Fintegrity is an independent, fee-only fiduciary adviser (CRD #292421) serving Westchester County families who invest more than $2 million. You work directly with founder and managing principal Jeffrey Barnett, and our performance reporting is independently verified for GIPS compliance. See how we meet the four criteria every high-net-worth family should demand.
The Westchester County wealth picture
Westchester is home to some of the most established wealth in the New York metro — corporate executives (with major employers headquartered in and around Armonk, Purchase, and Harrison), NYC commuters, physicians, attorneys, and multi-generational families in towns like Scarsdale, Rye, Bronxville, Chappaqua, and Larchmont. It’s a different profile from downstate or across the river: often decades of appreciated assets, a long-held home worth many times what was paid for it, and a concentrated position built over a corporate career. Those are exactly the situations that create outsized, and avoidable, tax exposure.
Problem one: the New York estate-tax “cliff” hits established wealth hardest
Westchester families are unusually exposed to New York’s estate tax because so much of their wealth is appreciated — a home bought decades ago, long-held stock, and retirement accounts that have compounded for years. New York exempts approximately $7.35 million per person in 2026, but exceed about 105% of that (roughly $7.72 million) and the exemption vanishes entirely — the whole estate is taxed from the first dollar, at up to 16%, with no spousal portability. A Scarsdale household that “doesn’t feel wealthy” can cross that line on paper without realizing it. Keeping a family clear of the cliff takes deliberate structuring, done well before it’s needed, coordinated between your investment plan and your estate attorney.
Problem two: concentrated corporate wealth and a career’s worth of stock
Many Westchester executives hold a large share of their net worth in one employer’s stock — RSUs, options, or a low-basis position accumulated over a long tenure. Selling triggers tax; holding leaves you tied to a single company. Staged diversification, tax-lot management, and charitable strategies offer a disciplined middle path to reduce that concentration without an outsized tax hit — the kind of problem a fee-only fiduciary should be solving with you.
Problem three: continuity for multi-generational families
For families thinking a generation ahead, the weak point of the traditional model is turnover — advisers change firms, accounts get reassigned to junior staff, and the person who understood your family is gone. Fintegrity is deliberately small, serving fewer than 30 client households, so the principal who knows your estate plan, your heirs, and your intentions is the same person you’ll speak with years from now. For retirees, that also means one steady hand on withdrawal sequencing, Social Security timing, and a plan a surviving spouse can rely on.
Geography is a non-issue
Most Westchester clients work with us primarily by secure video, with in-person meetings available by appointment at our Tenafly, New Jersey office, a short trip across the Hudson. Wherever in the county you live, the relationship works the same way.
What working with Fintegrity looks like for a Westchester family
Illustrative scenarios, not specific clients:
- A retired corporate executive in Scarsdale with a long-held concentrated stock position and an estate sitting near the New York cliff, who needs both a diversification plan and estate coordination.
- A two-career household in Rye with appreciated assets and college and retirement goals to balance against future estate exposure.
- A widow in Bronxville who needs a clear, reliable income plan and an estate structure the next generation can rely on.
