Mark Bulmer
CPA/PFS | Financial Advisor
Mark Bulmer
Why I Became a Financial Advisor
I had a good friend named Dave that I had started working for when I was 23 years old, down in Daytona Beach. A few years later, I moved to North Carolina, and Dave came up shortly thereafter. We worked together for another five years or so and then went our separate ways, but continued to remain friends. We exercised together and literally ran thousands of miles together, running dozens of races and even a couple of marathons together. When I was 45, I hurt my back and had to stop running for a bit, so Dave took up cycling. One night, I came home and was listening to the evening news and heard that a cyclist had been killed on the road. It was Dave. He was 55. He had a wife and two daughters in high school. His wife called me because she needed help figuring out what to do financially. Fortunately, he had some life insurance, but I was unable to help, as I was just a ‘tax guy.’ However, feeling helpless in this situation motivated me to learn all I could about financial planning so that, if there was a “next time,” I’d be in a position to help my friends.
MY FOCUS
Empowering Your Financial Future Together
I begin by gaining a deep understanding of all aspects of your financial picture, as well as working with you to understand your goals (financial and non-financial) and desires. I then utilize my extensive tax knowledge, combined with my background in estate, trust, and financial planning, to collaborate with you in crafting a comprehensive plan that creates a strategy for achieving your goals. It can’t be a plan solely developed by me, but must be one that is fully understood and agreed upon by you in order for it to be most effective and to have the greatest chance of success.
As a CPA, I work with many business owners and have helped many navigate sales transactions, into retirement. This involved helping understand their post-transaction finances, how to structure the transaction in the most tax-beneficial way, and how to invest their money afterwards. I also work a lot with retired and soon-to-be-retired individuals to help them plan the last chapters of their lives.
About Mark
Mark joined Forum Financial Management in 2025 as a Financial Advisor. He served as a Managing Partner for Smith Leonard PLLC from 2019 to 2024.
With 40 years of tax expertise, Mark specializes in long-term tax planning and optimizing tax outcomes for his clients. He draws on his extensive background in transactional tax, various forms of business taxation, estate planning, charitable giving, trusts, and individual taxation to provide effective solutions for his clients.
Mark is a Certified Public Accountant and a Personal Financial Specialist. He received a master of taxation degree from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Florida State University.
MY ARTICLES & INSIGHTS
A PERSONAL APPROACH
Tell Us About Your Financial Life and Aspirations
Your experience begins with an initial meeting to identify your financial vision for the future and risk tolerance levels. We review our investment philosophy and approach with you so that you fully understand each milestone of our process and how our relationship will evolve over time.
PREVIOUS 
Discuss Topics Crucial to Your Financial Success
Over the course of the next few meetings, the content and breadth of each meeting is defined by your personal needs. We can review your estate planning and risk management needs, discuss retirement accumulation or distribution planning, evaluate educational funding needs, review your tax situation, and go over any other items crucial to your financial success.
PREVIOUS Develop a Strategic Plan Unique to You
Once you select an allocation, we put together a strategic implementation plan that will coordinate investment of your portfolio between qualified (tax-advantaged) assets and non-qualified assets in order to maximize tax efficiency. The topics we address during our time with you vary depending on your unique needs and situation.
Putting Your Plan Into Action
We establish your Forum account based on the portfolio allocation we discussed and what we learned about your risk tolerance and financial goals. With your new Forum account now in place, you will have the opportunity to access your Forum Client Portal for the first time and connect with members of the Forum Client Service team.
Review Goals and Plans When Your Life Changes
You will receive reporting that will clearly show your performance net of all fees and compared to applicable market indexes. Additionally your assets are held at a reputable third-party custodian that furnishes independent monthly reports so you can feel confident about the safe handling of your money.
