My wife and I met with Vera to make sense of our finances after getting married this past summer. The next six months will involve considerable life changes in geography and career for both of us; Vera's insight was incredibly helpful and encouraging and empowering at what feels like a somewhat vulnerable period in our lives. We were able to speak frankly with Vera about our hopes and fears. She reassured us that we made good decisions and have the capacity to make more. We recommend that people go to Vera if they're looking for advice on building wealth. We went in anxious but came out empowered and hopeful about our future. Thank you so much, Vera! read more

Just go to Vera, and tell her everything. Seriously, she's great. Very detail-oriented, provided advice on things I didn't even remember mentioning. From SSDI asset protection, to different bank accounts, to dealing with taxes as a Real Estate Agent. I would like to echo the other reviews in that I left feeling empowered about my finances. She also helped me look at the risks of my professional ventures, and gave me a sense of security in my 1-year plan. I'm sure I will meet with her yearly to check in and re-assess. She also offered to meet with my brothers anytime over Skype, since they live in Arizona. When I first inquired on her yelp page, she gave me a free consultation phone call, and then scheduled a meeting in one of Newburyport's quaint and lovely offices. :) Her communication style is clear and up-beat, with written notes to help visual aid. After the appointment, she constructed all of the notes into a document and emailed to me. Woot woot! read more

My wife and I met with Vera this week to discuss our financial future in retirement, hiring her on a one-time hourly basis. I'm an engineer in my mid-60's who has always done ALL of our family's financial planning and tax form preparation. We are now seeking to loosen the belt a bit (world travel perhaps?) but wished outside confirmation that we could afford to do so and to insure that we would do so maximizing our IRA and social security benefits, etc. Vera was able to provided very helpful recommendations after reviewing the forms we submitted to her in advance and discussed more fully in our meeting. Vera is very knowledgeable and communicates clearly, and we appreciated her straightforward recommendations without all the usual disclaimers. After making a few small financial changes based on her recommendations, we feel that we have good "Peace of Mind" ("Peace of Money" is a great play on words!) moving forward in life. Thanks Vera! read more

Vera is the best! As a knowledgeable, skilled and patient financial planner who shares my values and is located right in Jamaica Plain, she has helped me with everything from setting budgets to managing my retirement accounts to researching credit cards. When I graduated from college I was overwhelmed by the amount of debt I was in, and had no clue how to start paying off loans or how to responsibly spend/save my income. When I met with Vera, she was extremely helpful, and asked all the right questions that validated the lifestyle I wanted to live while still thinking about the future. Vera walked me through step by step of setting up a Roth IRA and she helped me choose investments and portfolios that aligned with my politics and wanting to do socially responsible investing. We configured my 401(k) and Vera explained all of the options that were available in my company's portfolio. She gave helpful suggestions on how to invest, but let me decide everything I wanted on my own. In a separate meeting a year later, she helped me re-assess my investments and make adjustments accordingly. Vera also helped me set up reasonable goals for my savings account, explaining why it was important to already be saving for retirement even though I'm in my 20's. Lastly, we set up a loan repayment schedule, and made sure I was going to be able to pay everything on time with the best interest rates. I left our first meeting feeling confident about my financial position, excited to be investing and having my money make money for me, and proud that I was saving for the future. We held a follow-up meeting several months later to check in on my investments and how everything was going. Our most recent meeting happened when I switched jobs and needed to move the money from my old 401(k), fill out new IRS paperwork, and also reassess my budget given my new income. I also need to buy a car, so Vera helped me figure out where that money will come from, and the best financial options for doing so (lease vs. buy). Again, she helped me come up with a budget that met my lifestyle needs while still being responsible. I left our meeting with a very concrete to-do list, that Vera promptly followed up with. I highly recommend using Vera and Peace of Money! Vera is great at explaining complicated financial systems in easy to understand and nonjudgmental ways, and I always come away feeling confident and financially secure, with a great plan for success mapped out. read more

Vera is a thoughtful and knowledgeable financial planner and generally great human being. I have known Vera for a while and knew she was a financial planner but didn't really take any notice until I myself was like, "oh man, I should probably get my cash monies life in order here" (among other things). Vera was great from the preliminary meet up, through the appointment and well after. She has a lot of good pre-paperwork that is helpful to start thinking about the things you need to have these discussions but also what to discuss. Our initial meeting was great - 2 hours is DEFINITELY needed. We went through loads of stuff in that short amount of time - she has a VAST amount of knowledge which is super helpful for all the random questions I had. I left with a manageable to-do list, improved financial knowledge for myself and a bit less anxiety than when I had started. I highly recommend Vera and her financial services. I will most definitely be calling on her again soon! read more

Vera has been so helpful in thinking through my finances. She takes the time to understand my values and helps me make financial decisions in line with my values. I came out of our first meeting with a to-do list that was detailed and manageable. Vera is also incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and committed to her client's learning and self sufficiency. I recently met with her a second time because I was having a hard time figuring out how to complete one of the tasks on my to do list. She helped me understand how to get the task done and how to do things on my own in the future, instead of having to rely on her for more help. read more