Financial planning and investment advice for growth-minded people
We offer financial planning built around the moments that matter most, and portfolio management for those who value a thoughtful, long-term approach. Working with Black Barn Financial is an ongoing partnership that evolves with your life.
Financial Planning
We often start with the moments that change things. The ones that reshape your financial picture. They arrive on their own timeline, rarely one at a time, and almost never with a clear playbook.
Planning for the moments that change everything.
Tech equity and liquidity events. IPOs, RSU vesting, startup exits. Strategy should come before the event, not after.
Divorce and financial independence. Asset division, cash flow planning, building a financial identity that's yours.
Inheritance and sudden wealth. Thoughtful decisions when the pressure to act quickly is highest.
Retirement for academics and nonprofit professionals. Pensions, 403(b)s, phased retirement. We specialize here.
Sandwich generation caregiving. Balancing your future with the cost of caring for aging parents.
Investment Management
Your portfolio should reflect how you think. We work with clients who understand the balance between risk and reward, and who want to understand every decision we make together.
Conviction-based portfolios built to grow through cycles.
Clear thesis. Every position has a reason. You'll know what you own and why.
Intelligent risk. Strategies designed to grow through market cycles, with discipline built into every decision.
Ongoing adjustment. We monitor and evolve your portfolio as your life and the market do.
Direct access. Sara, Amy, and the portfolio team. By email, phone, or scheduled conversation.
Built-in education. Market perspective you can actually use, honestly delivered.
Your Financial Life
Planning evolves as you do.
Your relationship with money changes as your life does. We organize our planning work around the stages that matter most. From building your first financial foundation, to balancing career and family, to your peak earning years, pre-retirement optimization, and the legacy decisions that shape what you leave behind.
Cultivating
Your financial foundation, early career decisions and first meaningful income. Building disciplined habits and investing early, without waiting for later.
Balancing
Career growth, family planning, and competing priorities. Creating clarity between partners, aligning goals, and designing strategies that grow even when life gets complicated.
Protecting
Peak earning years, growing portfolios, and midlife transitions. Ensuring your money works as hard as you do while navigating the complexity of supporting multiple generations.
Leading
Pre-retirement, legacy, and independence. Structuring wealth for a 30+ year horizon, aligning money with values, and ensuring your financial future is entirely your own.
Who We Serve
We work with good people.
Our clients tend to share a few things in common. They have a growth mindset, want to understand the reasoning behind our recommendations, and see their advisor as a partner, not a prescriber. You may be navigating wealth as a partnership, with shared values and shared decision-making, or stepping into a new financial chapter whether by choice or by circumstance.
Common profiles we work with,
Partners building and managing wealth together
Individuals in financial transition (career change, divorce, inheritance)
Tech professionals navigating equity compensation
Academics and nonprofit leaders with unique retirement structures
Families balancing caregiving and long-term wealth building
We typically work with clients who are managing $500,000 or more in investable assets. That's less about a threshold and more about the point where this kind of planning and investment work starts making a meaningful difference.
We do our best work with clients who want to be part of the process. People who ask questions, engage with the plan, and see their advisor as a partner. If that sounds like you, we should talk.
How We Work
The relationship starts with a conversation.
We begin with a one-on-one planning session to understand where you are and where you're headed.
We look at the full picture: income, expenses, assets, debts, goals, and the life context behind all of it.
75% of financial planning is behavioral and emotional.
The numbers are the easy part. We focus on the behaviors, beliefs, and lived experiences you bring into the room. A plan that doesn't account for those isn't a plan you'll stick to.
From there, we build a personalized investment and planning strategy.
The numbers are the easy part. We focus on the behaviors, beliefs, and lived experiences you bring into the room. A plan that doesn't account for those isn't a plan you'll stick to.
What the engagement looks like:
Initial planning session to understand your financial past, present, and goals
Customized portfolio construction aligned with your strategy and risk profile
Ongoing management of investment and retirement accounts
Regular check-ins at your preferred cadence (monthly, quarterly, or annual)
Open-door access to Sara, Kacie, and our team by email, phone, or scheduled conversation
Fee Structure
We're a fee-only firm. No commissions, no kickbacks, no back-end product fees. You always know what you pay and why we're making the recommendations we're making.
As a registered investment advisory (RIA) firm, we are held to a fiduciary standard. We are legally required to put your interests ahead of our own. Most people assume that's true of any financial advisor. It isn't always. It is here.
Fees start at 1.50% of assets under management, with a minimum annual fee of $7,500. The percentage decreases as your account grows. We also offer fee savings through householding — combining multiple family member accounts under our management. At any point, you should be able to assess whether we're earning what we're being paid. We welcome that conversation.
Ready to start?
If you have a growth mindset and are navigating or preparing for a defining financial moment, we’d love to hear from you.