Rachel Yibo Zhang
Rachel joined Merrill in 2008 and has spent her career helping individuals, families, and business owners navigate the financial decisions that come with building, managing, and ultimately transferring wealth. She takes a personal, detail-oriented approach and believes that understanding what matters to a client is just as important as understanding the numbers. Her goal is to help each client develop a disciplined strategy that reflects where they are today and where they want to go.
Privately held business owners are an important focus of Rachel’s practice. She understands that, for many entrepreneurs, their business represents years of hard work as well as a significant part of their family’s wealth. During the wealth accumulation stage, Rachel helps business owners explore strategic retirement plan solutions designed to support their long-term retirement goals while considering near-term tax implications. As they begin thinking about succession and the next generation, she helps coordinate wealth transfer strategies, including trust and estate planning services.
Rachel also works with technology and financial services professionals, particularly those whose compensation and wealth may be concentrated in company stock, stock options, and other equity-based compensation. She understands that clients can develop a strong connection to the companies they work for and the stock they own. She helps them balance that connection with diversification and think through how their company stock fits with the rest of their financial life, from liquidity and investments to retirement and longer-term goals.
Rachel earned a Master of Science in Computer Science, with a minor in Economics, from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Her background in technology and economics brings an analytical mindset to her work and a natural curiosity for solving complex financial problems.
Outside of work, Rachel lives in Westchester County, New York, with her husband and their two children. Much of her free time is happily spent driving her daughter to ice hockey games and working on math puzzles with her son. A longtime Bach enthusiast, Rachel can often be found listening to a Bach concerto during those hours-long drives up and down I-95 to hockey tournaments.
My mission, first and foremost, is to understand you and what matters most to you. Armed with that information I can ask thoughtful questions -- listening carefully, then understanding in detail where your wealth stands today and where you'd like it to be tomorrow. I help you design and implement a personalized plan intended to help you and your family pursue financial goals while helping manage investment risk. My approach is to focus on potential solutions that can help turn goals into reality.
Bringing fresh perspectives to your financial life
The financial decisions you make today can help determine the future you build for yourself and your family. Carving a clear path forward starts with connecting your life and finances. A Merrill advisor provides access to the investing insights of Merrill and banking capabilities of Bank of America to help you make informed decisions as you pursue your goals.
