4/17/23 UPDATE: Robb…read morehas moved to the East Coast and still takes care of his West Coast people too.. I actually do pretty well on my own with taxes but always something odd comes up just when it goes well for a year or two.. For me, this year I realized I've been handling my federal disability annuity retirement wrong as I could have retired 5 years ago and just realized it as it's the year I actually planned to retire. It affects paying taxes or none, complicated with SSDI and possibly amending previous years... is it worth the hassle? Robb was awesome as always to spend time in a 30 min Zoom call to help me sort through things. It may not have seemed like a lot to him, but it definitely helped and reassured me in the direction I need to take and what is best for me and did it all as a consult without a fee.. He still takes time to truly care to help others. The East coast is lucky to have him and still happy on the west coast to be able to reach out! ____________________________________________________________________________

Robb is, hands down, the most competent, caring, responsive and honest CPA I have ever worked with…read more I spent months trying to find a good CPA for my small business after some negative experiences with previous accountants and tax firms. Robb has risen to the occasion. He is very responsive and timely, clear about what he offers and thorough with his responses. He is very knowledgeable and is now doing not only my personal and company taxes but our bookkeeping. He has made excellent recommendations for other financial professionals when I have asked and has even sat in on a few long conference calls with me when I've consulted with financial professionals he recommended. I am incredibly impressed. If you're looking for a competent, timely and responsive CPA, bookkeeper and/or financial planner, look no further. Robb is fantastic.

Not only am I a fan of credit unions, I am a fan of financial counseling and empowerment. The good…read morenews is that I'm a member of UMassFive, which has team members throughout their whole organization interested in exactly that. From Jeremy Raddar who helped quickly finalize my secured personal loan during the back offices' lunch, to Craig Boivin VP of Marketing who is familiar with major Credit Union advocacy and research groups like The Filene* Institute [no relation], and to Christine Apraham who helped me set up the loan, appointment, and subsequent paperwork I needed to reduce my debt and disclaim my secured loan's collateral. All in all, the response listed for 1 star reviewers is NOT my experience with UMassFive. Let me disclaim something as well: the world's cybersecurity systems are under attack and I have personal experience with my own internet security alarms. However, UMassFive has had no service disruptions on par with the NotPetya attack on Ukraine's banking systems by Russia. Instead, the staff has responded to me within 24 hours, like Christine when I asked her about my statements being inaccessible from my account. The staff is resourceful, too, like when Jeremy couldn't use his digital signature capture pad and instead had me use the digital signature web application from my phone. These people are tenacious, and will do the research to do the best job they can because they all are personally invested in the success of UMassFive as members and as employees. Every one of them is excellent and has provided me service beyond just a money printing machine, they are interested in my success as a credit union member, not in profiting off me like a bank. This branch in particular was very welcoming, from its gender neutral bathrooms, to its open space allowing me to wait at a chair or table for help, and to its offices where I could be personally helped. I don't know if there's any bus access, but there's plenty of parking right near the UMass University campus and down the street from Amherst town center. If you really want to stop the international money crisis, the monopolies of 'money trusts,' and help your local community, join UMassFive or one of the many other local credit unions. You'll be putting your money where it matters. Thank you, I'm excited to remain a member (and invite applicable family members :)

I've been banking with UM5CFCU since I was in high school, about 25 years ago. I went in today with…read moremy parents on unrelated business, but we also had some US Treasury bonds to cash. Alicia was helping us with the unrelated business, so she agreed to help us with the bonds, too. It turned out most of the bonds lacked an identifying number that facilitated their redemption, but she spent a lot of time independently researching how to cash them and was ultimately successful. She was not only really friendly and professional, but went far above and beyond to help us with this. I've always had good experiences at this branch, and appreciate them.