Who do you work best with?
Our best relationships are not defined by a specific demographic, phase of life, profession, hobby, or financial goal. What is common among our best client relationships, however, is their focus on comprehensive financial planning, not just investments or insurance or tax planning or estate planning. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM Professional office, we are very often tasked with serving as our client’s “Financial Head Coach.” After developing strategic financial plans, we then coordinate the services of all of the professionals in your life to fully support your financial situation and all that you want to accomplish. And the benefit to this process is that it consolidates the fractured advice you may receive from multiple services and minimizes the possibility of something significant falling through the cracks. Our best relationships are where we serve in this capacity.
What makes your client experience special?
We’ve built our firm and our value proposition on what we believe to be our client focused promise – to personalize our advice based on an individual’s values, vision and wealth. We believe this approach is rare in our industry, where information is abundant and often not specific to one’s individual needs, wants and resources. No two plans we draft are exactly alike. So what we deliver is custom built, word for word, from start to finish, not processed through some software. We promise to take the time to get to know you as a person, not “an account,” and promise to treat your investments as an individual, not an institution. Finally, we promise to personalize your plan for how you best receive information, because if our advice is not understandable and actionable, it is irrelevant.
How much contact do you have with your clients?
We have a structured, personalized communication plan so that we can have meaningful discussions on a regular basis that work for you and help move you forward in your financial lives. The service model you select is often dictated by your needs, on the amount you want to pay, and how involved you want us to be in the implementation of the advice we give. Do you want to participate in a series of meetings where we can explain concepts in detail with you, or are you looking for high-level advice? In addition to client meetings, clients have access to our e-newsletters, social media, website, educational seminars, occasional client events, etc.
How do you charge for your services, and how much?
As financial consultants, many of our clients choose to hire us to provide personal financial consulting services centered on how to efficiently manage their goals. We first conduct an interview to get to know you and your goals. We then gather financial information to assess how we can help. We then deliver an executive summary of our proposed relationship with a specific fee based on how we believe we can help. This proposal includes our proposed services with a corresponding quote, a flat fee for our time and expertise, calculated by the complexity of the work required and the frequency of the service. We do not charge per hour. Our base agreements start at $1,500 but are tailored to each case. Click here to learn more about our Planning Process.
Our services can also include wealth management strategies. Through the planning process, we develop investment portfolios that appropriately balance your risk tolerance and goal time horizon. To actively manage assets, we charge a percentage of assets under management, in lieu of commissions, which is calculated based on complexity, asset level, and anticipated trading. Click here to learn more about our Investment Process.
Will I be working only with you or with a team?
We are an independently owned and operated business, and choose to function in a team environment where each of our strengths can be leveraged in order to serve you best. Each member of the team has a defined role in attempt to eliminate any potential errors or duplication of effort and to ensure that we are delivering personalized services to each client. So, depending on your needs and service model, you may interact with several members of the team over time. We are very proactive with our systems and processes, but as service needs arise, know that you will always have ready access to a member the team to receive timely responses to your inquiries.
