Blackshire Wealth Management serves high-income families across Wilmington, Greenville, Centreville, and northern Delaware. Based just across the state line in West Chester, PA, with deep roots in the tri-state area.
Delaware gives its residents a real head start: no sales tax, no state tax on Social Security, low property taxes, and no state estate or inheritance tax. But a favorable tax environment is not a plan. Without coordination, that edge gets lost to poorly timed Roth conversions, unmanaged IRMAA exposure, concentrated employer stock, and estate documents that no longer match your beneficiary designations.
Blackshire brings everything together. We are independent, fee-only, and fiduciary, meaning we do not earn commissions, sell products, or answer to a corporate parent. Our only obligation is to you.
Good planning in Delaware starts with knowing exactly what the state does and does not tax. Social Security is fully exempt. Residents 60 and older can exclude up to $12,500 per person of pension and eligible retirement income, including IRA and 401(k) withdrawals. Homeowners 65 and older may qualify for a credit of up to half of their school property taxes, capped at $500, though anyone who moved to Delaware after 2018 needs ten years of residency to claim it. We walk through the full picture in our guide to what Delaware does and doesn't tax.
Those rules are the raw material. The strategy is in the sequencing: which accounts to draw from first, how much to convert to Roth in the low-tax years before required minimum distributions begin, and how to keep withdrawals from triggering Medicare IRMAA surcharges two years later. That coordination is the core of what we do.
Pennsylvania and Delaware do not have a tax reciprocity agreement. If you live in one state and work in the other, you file returns in both, and your home state gives you a credit for tax paid to the work state. Pennsylvania's flat 3.07% rate plus a local wage tax works very differently from Delaware's graduated brackets that top out at 6.6%, and the right withholding and estimated payment setup depends on which side of the line your paycheck comes from.
The picture flips in retirement. Pennsylvania exempts nearly all retirement income, while Delaware taxes it above the exclusion but wins on property, sales, and estate taxes. Pennsylvania also levies an inheritance tax on most heirs, which Delaware does not. For families deciding where to spend retirement, or settling an estate with assets on both sides of the border, we run the actual numbers rather than relying on rules of thumb.
A lot of the families we talk to are not in Delaware yet. They are in Chester or Delaware County, running the numbers on whether the move pays. Sometimes it does: no sales tax, no inheritance tax, and lower property taxes add up, especially for estates passing to children. Sometimes it does not, because Pennsylvania exempts nearly all retirement income and Delaware taxes it above the exclusion. The honest answer depends on your income mix and what you want to leave behind, and we model it both ways before you list the house.
If the move makes sense, doing it properly matters. Domicile is a fact pattern the state can audit, not a mailing address. Our guide to changing domicile to Delaware walks through the checklist, our estate tax comparison covers what your heirs keep in each state, and the PA vs. DE break-even calculator gives you a first pass on your own numbers.
Wilmington's economy is anchored by companies whose compensation goes well beyond a paycheck: DuPont, AstraZeneca, Incyte, Chemours, ChristianaCare, and the banking operations of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, and Capital One. RSUs, ESPPs, deferred compensation, legacy pensions, and severance packages each carry their own tax timing and risk decisions.
We build plans around them every day. If you work at DuPont or AstraZeneca, we have dedicated planning pages for your benefits, and the same discipline applies to the banks and health systems that employ much of the city.
High-income professionals, executives, business owners, and retirees across Wilmington, Greenville, Centreville, Montchanin, Hockessin, Pike Creek, and the Brandywine Valley. Most of our clients are in the $500K to $5M+ investable asset range.
Blackshire Wealth Management was founded by Henry Supinski, who spent a decade in the tech industry before returning to financial planning. He is supported by Ron Madey (CFA, Chief Investment Officer), Ken Kideckel (CFA, CFP®, Head of Portfolio Management), and a dedicated compliance and marketing team.
Our office is at 1065 Andrew Drive in West Chester, PA, about 30 minutes from downtown Wilmington. Most Delaware clients mix in-person meetings with virtual ones, and we are happy to work either way.
Pennsylvania and Delaware have no reciprocity agreement, so you file in both states and Pennsylvania credits you for tax paid to Delaware. Getting withholding right matters, because Delaware's top rate of 6.6% is more than double Pennsylvania's 3.07% flat rate. We coordinate this with your CPA as part of the plan.
For many people, yes. Social Security is untaxed, residents 60 and older exclude up to $12,500 per person of retirement income, there is no sales tax, and no state estate or inheritance tax. Pennsylvania exempts more retirement income but levies an inheritance tax. The right answer depends on your income mix, and we model both states side by side.
Yes. Equity compensation, deferred compensation, pensions, and severance planning for Wilmington-area employers are core specialties. See our dedicated pages for DuPont and AstraZeneca employees.
Yes, 100% of the time. Blackshire is fee-only, meaning we are paid only by our clients. No commissions, no product sales, no referral fees. Our advice has one master: your best interest.
Your first call is 30 minutes. No obligation, no sales pitch. Just an honest conversation about where you are and where you want to be.
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