Why the 5 years before and after retirement could determine whether your $2 million portfolio lasts 30 years or runs out in 15
Former Goldman Sachs VP · Krim Associates · Bergen County, NJ
Inside the Free Training
The institutional-grade strategies that affluent investors are using to pursue more consistent, risk-adjusted returns.
How Yale, Harvard, and top endowments build portfolios that look completely different from what most retail advisors offer — and how you can access the same approach.
Why the 5 years before and after retirement are the most critical period for your portfolio — and how sequence of returns risk can make or break your financial future.
Why your current 60/40 stock-bond split may be leaving you exposed to unnecessary volatility — and what broader asset class diversification actually looks like.
How a former Goldman Sachs VP now makes institutional strategies available to investors with $500K to $10M — without family office minimums.
Sound Familiar?
If any of these sound like your situation, you're in the right place.
Your advisor works for the firm, not for you. They're restricted to proprietary products and incentivized to sell — not to build the best portfolio for your situation.
A 30% market drop in your first year of retirement can permanently destroy your portfolio — even if the market fully recovers. Timing is everything in the danger zone.
Between fund expense ratios, trading costs, and advisory fees, you could be losing 1-2% annually without realizing it — compounding into hundreds of thousands over a retirement.
A standard 60/40 portfolio treats a $5 million pre-retiree the same as a $50K beginner. You deserve institutional-grade construction — not a one-size-fits-all template.
The Krim Associates Approach
An independent, fiduciary approach built on 30 years of institutional investment experience.
We are legally obligated to put your interests first. No proprietary products, no sales quotas — just independent advice aligned with your goals.
Access alternative investments, real assets, and absolute return strategies typically reserved for endowments and ultra-high-net-worth families — starting at $500K.
Get the comprehensive, white-glove experience of a family office — retirement planning, tax strategy, estate coordination — without the $50M minimums.
From Roth conversion ladders to optimized withdrawal sequencing, we build tax-efficient plans designed to keep more of your wealth working for you.
The Process
In 10 minutes, discover the institutional strategies that could transform your approach to retirement — and why your current advisor may not have access to them.
Schedule a complimentary, no-obligation conversation with David Scher, CFP. We'll review your current portfolio and identify any gaps or risks.
Receive a preliminary institutional strategy tailored to your situation — with clear next steps and zero pressure to move forward.
Step 2
Schedule your complimentary portfolio review with David Scher, CFP.
Is This For You?
Questions?
A fiduciary is legally required to act in your best interest at all times. As a registered investment adviser, Krim Associates operates under fiduciary duty — meaning no hidden commissions, no proprietary product requirements, and no conflicts of interest. Most wirehouse advisors operate under the lower suitability standard, which only requires recommendations to be "suitable" — not necessarily in your best interest.
Institutional strategies use a broader range of asset classes — including alternatives, real assets, and absolute return strategies — to build portfolios designed for more consistent, risk-adjusted returns with historically lower volatility. These are the approaches used by Yale, Harvard, and major endowments. Most retail advisors are restricted from accessing these strategies by their firms.
We work with investors who have $500,000 or more in investable assets. This minimum allows us to implement the institutional strategies that differentiate our approach — including access to alternative investments and absolute return strategies not available to smaller portfolios.
David Scher spent 20+ years on the institutional side at Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Stifel — working with the world's most sophisticated investors. As an independent RIA, he can now offer those same strategies to individual investors without the restrictions of a wirehouse: no proprietary products, no sales quotas, and full fiduciary duty.
It's a complimentary, no-obligation conversation where we review your current portfolio, identify any gaps or risks (especially around sequence of returns risk in the retirement danger zone), and discuss whether our institutional approach makes sense for your specific situation. There is no pressure to move forward.
While our office is in Bergen County, New Jersey, we serve clients throughout the tri-state area and can work with qualified investors in most US states. Many of our client meetings are conducted virtually for convenience.
We charge a transparent, asset-based fee with no hidden charges, commissions, or sales loads. We'll walk you through our complete fee schedule during your discovery call. A copy of our Form ADV Part 2 is available upon request at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
The danger zone refers to the 5 years before and after you retire — the period when sequence of returns risk is highest. A significant market downturn during this window, combined with portfolio withdrawals, can permanently impair your retirement savings even if the market later recovers. Institutional strategies are specifically designed to mitigate this risk through broader diversification and dynamic withdrawal planning.
David holds the CFP® designation, an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and has 30+ years of experience including senior roles at Goldman Sachs (Vice President) and Stifel (Managing Director). He is an investment adviser representative of Krim Associates, a registered investment adviser.
Absolutely not. Many of our clients come to us in early retirement looking to optimize their withdrawal strategy and protect against sequence of returns risk. The sooner you implement a more diversified, institutional approach, the better positioned you'll be for the decades ahead. We'll assess your specific situation on the discovery call.
A typical transition takes 2-4 weeks once you decide to move forward. We handle all the paperwork and coordinate directly with your existing custodian to ensure a seamless transfer with minimal tax implications. We plan every transition carefully to avoid unnecessary taxable events.
No. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in declining markets. All investments carry risk, including the potential loss of principal. What we can offer is a more sophisticated, diversified approach designed to manage risk more effectively than a traditional 60/40 portfolio — particularly through the critical retirement danger zone.
Every year with a wirehouse advisor is another year without institutional-grade diversification. Schedule your complimentary portfolio review with David Scher, CFP and discover what 30 years of Goldman Sachs experience can do for your retirement.
Former Goldman Sachs VP · Krim Associates · Bergen County, NJ