Carolyn Decker, CFP®, CPA, PFS

Partner

Carolyn Decker has been a partner at Lake Street Advisors since 2009, and has spent more than two decades working with ultra-high-net-worth families to navigate and manage the complexities that significant wealth brings. Collaborative problem-solving with the families’ attorneys, accountants, and insurance agents is a hallmark of her approach. With an emphasis on translating complicated strategies to understandable alternatives, Carolyn focuses on clearly defining the pros and cons of the available options, allowing her clients to feel empowered to make confident decisions for their family.

Carolyn works closely with families to identify and articulate what they would like to achieve with their wealth. For some, it may relate to the continuity of the family business, and for others it can be social or philanthropic goals. For many, it involves preparing the next generation to become educated and responsible stewards of the family wealth. Carolyn greatly enjoys working one-on-one with teenagers and young adults to set them on a solid path of financial understanding to carry on the family legacy. Her work with families does not end at the strategic level. Carolyn fully understands and appreciates that the best of plans are not successful without careful and diligent implementation, as well as administration on an ongoing basis. Her detailed and organized approach ensures that proactive measures are taken to make clients’ financial lives run smoothly.

After graduating from Villanova University with an accounting degree, Carolyn began her career at Deloitte in the Philadelphia and Washington, DC, offices, where she specialized in individual and not-for-profit taxation. A move to New England brought with it a chance to take the tax experience she had gained and broaden her focus to all aspects of wealth management. Carolyn was an early employee at Ballentine Finn & Company (now Ballentine Partners), where she earned her CFP^® and PFS (Personal Financial Specialist) designations and helped the firm quadruple in size, taking a leading role in client team building and management.

Carolyn and her husband, Eric, are raising their two teenage boys, a dog, and two cats in their home in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire. That group gives her many opportunities to practice her amateur photography skills.