Financial Planner for the South Bay of Los Angeles
CFP®-Led · Women & Couples · South Bay Los Angeles
I'm Renee Cohen, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ based in the South Bay, working with women and couples in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, Palos Verdes, and virtually across the country.
CFP®-Led
Women & Couples Focus
With over 11 years of experience working with women and couples in Los Angeles — and as a South Bay resident myself — I understand the financial landscape here: the real estate values, the employer equity structures, the lifestyle costs, and the California tax environment that shapes every major financial choice. I bring your retirement planning, tax strategy, investments, and estate considerations into one structure — built around your actual situation, not a generic version of it.
Financial Planning for Women and Couples Who've Outgrown a Piecemeal Approach
Comprehensive guidance for women and couples in the South Bay in their late 30s, 40s, and early 50s — managing significant real estate, growing retirement accounts, and financial lives that have more moving parts than any single account or advisor has been built to address.
A Planning Relationship for the Long Haul
A 12-month (and beyond) comprehensive planning relationship for South Bay professionals who want a dedicated thinking partner — for retirement, investments, taxes, equity compensation, and the significant decisions that come up along the way.
Focused Planning for a Decision That Can't Wait
A typically 3-month engagement for navigating a specific financial crossroads — a home purchase in the beach cities, an equity event, a career transition, or a business exit — with a clear framework and confident next steps.
Financial Planning Built Around the South Bay's Financial Reality
The South Bay draws a particular mix of professionals — aerospace and defense engineers and executives in El Segundo and Torrance, tech and corporate professionals commuting to the Westside and beyond, business owners and entrepreneurs who've built something meaningful over time, and long-term homeowners in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Palos Verdes whose real estate has appreciated significantly and whose financial lives have grown more complex along with it.
I live and work here. I understand the financial terrain of the South Bay — the cost of homeownership in the beach cities, the equity compensation structures at the area's major employers, the lifestyle that draws people here and the planning it takes to sustain it. What my clients share isn't a single income level or asset threshold — it's that they've been intentional about money and are ready for a plan where all of it connects.
How I Help Connect Each Financial Piece
Retirement income clarity
Learn MoreKnow when work becomes optional in a market where housing costs are significant and lifestyle expectations are high — with a retirement picture built around what it actually costs to live well in the South Bay long-term.
Purpose-driven portfolio design
Learn MoreBuild an investment strategy around your goals and timeline — not concentrated employer stock positions or allocations that haven't been revisited since you set them up.
Spending confidence
Learn MoreGet clear on what you can confidently spend in one of LA's most desirable — and expensive — coastal markets, without sacrificing the retirement you're building toward.
Strategic debt payoff decisions
Learn MoreNavigate the significant mortgage balances that come with beach city homeownership — when to pay down, when to refinance, and how it all fits alongside investing and retirement funding.
Year-round tax coordination
Learn MoreManage California's tax environment alongside equity compensation, real estate transactions, and the layered income picture that tends to develop over a long South Bay career.
Protection planning
Learn MorePut the right coverage in place for a financial life where assets, income, and obligations are all significant — sized to your actual situation, not a generic benchmark.
Long-term asset transfer
Learn MoreBring clarity to how your assets and intentions will be carried out for the people and causes you care about — coordinated with your estate plan and updated as life evolves.
Equity and exit coordination
Learn MoreNavigate RSU vesting, stock option timing, and business transitions with a clear plan for the tax consequences and what the proceeds mean for your broader financial picture.
Financial Planning Questions I Hear Most in the South Bay
Beach city real estate and home equity.
Homeownership in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Palos Verdes represents one of the most significant financial decisions — and often one of the largest assets — in a South Bay client's financial life. Whether the question is whether to buy, how to think about significant home equity in the context of retirement and estate planning, or how a potential sale or downsize affects the broader plan, real estate decisions in the beach cities deserve careful analysis as part of the full financial picture.
Aerospace, defense, and corporate equity compensation.
El Segundo and Torrance are home to major aerospace and defense employers — many of which offer equity compensation, defined contribution plans, and retirement benefits that require coordination with a broader financial plan. Understanding how employer benefits, equity events, and personal investments work together is a planning question that comes up consistently for South Bay professionals in these industries.
Dual-income beach city households.
High-earning couples in the South Bay often face a financial picture that's genuinely sophisticated on both sides — separate retirement accounts, different equity compensation structures, significant shared real estate, and financial goals that have been managed individually rather than as a coordinated whole. Bringing both sides into one integrated plan is often where the most meaningful clarity comes from.
Lifestyle sustainability and long-term planning.
The South Bay is a place people choose deliberately — for the proximity to the water, the community, the pace of life. Sustaining that lifestyle into and through retirement requires a plan that's built around what it actually costs to live here — not a national average or a rule of thumb. Cash flow planning, retirement income modeling, and spending strategy all need to reflect the South Bay's real cost structure.
Working With a Financial Planner in the South Bay
I'm based in the South Bay and work with clients in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, Palos Verdes, and surrounding communities — as well as virtually with clients across California and nationwide. Meetings happen in person or by video, depending on what works best for you.
If you've been looking for a financial planner in the South Bay who knows this area and understands the financial complexity that comes with it, the next step is a conversation.