Blackwood Financial Group (offering fiduciary investment advisory services through SEC-registered Investment Adviser Park Avenue Securities LLC, CRD #46173, SEC File #801-56995, Member FINRA/SIPC) is a premier retirement income, estate, long-term care, and business exit planning practice located in Historic Downtown Milton at 5185 Elmira Street, Milton, Florida (ZIP 32570). Situated just blocks from the Blackwater River waterfront, the Santa Rosa County Courthouse, and the main headquarters of Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Greg Brown II, CFA (6495 Caroline St, Milton, FL 32570), the firm is co-founded and led by Partners and Wealth Management Strategists Richard Calvin McCool, MPH, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, AEP®, CExP™, CLTC®, RICP® (Individual CRD #4539510) and Bessann H. Watson, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, AEP®, CLTC®, CExP™, RICP® (Individual CRD #4949544).

Representing one of the most heavily credentialed retirement planning teams in Northwest Florida, both Richard C. McCool and Bessann H. Watson individually hold seven elite professional designations: Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®), Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®), Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®), Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®), Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®), Certified in Long-Term Care® (CLTC®), and Certified Exit Planner™ (CExP™). From their Elmira Street office in the county seat of Milton, the team engineers tax-efficient retirement income streams, family business succession plans, and multi-generational estate strategies for retirees across Milton, Bagdad, Pace, Jay, Allentown, and East Milton—including retiring NAS Whiting Field aviation and civil service personnel (FERS/TSP/SBP) as well as Santa Rosa County District Schools, Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, and Santa Rosa County Government employees rolling over Florida Retirement System (FRS) Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) lump sums.

Because both partners hold the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) and Certified in Long-Term Care® (CLTC®) credentials alongside Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®) training, Blackwood Financial Group excels at solving the two largest threats to senior financial security: healthcare longevity costs and lifetime tax drag. The team structures SECURE 2.0 Act Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) schedules (ages 73–75), multi-year Roth conversions, and Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) to prevent two-year lookback Medicare Part B and Part D IRMAA surcharges (complementing PSA 1 SHINE counseling at 1-800-963-5337), evaluates traditional and hybrid asset-based long-term care insurance for care near Santa Rosa Medical Center (6002 Berryhill Rd, Milton), and coordinates with First Judicial Circuit elder law attorneys and the Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser on Caroline Street to protect the $50,000 Homestead Exemption, 3% Save Our Homes portability, and the Age 65+ Additional $50,000 Senior Homestead Exemption.