Robert Lindstrom, CFP®, EA

The path that brought me here wasn't linear. But every turn taught me something essential.

I caught the investing bug young—my grandfather gave me stock certificates for birthdays and Christmas, and I was hooked. I knew I'd do something in finance, but graduating into the 2010 post-recession job market meant taking whatever I could find.

I landed in "wealth management" at a bank. It planted a seed: there was more to money than just picking investments. So I pursued my CFP® designation, which opened my eyes to comprehensive planning—taxes, estate, insurance, retirement income. This was what I wanted to do.

But my next role was primarily commission-based sales. I learned a lot about how products work (and how they're sold), but it wasn't a fit. I'm not built to sell. I'm built to solve problems.

Then I found my home: a fee-only firm with deep tax expertise. No commissions. No product sales. Just advice. This felt right. I could focus on what actually mattered: helping people make better decisions.

I also became an Enrolled Agent and dove deep into multi-year tax planning. I realized most advisors think about taxes annually—but retirement tax planning needs to span 5, 10, even 20 years. A Roth conversion today affects Medicare premiums in three years. Social Security timing impacts tax brackets for decades. Everything connects.

In 2019, I founded Provision Financial Planning to serve retirees the way I believe you deserve: with coordinated planning that sees how retirement, investments, and taxes interconnect across time.

That systems thinking—seeing how individual decisions ripple across retirement, investments, taxes, insurance, and estate planning—became my superpower. An attorney once told me I "think like an attorney," always asking "what if this happens?" It's how my brain works, and it's crucial for retirement planning where there are no do-overs.

The name "Provision" is intentional. It means preparing ahead of time for what will or may happen. That's my entire philosophy: long-term optimistic, short-term realistic. We plan for the retirement you want and prepare for what could threaten it.

I've discovered I do my best work with lifelong savers navigating the Dangerous Decade—the critical window that starts 5-years before and ends 5-years after retirement. Along the way I've discovered that my approach seem to especially resonate with independent women who appreciate the depth, the thoroughness, and the collaborative "thinking partner" approach. If I could fill my entire practice with that client profile, I'd be thrilled.

My work is important to me, but wife Laura and our three boys are the center of my life. Starting my own firm gave me the flexibility to work from home and be present for them—something I don't take for granted.

And golf? It's been my passion since age 10. I played competitively through college, and still play amateur tournaments when I can (though three young kids have limited my tee times). The patience and strategic thinking golf requires probably makes me better at what I do.

This work matters to me because retirement is high-stakes and one-directional. You can't restart at 75 if you get it wrong. My clients have saved diligently for decades. They deserve more than generic portfolios and hopeful rules of thumb. They deserve coordinated planning and the confidence to actually enjoy what they've built.

That's what I do. That's why Provision exists.