still optimal for your goals.
Shared Learning
Articles, prompts, and case studies from real decisions we've made — good and bad — turned into repeatable frameworks for the group.
Honest Conversations
The circle is small by design. Every question gets a real answer grounded in experience — not a sales pitch or a generic recommendation.
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"The best time to plan was before the crisis. The second best time is now."
Get In Touch

Join the
circle

Clear Lake is by invitation — but if you know someone in the group, reach out and let's talk. We keep it small so every member gets real attention, not a number.

This is a private, non-commercial group for family and close friends. There are no fees and no products being sold. All guidance is shared in the spirit of genuine helpfulness.