Megan Gorman has been coloring outside the lines from an early age and continues to do so today. She grew up in the picturesque Victorian resort of Cape May, New Jersey – but she’s not your typical small-town girl — she is the female founder of a business in an industry that doesn’t typically see many women in top leadership roles.
Over the years, she has learned that the psychology of money – and the ability to understand our individual money stories no matter how much money we may have – is the key to making better financial decisions. She likes to explore how we all relate to money and how it has impacted our current financial standing through the lens of psychology, early childhood, pop culture and history.
As the Founding Partner of Chequers Financial Management, a high net worth tax and financial planning firm headquartered in San Francisco. Megan’s clientele ranges from entrepreneurs to corporate executives to inherited family wealth. An attorney by training, she is passionate about the problem-solving required to work in the world of complex financial planning.
Megan attended Rutgers School of Law, where she got her J.D. degree and was on the Law Review. Her case-note on property takings, “Going Up in Smoke” was highly ranked and published. She spent her second summer of law school in Hong Kong, as an intern for a trust company. She also served as a valued research assistant to Distinguished Professor Jay M. Feinman and was acknowledged in his book Un-Making Law: The Conservative Campaign to Roll Back the Common Law, Beacon Press, 2004.
Her initial attraction to law started when she served as a Congressional Page while in high school. She attended Bryn Mawr College, one of the exclusive “Seven Sister” schools, where she earned a BA in history. Always looking for new adventures, after graduation she returned to China and spent a year teaching English to graduate students at Tianjin University.
She spent 11 years as a Vice-President of Financial Counseling at Goldman Sachs, working with senior executives on tax planning, estate planning and executive compensation planning. In 2012, Megan joined BNY Mellon Wealth Management where she worked provided financial planning services to high net worth families, and also served in a fiduciary capacity on large family trusts.
Recognized for her expertise in a variety of areas, she speaks regularly on taxes, retirement, and other topics. She has been regularly quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN Money and US News & World Report among others. Megan is also a frequent podcast guest on The So Money Podcast hosted by Farnoosh Torabi, Dead Celebrity Podcast hosted by Trust & Estates magazine and The Money Tree hosted by Kirk Chisholm.
Megan is also a Senior Contributor at Forbes where she writes on the areas of personal finance, tax and estate planning. She is also a contributor and on the Advisory Board of Swaay Media Inc. Megan recently launched an Internet radio show, “The Wealth Intersection – Your Money * Story * Life” on VoiceAmerica, the leading internet radio network.
Read the cover story on Megan in Ria’s CityWire magazine here.