Western Springs Resident Opens Financial Planning Office in His Hometown

Michael McNeily is about as Western Springs as you can get. He grew up in Old Town, and now lives in Ridge Acres with his family. The McNeilys have been in Western Springs since the 1920s; Michael’s grandfather Robert M. McNeily and uncle Robert W. McNeily both served as Village President. Michael coaches basketball at McClure, attends church at First Congo and gets his lunches from Casey’s and Scavuzzo’s.

And now, Michael McNeily, all-Western Springs, is a Village business owner as well.

Western Springs trustees held an official ribbon-cutting for McNeily & Company, Michael’s independent financial-planning firm now at 1060 Hillgrove Avenue, at the end of November, although the business has been up and running since the summer.

“I started looking around, and ultimately decided that going independent was the route that would let me do business the way I want to do business,” said McNeily, who previously worked for seven years with Edward Jones in Brookfield. “And I kind of always wanted to be here in town.”

McNeily’s company is a full-service financial planning firm, with a focus on retirement planning, estate planning, tax-free investment, wealth transfer and insurance protection.

“A lot of people don’t understand, or haven’t really sorted through the questions of, well, if you’re retired, what does that look like? What do you want, what do you need, that sort of thing,” said McNeily. “We help clients define their goals and put together a plan to reach those goals.”

Currently, McNeily is alone in his corner office, though he plans a future expansion and has office space for a partner. (The location has formerly been 2-B Weavers and an American Family Insurance.)

He stated that the local focus of Western Springs and its surrounding towns like La Grange make it an excellent place to do business, citing a “really strong sense of community” and how people who grew up here return to raise their families.

McNeily said he loves the local atmosphere of Western Springs, and that there’s something pretty cool about having his office three blocks from where he grew up, in the same location where he used to rent VHS movies as a kid.

“It’s a little nostalgic,” he said.

Get news alerts and Facebook updates from these Patch sites:

• La Grange/La Grange Park newsletter and La Grange Patch Facebook
• Western Springs newsletter and Western Springs Patch Facebook