Joe Harmon, RICP®, is an investment advisor representative with Retirement Capital Planners. He specializes in retirement income planning, helping married couples turn a lifetime of savings into income they can count on, with Social Security, tax analysis, investment risk, asset protection, and estate planning coordinated in one plan.
Joe works most closely with couples within about five years of retirement, on either side of the date. The families he connects with best share strong values, talk openly about faith and family, and want a real relationship with their advisor. From his base in West Michigan, he works with families across the country.
His interest in personal finance started early. He grew up in an entrepreneurial family and had a professor at the University of Notre Dame who built personal finance into his finance course because he believed it changed lives. That idea stayed with Joe.
He began his career in 2006 at The Northern Trust Company, where he became technical coordinator of the team valuing multinational pension funds. Those funds pooled their assets to use international tax treaties, and Joe saw how a few structural decisions kept significant money working for retirees instead of going to taxes. Today he looks for the same kind of leaks in a family's finances.
In 2011 he joined a major Wall Street firm as a financial advisor, and in 2013 he started his own independent firm. Independence matters to him because no product or sales incentive shapes his advice. Those years also taught him that an advisor whose value rests only on investment returns is offering too little. Planning is where the lasting value is.
Joe came to know RC Planners founder Jeremy Shipp through Circle of Wealth® by MoneyTrax and joined the firm in 2021, drawn by the depth of its planning process. Every RC Planners relationship follows the firm's Carefree Retirement Income Model™ and its Wealth Management Formula: Investment Consulting plus Advanced Planning plus Relationship Management. In practice, that means the portfolio, the tax and estate strategy, and the coordination with each client's CPA, attorney, and other advisors all work from the same plan, with one advisor accountable for the whole picture.
Using the Personal Economic Model® from Circle of Wealth, Joe shows families where money slips away without their noticing: saving in a 401(k) while carrying credit card debt, racing to pay off a low-rate mortgage, or claiming Social Security at 62 by default. He is also quick to say how much there is still to learn. Every household is different, and when a question reaches past what he knows, he researches it or brings in the right specialist before he answers.
What he wants clients to feel is confidence and peace. For many, that means finally feeling free to spend on the life they planned, knowing someone is watching the seven retirement risks with them.
Joe holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) designation. He is also a Master Mentor with Circle of Wealth® by MoneyTrax.
Joe's Catholic faith is at the center of his life. He and his wife, Elizabeth, are active in the St. Paul the Apostle Parish and School community, where Joe serves on the parish finance council. He spends as much time as he can with his two sons, plays the bagpipes, and cheers on his beloved Fighting Irish.