Experience.

We have the experience and the solutions needed to tailor your retirement strategy to your unique goals and wishes.

Lanier Capital Management Inc. can offer an array of investment opportunities, but we tend to focus on conservative investment products that offer principal protection and optional lifetime income guarantees. If we make a mistake, I’d rather it be under-projecting retirement income rather than over-projecting retirement income.

In today’s global economy, a devastating stock market correction, like the mortgage crisis of 2008, can destroy or cripple a retirement plan solely based on returns of the stock market. Diversification of portfolio assets was one way to hedge against market losses, but that philosophy also experienced tremendous losses during the past 17 years. Our planning models have principal protection guarantees that protect your retirement nest egg from stock market volatility.

Many baby boomers retiring today have pensions, Social Security, and personal savings, while the next generation of retirees will have 401(k) plans and some form of Social Security. The volatility of the stock market and the social security dilemma in the future screams out for security.

David Bales

David Bales, founder of Lanier Capital Management Inc., brings more to the table than most financial advisors. David has a B.S. in Education from Georgia Southwestern University, a Master’s in Education from the University of Georgia, a J.D. from John Marshall Law School, and designations as a certified Senior Advisor and Chartered Federal Employee Benefit Consultant.

The first eight years of my professional career were spent in the classroom teaching history and mathematics and coaching football. In the classroom and on the football field, you are teaching concepts. You have specific objectives you need to accomplish with each class or practice session. Retirement planning follows the same path. During our working careers, we save for retirement in a variety of investments: IRAs, 401(k)s, TRSs, 403(b)s, Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Roth IRAs and Equity, Index Life Insurance, and Annuities — just to name a few. Your objective should be to save enough to provide an income stream that you cannot outlive.

At Lanier Capital Management, Inc., we provide you with a game plan that allows you to retire in dignity while helping provide you with an income you cannot outlive. Our plans are designed to provide lifetime income streams, incorporating long-term health provisions, preservation of capital, and growth of the asset base. When the final whistle is blown, and the game is over, all remaining assets can be passed to future generations.

Our firm has associations with accountants and estate planning attorneys, which affords us the opportunity to make recommendations on a tax and estate planning issues. Having a properly designed game plan assures our customers that their plans are tax efficient and in many instances avoids costly probate issues.

Debora Q. Bales

Debora joined Lanier Capital Management in 2009 to manage the 403(b) accounts for the Forsyth County School System. Her responsibilities include establishing new accounts and managing existing accounts (approximately 400 403(b) accounts) as educator’s transition into retirement. Since most educators retire in their 50s, Debora must navigate various IRS tax codes to assist educators in exercising lifetime income strategies without suffering pre-age 59½ early withdrawal penalties.

Debora is scheduled to take her series 65 exam in April. Upon passing the exam, she will become an Investment Advisor Representative (IAR). Once her registration is complete, Debora will assume responsibilities for managing the clients’ Investment Assets. Her duties will include portfolio management for existing and new clients.

Prior to joining Lanier Capital Management in 2009, Debora’s career was centered around the Real Estate Industry. She was a Real Estate Appraiser in Palatka and Stuart, Florida, from 1984 to 1994. Debora’s responsibilities included appraising single-family dwellings, ocean-front property on Jupiter Island, Florida, and commercial property in Martin County, Florida. This experience helped her transition into real estate sales in 1994. Debora was an associate with Northside Realty of Atlanta, Georgia, where she was a consistent member of the Million Dollar Club and a member of the local Board of Realtors in Forsyth County, Georgia. From 2002 to 2009, Debora was a Mortgage Lender with Crescent Bank in Cumming, Georgia. During her tenure at Crescent Bank, Debora originated loans for real estate, consumer, and commercial loans.

Debora is an Honor Graduate from Martin County High School in Stuart, Florida, and St. Johns River State College in Jacksonville, Florida. She also attended North Georgia College and State University furthering her education in accounting and finance. Debora is a member of the Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce and was a graduate of Leadership Forsyth in 2005.