When Life Matters Most

  • A dappled front porch of a house with a rocking chair

    A TRUSTED, CONFIDENTIAL SERVICE

    to help manage personal financial information and provide in-home services to enhance quality of life

Our
Services

  • Outdoor Spaces icon

    Family Office Services

    We become part of your family team, taking care of your finances as if they were our own. We offer a wide range of services customized to fit the needs of each individual client. These include advising, accounting, performing daily financial tasks, record management, tax-related documentation, teaching the next generation financial literacy, and handling personal and lifestyle needs.

  • Custom Additions icon

    Specialized Services

    Coaching on the following:

    Financial Decision-Making

    Excessive Spending

    Divorce Financial DIvision

    Administration of:

    Family/Friend Loans

    Estates

  • Green Building icon

    Coordinate Professional Services

    We are part of our client’s team of professional advisors, working closely with CPAs, wealth managers, trust officers, estate attorneys, financial planners, bankers, and insurance agents. We make sure the entire advisory team is working with consistent and current information on behalf of our mutual clients.

  • Decks and Patios icon

    Author and Guest Speaker

    Tari's soon-to-be published manuscript, "The Emotional Side of Money: A Roadmap to a More Powerful, Peaceful, and Prosperous Relationship with Your Finances" encourages readers to consider how they came to their current relationship with money and how they can improve it. She helps readers understand they are not alone in their struggle as she shares what she's learned from decades of working with clients around their money.

    Tari also speaks publicly on the benefits of talking about money with important people in your life. Titles include "Having Successful High-Stakes Talks about Money", "Melding Hearts, Lives, and Finances", "Having 'The Talk'", and "Helping Your Child Achieve Financial Success". She speaks at conferences, community venues, workshops, businesses, and retreats.

GET IN TOUCH

Advising Over 30 years

Point of view of a small child facing their family

Finances are a leading cause of stress for many people. Most of us bring our ideas about money...how to spend it, who controls it, how much is “enough”, what is a “need” or a “want”…from our origins, often without giving it much thought. Tari leads engaging discussions to help identify your ideas about money, as well as how to talk with your significant other about your beliefs and expectations.

The work Tari and LaHonda have done together for over 30 years allows them to finish each other's sentences. Tari founded Life Matters Financial Group in 2000 with a mission to support clients who needed help managing their daily financial responsibilities. After nearly a decade of working together previously, she was delighted when LaHonda joined her emerging company, bringing extra support as their clientele grew. Now, twenty-five years later, we’re proud to have a team of four, with Suzanne Stauss joining us over a year ago to assist clients on a range of diverse projects and enhance our efficiency through advanced technology and systems. We’re excited to welcome our newest team member, Carol Shipman, whose extensive skills and expertise align seamlessly with our mission and values. Carol’s addition strengthens our capacity to provide top-notch accounting support to our clients.

Portrait of an elderly couple in a moment of joy
View of a road winding around a lake set in a glaciated valley.

Ready to have a more powerful, peaceful, and prosperous relationship with your money?

Life Matters Financial Group has clients across the country. We custom tailor onsite visits with clients to assist in gaining and maintaining control over your finances. Confidentiality is paramount to our relationships with clients.

OUR TEAM

  • Life Matters Financial Planning Group founder Tari Vickery

    TARI VICKERY

    Founder

    Tari started Life Matters as an outgrowth of a crisis when a family-member had a panic attack after losing control of financial matters. He went to the ER, thinking it was a heart attack. As a result she has spent over twenty years helping him and other clients gain and maintain control of their money. After co-owning a wholesale business with her husband, Kent, for ten years, she earned both her AB and Masters degrees from Stanford University, starting at the age of forty. After graduation, she worked with early-stage startup companies in Silicon Valley. She currently lives in Princeville, Kauai, where she moved to write The Emotional Side of Money: A Roadmap to a More Powerful, Peaceful, and Prosperous Relationship with Your Finances. She uses her business expertise, combined with sociological theory in Organizational Behavior to help clients understand why they struggle with issues around money. They report that she helps them find peace around finances as they gain confidence in their knowledge, awareness, and abilities.

  • LFMG financial administrator and accountant LaHonda Lerma

    LAHONDA LERMA

    Financial Administrator & Accountant

    LaHonda has spent over 25 years in finance, accounting, and office management, as well as having co-owned a business with her husband, Frankie. LaHonda handles accounting and family office tasks for Life Matters' clients. When she’s not working, she and Frankie are actively involved in the lives of their three children and four grandchildren.

  • SUZANNE STAUSS

    Project Manager & Efficiency Administrator

    Suzanne has worked in everything from catering to social work. Her degree is in Psychology from Texas A&M University. For Life Matters, she handles client projects from research to execution. She also works to create efficient systems for the Life Matters team and for clients to deal with the information we handle on a daily basis.

    When she’s not working, she’s camping, growing vegetables, or spending time with her husband, two kids, five chickens and three cats.

  • CAROL SHIPMAN

    Accountant

    Carol joined the Life Matters Team in October, 2024 as an accountant. She graduated from Texas State University and has over thirty years experience working in various areas of accounting including public, small business, and government.

    When she’s not working, you can find her in her garden, quilting, or spending time with her husband and enjoying her two amazing grandsons.

What Our Clients Say

  • "Tari is not only extremely knowledgeable and experienced; she's also wise and caring. I count on her help, especially with tough problems."

    University Professor

  • "Tari's personal and practical wisdom has been a tremendous comfort for my jittery nervous system around money."

    NASA Life Scientist

  • "Tari and her team gave us a sense of joy working on our financial life."

    Clergyman

  • "We realized what we thought impossible was the result of having the wrong tools. Tari and her team soon got us moving in the right direction."

    Retiree

  • "Tari and her team provided expertise and guidance in helping us reorganize our financial life. We can sleep at night."

    Business Consultant

  • "Thanks for teaching me and guiding me through finances."

    College Junior

  • "Thank you for constant patience and understanding."

    College Freshman

  • "The Life Matters team provides expertise and guidance in helping us reorganize our financial life. We can sleep at night."

    Retired Clergy

  • "We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for EVERYTHING you do for us day in and day out. We are so grateful to have you in our life!"

    Three-Generation Client Family Member

  • "LaHonda has saved my life!"

    Landscaping Business Owner