Birmingham is the closest major city to 30A. That proximity means many Birmingham families already know the coast. When the weekend trips turn into a permanent move, the financial planning has to catch up. We made the same transition. We can help you make yours.
Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover. Birmingham's wealthiest neighborhoods have had a direct pipeline to 30A for generations. Families in banking, medical, legal, and engineering professions have built second-home traditions along the coast. Increasingly, those families are asking a different question: what if this became home?
Alabama taxes income up to 5%. Florida has no state income tax. For a Birmingham household with $400K+ in income, that difference creates meaningful annual savings, but only if the domicile transition is executed properly. The timing of Roth conversions, capital gains recognition, business income distributions, and retirement plan withdrawals all need to align with the move date. Get it wrong and you leave real money on the table.
Beyond tax planning, estate documents drafted under Alabama law require review for Florida's homestead protections, elective share rules, and trust administration differences. Real estate timing between the Birmingham market and 30A's seasonal pricing patterns requires cash flow modeling that accounts for overlapping carrying costs. Insurance needs shift substantially when your primary residence moves to the coast: wind, flood, and liability coverage all change.
Birmingham advisors, even good ones, rarely have depth in these Florida-specific dynamics. We live here. We know the 30A market, the local insurance landscape, the school districts, and the healthcare systems that Birmingham families are evaluating. That local knowledge is the difference.
Whether the move is imminent or two years out, we work across the full spectrum of financial planning with particular depth in the issues Birmingham families face when relocating.
Alabama-to-Florida domicile transition, income timing optimization, Roth conversion sequencing, and capital gains planning around your move date.
Social Security optimization, pension decisions, required minimum distributions, Medicare coordination, and the transition from career income to investment income.
Learn more →Alabama-to-Florida estate plan review, homestead protection alignment, beneficiary designation audit, and trust structure updates for Florida domicile.
A coordinated portfolio aligned to your timeline, tax situation, and risk tolerance. Tax-loss harvesting timed to your state tax transition.
Learn more →Cash flow modeling for simultaneous ownership, second-home to primary conversion tax implications, bridge financing, and 30A seasonal market timing.
For families navigating disability planning, special needs trusts, ABLE accounts, or Medicaid coordination alongside a relocation, we bring expertise most advisors cannot.
Learn more →Todd Sensing, CFA, CFP®, CEPA®, ChSNC®, spent two decades in institutional finance: managing equity portfolios, consulting community banks on fixed-income hedging strategies, and building the Aardvark Market Neutral Fund from scratch. He moved his family to the Emerald Coast in 2010 and launched FamilyVest in 2017, bringing that same institutional discipline to a practice built around families instead of institutions.
FamilyVest operates through Farther, combining the personal relationship of an independent advisor with institutional-grade technology and compliance infrastructure. We are 100% fee-only. No commissions. No product sales. Our only incentive is to give you the best advice we can.
Our office is at Destin Commons, four hours from Birmingham. Close enough to meet in person when you visit. Local enough to know everything about the community you are joining. That knowledge is not something you can acquire from a distance. It is something you earn by living here.
Todd is the father of two sons with autism. He holds the Chartered Special Needs Consultant (ChSNC) designation. This is not a service line. It is personal.
Alabama's Medicaid waiver system and Florida's iBudget waiver have fundamentally different structures, eligibility criteria, and waitlist dynamics. A family receiving services through Alabama's ID waiver may face a multi-year waitlist when transitioning to Florida's equivalent. ABLE account contributions are federally consistent, but state tax treatment and plan options differ. A special needs trust drafted in Alabama remains valid, but trustee selection, distribution standards, and investment provisions may need updating for Florida-specific requirements.
We navigate this for families because we have navigated it ourselves. The gap between knowing the rules and living the reality is where most advisors fall short.
Our special needs planning approach →Whether you are in Mountain Brook or already on 30A, one conversation will clarify where you stand and what the transition looks like from a financial planning perspective.