FAQ’s

There are some things which can be enjoyable and cost effective to do independently, and there are others where you need the expertise, focus and resources of a professional. Much of this depends on the time and effort you want to commit. An advisor who provides financial planning and asset management can substantially improve your financial situation, save you time, and reduce your stress regarding your finances. Other indicators that an advisory relationship would benefit you include: 

• You have no source of unbiased advice on insurance, estate planning, education retirement.
• You do not have a clear picture of what it takes to achieve certain goals (e.g. retirement plans).
• You are uncertain whether to take advantage of newer tax-sheltering plans (Roth IRAs, 529 plans, medical savings accounts, etc.).
• You are a retiree needing to consider long-term care insurance, assess the lifestyle you can afford, or balance the earning power of assets with need for ongoing income.
• You are concerned whether your investments will sustain you through your lifespan​.
• You feel as if you don't spend enough time researching and monitoring your investments.
• Your portfolio has no exposure to certain asset classes.
• You have recently inherited funds, and you are not sure what to do with them.

Representatives of a Registered Investment Advisor have a fiduciary responsibility to act in their clients’ best interest. As a fee-only advisor, we do not accept any fees or compensation based on product sales. This means we will only advise on what is best for you. We are only selling our advice. Fee-only advisors have fewer inherent conflicts of interest, and they generally provide more robust advice, everything from insurance to retirement to purchasing autos. On the other hand, a "fee-based" advisor can accept commissions AND fees directly from client accounts.

A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust. Much like an attorney must act as your fiduciary. It is a commitment promising to put your best interests first, to not mislead you, and to provide full and fair disclosure of important facts.

As professionals we take a genuine, considered, and sustained interest in your financial well-being. If you understand and appreciate the benefits of working under such an approach, it is likely that we can work together to add value to your financial life.

Our clients range across the age and professional spectrum. The common denominator is that they are individuals who want to deliberately plan for their futures. We are not for everyone, and we determine in introductory meetings whether we can add substantial value to your current strategy and whether there is a good philosophical fit. If the answer to either of those questions is no, we will tell you candidly and, if appropriate, refer you to someone who might be a better fit.

While evaluating and working on your planning we also strive to make the process easy and often with a good bit of humor. We strive to relieve the stress that can come from planning for future financial events and circumstances.

CFP® stands for Certified Financial Planner® and is recognized as the highest standard in personal financial planning. It represents a high level of professional education and understanding of a wide range of financial and legal topics, relevant experience, and holding oneself to a high ethical manner. As a CFP® one is obligated to provide clients with the "highest standard of care" possible.

CFA stands for Chartered Financial Analyst. The CFA charter is one of the most rigorous and respected designations in finance and considered by many to be the gold standard in the field of investment analysis. A CFA must have a solid base in a wide range of topics covering areas such as accounting, economics, ethics, money management, and security analysis. A candidate must have 4 years of relevant professional work experience before attaining this charter.

For a financial plan, we charge a one-time fee, depending on the required detail of the plan. Usually this range is $2,000-$5,000 and the amount is agreed upon before the planning begins. We do not require a retainer, and the fee is not due until the work is satisfactorily completed. We follow up, we answer questions now and in the future. ​If future maintenance is required it is billed as an hourly fee (typically billed at $200-300 /hr.). 

Ongoing asset management is charged at a rate as follows:

If you work with us, we’ll help to establish and maintain your account(s) with discount brokers. We currently use Charles Schwab. They provide a vast universe of investments, at very competitive costs. They are simply the place we choose to transact because of their wide array of offerings and low cost. We complete all of the paperwork and guide you through the process, start to finish. We also take on as much of the future paperwork as possible.

Our typical client varies across the board in terms of dollar figure net worth. Something all of our clients have in common is that they care about planning for the future in a methodical way, while having some fun along the way! Some clients spend a lot of money and some spend less money, but either way we can tailor the situation to you if you are willing and receptive to our advice.

We are able to connect to the accounts through a Limited Power of Attorney. This allows us simply to place trades in the accounts. The accounts are always in your name, and we will never be able to sign on your behalf. We then determine investment actions based on your situation and risk tolerance. Not all investments are appropriate for every investor. We do our due diligence to make sure an investment is right for you and your specific account.

As an ongoing client we are constantly going to be monitoring your accounts to ensure they are invested appropriately. Along the way we will discuss many financial planning related topics that blur the line between investment management and financial planning. We will be making recommendations and assisting with paperwork every step of the way. The most important question we want to answer is what your money is for and then we can work together to accomplish that goal. Many clients start out as a financial planning relationship, and as they become more comfortable with our team and our work they come on as asset management clients. This path is not set in stone and can be adapted based on your comfort and experience working with an advisor. Some clients come looking specifically for asset management. It entirely depends on YOU and your needs.

Yes, we can do just investment management, but we truly believe that we can do the best job possible by digging into financial planning together. Future financial planning is included as part of the cost of ongoing asset management.

Absolutely, we want to help you get the financial help that you deserve. One of the benefits of doing financial planning is establishing a level of comfort with an advisor that you can trust, even if you do not have assets that need to be managed on an ongoing basis.

Transferring an account is quite simple and we are happy to assist in this process. Most transfers happen electronically these days. The process starts at the receiving institution, where you sign a form and provide a recent statement. The custodians usually take care of the rest from there. If your funds are coming from a retirement plan you will need to initiate the rollover process where the account is held and they will likely issue a check to be deposited.