Craig Harsfield, CRPC®, CLTC

My reason for becoming a financial advisor is deeply personal. Throughout my life I have repeatedly seen many friends and family struggling to find the help they need. Some are challenged with mapping out their financial futures, others with assessing their overall financial situation, and some simply don’t know how to manage their cash flow on a day-to-day basis.

Years back, my grandmother, who lived alone away from all of us, her family, sustained an injury that shaped the rest of her life. We had already noticed she was “slowing down” but had not yet acted to appropriately address her needs. We were able to finally get her properly situated, and this process came at a financial, physical and emotional cost to the rest of us. Several years later, I was once again faced with an unexpected family challenge. My uncle, who had recently retired, started to show signs of erratic and unexpected behavior. He was diagnosed with early onset dementia. This is not how he and my aunt had envisioned and planned for their retirement years. My aunt and uncle were very lucky that not only were they clients of mine, but I had a lot of experience with handling this type of situation as a Long-Term Care Planning specialist. Obviously, given it was my uncle, this was more personal for me. We were able to adjust their retirement strategy and put a long-term care plan in place. Over a short period of time, he deteriorated to the point where we had to enact our plan and transition him. He died at a very young age. He and my aunt were not able to enjoy the retirement dreams that we had spent so much time planning for. Both my grandmother and uncle were lucky that the actions taken by my family ensured that their final days were some of her best and my aunt found the will to move on and is enjoying a different retirement plan that we created for her.

This is why I became a financial advisor and a Long-Term Care Planning specialist. Many people like my friends and family experience similar scenarios: not addressing future goals by putting a plan in place, constantly feeling tight for cash and making wrong decisions because there isn’t enough money to meet current or unexpected needs, or having a sense of regret that action was not taken when they saw the signs of their loved one(s) “slowing down” which may have allowed for an extension of life or more importantly being able to spend those later years focusing on the other important things.

As the Principal Advisor at Collaborative Financial Solutions, I am a strong believer and feel a strong sense of commitment in specializing in goal planning, being a steward for cash flow management, and acting as a transition manager for Long Term Care Planning. With over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, I have a proven track record of advising countless clients on making smart investment decisions to maximize their financial growth and create more certainty for their future. Throughout my career, I have obtained the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor℠ (CRPC®) designation as well as the Certification for Long-Term Care® (CLTC®), both of which have equipped me with the expertise to better serve my clients. I received my business degree from Babson College, which laid the foundation for my career in financial services.

A native of Boston’s South Shore, I currently live in Brookline, MA, with my wife and our two children. Outside of work, I am very passionate about my charitable endeavors and actively serve on numerous non-profit boards in the Greater Boston area including the Brookline Community Foundation. I am also a past President of the Brookline Chamber of Commerce.

In my free time, I enjoy an active lifestyle that includes coaching various youth sports teams, rooting for Boston’s professional sport teams, traveling, and spending parts of my summers on the shores of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Rhode Island.