What we believe families really want from a financial advisor/planner: We believe you want to know if you are likely to reach your financial and retirement goals based on what you are doing today. If you are likely to reach your goals, you’ll maintain your current plan. If changes are required, you want to make informed decisions based on numbers and experience. You don’t want to guess or be sold a solution.

We believe you want a voice as you review and adjust your plan. You do not want to be talked down to (surprised at how often we hear this). You do not want to be sold products without understanding how they benefit you rather than the salesperson. We don’t sell products, but there will be times you need to buy insurance, etc.… We believe you benefit from the guidance and education gained when gaining input from someone who is not compensated based on the sale.  

We believe you are willing to take the steps needed to reach your retirement and financial goals. You want to measure and review how various choices alter your outcome. Together, we’ll discuss and in many cases revisit, debate, and finally agree upon the choices that are best for you. You will likely find financial planning is simple (math), but perhaps not easy (emotions). We view your plan from a numbers perspective. You balance the numbers with emotions.

We believe you seek a trusted, non-emotional, unbiased opinion…not a sales pitch. You understand financial planning is a process rather than an event. You recognize you’ll need to revisit your plan. At that time, you’ll review your plan and determine if you remain on track. When course corrections are needed, you’ll take the necessary action.

Review Your Plan: We say review rather than create because you have a financial plan. In its simplest form, it is the combination of what you earn, spend, save, invest and protect. So, you aren’t really looking to build a plan. You are looking to measure the potential success of your current plan. If not successful, you will consider changes. We begin all relationships with a plan update.

Three Key Questions: First question…what do you have now? Many plans were created over time. They often consist of individual pieces that may or may not work well together. We review and discuss how to create a simple, efficient and cost effective plan that creates an acceptable outcome.

Next, we consider where you want to be…your financial vision. Are you closing in on retirement and want to know how you will manage without a consistent paycheck? Maybe you are looking to help your child with college expenses and are questioning whether you can afford to (without sacrificing retirement). Or, maybe you are just starting out and want to better understand how to balance student loans, your desire to buy a home and invest for the future. No matter your vision, we need to measure whether your current plan is likely to get you there (and adjust as needed).
Finally, we consider what could go wrong. As we review your plan, we consider the events that could or would undermine everything you created. What keeps you up at night? Can we remove that risk without altering the success of your plan? Together, we’ll discuss choices and compare tradeoffs.
 
Most importantly, our goal is to educate…not sell. Because our fee is based on hours rather than commissions, we can focus on your best choices without compensation conflict. We can share results (even if they are less than optimal) without the fear of losing “the sale.”

Most of our plan reviews take between four and eight hours ($600 to $1,200).  The number of hours is based on the complexity of your plan. We will likely meet two or three times with work completed (both of us) in between meetings. You receive a review of our conversations (discussing various choices is the best part of the planning process) and a roadmap of your next steps as we complete your review. You may decide a plan update is all you need today. Or, you may decide that you would benefit from ongoing updates and advice. The choice is yours.

If, after completing your plan update, you decide you would prefer ongoing advice, we offer ongoing planning and investment management based on an estimate of hours, not a percentage of assets.
 
If 1% isn’t the right number, what is? We base all fees (financial planning and investment management) on hours rather than a percentage or commissions. This is a slightly different approach to the typical financial planning service model. See “about me” tab for the history behind this decision.

For the most part, your portfolio will be reviewed (with suggestions shared) during the initial planning review. Going forward, rebalancing and adjustments require time (which have a cost). Your ongoing fee for financial and investment management advice is one hour per quarter per account with a six-hour annual minimum.

Here is an example. If you have 3 accounts (a taxable account, and two IRAs), your quarterly fee is $450 (current hourly rate is $150 at 3 hours per quarter). Your annual investment for investment and planning guidance is $1,800. In most cases, outside accounts (like 401ks) are not included in this calculation (we discuss them in the planning updates).
Let’s compare this to the 1% fee structure. If your portfolio equaled $300,000, 1% would equal $3,000; $500,000 would equal $5,000. Ongoing advice includes investment management and financial planning updates.

If we consider commissions, a $100,000 investment into a 5% loaded product (annuity, mutual fund or other) equals a $5,000 cost. Some investors are happier not seeing the expense directly, but it is a cost that needs to be considered.
We hope our fee structure persuades families who have considered asking for help in the past to actually visit a real financial planning solution without the fear of being sold product or receiving conflicted advice.
 
Are we right for you? If our approach piques your interest, let’s talk. The best way to determine if we would work well together is to schedule a time to talk. There is no cost for this meeting. We consider a two-way interview. We want to know more about you to determine if our system would work for you and you are interviewing us to determine if working with us would be beneficial for you.