Here are a few examples of how our independent, fee-only financial advice and investment management can benefit you.
Not Making Progress Toward Your Financial Goals
Do you feel like you’ve been in the same place financially for years? Are you wondering if you’re just spinning your wheels? Not sure if you’ll ever reach your financial goals?
Here are some of the ways we can help you if you’re not making progress toward your financial goals:
- Help determine, clarify, and prioritize your financial goals
- Develop a personalized financial plan with concrete steps to reach your goals
- Construct an investment portfolio using Nobel-prize winning research
- Meet regularly to review and discuss your financial progress
- Update your financial plan and investment portfolio as needed to keep you moving forward
Getting Close to Retirement
Are you counting down the days until you retire? Do you find yourself daydreaming about your last day of work?
The financial decisions you make during your last few working years will have a huge impact on your retirement. This is the time to make up for past mistakes and start charting a course for a financially secure retirement.
Here are some of the questions we can help you answer to make sure you’re not leaving your retirement to chance:
- Will I have enough saved for a secure retirement?
- How will I switch from accumulating a nest egg to producing income?
- How will I balance the need for growth and income in retirement?
- What pension distribution option should I select?
- When should I claim Social Security?
- Should I contribute to a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA? Or Pre-tax or Roth 401(k)?
- What investment mix do I need now?
Afraid of Financial Advisors
Are you leery of seeking financial advice? Afraid an advisor will sell you something just to earn a commission? Do you feel like your current advisor is not placing your needs first?
Unfortunately the traditional Wall Street financial planning model – where advisors earn their living by selling insurance and investments for commissions – often leads to these types of fears.
Here are some of the ways we address the concerns you might face about seeking financial advice:
- As a fee-only firm, we are paid solely by you, our Client. We never receive sales commissions or other third-party payments that could cloud our professional judgment.
- We are held to a Fiduciary Standard. This means we are legally and ethically required to put your interests first at all times.
- We adhere to a Fiduciary Oath and provide a signed copy of the Oath to our Clients.
- We are required to disclose any conflicts of interest that may affect you.
- We provide you with a written agreement that states, among other things, the services we will be providing and the corresponding fees. There are never any hidden fees for our advice.
- We use a third-party custodian and never take custody of Client assets.
Worried About Market Volatility
Are your investments keeping you awake at night? Do the “ups” and “downs” of the stock market have your head spinning?
We have found that most of the fear people have comes from not understanding why they own the investments they have in their portfolio. This happens when investments are bought based on recommendations from friends, family, or stockbrokers rather than as part of a well-designed investment strategy.
Our financial planning and investment management process is designed to help you overcome your worries through education. We work to make sure you understand not only what you should do, but also why you should do it. The end result is a personalized financial and investment plan that you can trust during difficult market environments.
Worried About Outliving Your Money
Are you concerned about saving enough for a comfortable retirement? Are you already retired and worried that your money might not last? Are you worried that inflation will erode the value of your nest egg?
Factors such as increasing life expectancies, low bond and CD yields, and stock market volatility lead many people to worry about outliving their money. Many times the fear of outliving your money is the result of not having a financial plan in place. We have found that having a personalized financial plan that address each of those risks – and putting that plan into action – will help alleviate this fear.
Here are some of the questions we can help you address if you’re worried about outliving your money:
- Am I spending too much of my nest egg?
- How do I make sure I have enough growth potential in my portfolio?
- What are some strategies for making sure my living expenses are covered?
- How do I protect myself from inflation? From stock market declines?
- Do I need to adjust what I am doing based on the current economic environment?
Life Has Thrown You A Curveball
Are you concerned about a possible job loss? Getting married? Recently divorced? Expecting the birth of your first child?
Your financial life is like a pond, and life changes can send ripples from one end to the other. It is possible that a small change to one part of your finances could have a profound impact you might not expect.
We provide customized financial planning services that make sure you’re able to get the advice you need about any area of your financial life. Since we never receive commissions from our recommendations, you can be sure our focus is on providing you the best solution for your unique needs.
Here are some of the areas you might need to review in response to a life change:
- How to determine your life insurance needs
- What to do with an old retirement plan (401(k), 403(b), etc.)
- Whether or not your current investments still fit your needs
- How to balance retirement savings with other financial goals
- How much to have in a cash reserve
- How to pay off debt
Overloaded With Insurance (Or Annuities)
Do you have an advisor that only recommends life insurance or annuities? Do you have policies with high fees and commissions that are better for the insurance company than you? Did you buy an indexed annuity or other complex product you don’t understand?
Life insurance plays a very important role in the financial planning process, and other insurance products like annuities are beneficial if used correctly. Unfortunately these products are often abused due to the large sales commissions often paid to advisors that sell them. As fee-only advisors we’re free from this conflict of interest. Our incentive is to provide you with high-quality, objective financial advice.
Here are some of the questions we can help you answer if you have concerns about insurance or annuities:
- How much life insurance do I really need?
- Do I need a whole life policy? Or would term insurance be better?
- What should I do with my current life insurance policy (annuity, etc.)?
- Is it smart to use life insurance for retirement savings (college savings, etc.)?
- Are there any hidden costs or fees in my policies?
- Are there better, less expensive options available?
Feeling Overwhelmed
Do you feel adrift in a sea of endless financial information? Overwhelmed by the contradictory opinions in the financial press? Are your investment accounts filled with mutual funds and other investments you don’t understand? Do you find yourself wondering if you should buy, hold, or just run for the hills!
Here are some of the ways we can help you if you’re feeling overwhelmed:
- Show you which information sources to trust and which to tune out
- Filter out the noise in the financial press
- Stay up-to-date with the latest industry research and products
- Review changes to tax law and other regulations that might affect you