We Integrate Four Business Models:

A Team Approach, Investment Fiduciaries, Fee-Only Compensation, and Discretionary Managers to positively impact your retirement planning and investment portfolio.

 

• A Team Approach
• Investment Fiduciaries
• Fee-Only Compensation
• Discretionary Managers

While our firm is defined by effectively employing all four of these business models in concert; this is not the norm.

 

HOW and WHY are you positively impacted by our employing all four of these business models?  Keep reading to find out more…

 

 

 

We’re A Credentialed Team of Retirement Specialists

Who do you want to handle your money?  A “Team of Retirement Specialists” or one individual, generalist advisor, such as a stockbroker or insurance agent?

 

A generalist advisor typically lacks in-depth, targeted knowledge in both retirement and wealth accumulation planning, as well as investment management. They usually rely on mutual funds as a substitute for in-house securities analysis and selection. Their corporate office frequently supplies fill-in-the-blank, off-the-shelf financial plans. High-cost annuity and insurance products are often unnecessarily used as a means of income management and estate planning.  When this individual advisor retires, leaves the industry, or changes firms, your continuity of advice halts…your accounts are assigned to another advisor at the brokerage firm or insurance company.

 

We are a highly credentialed, in-house team of experienced professionals, currently managing over $200 million of client portfolio assets. Our team is comprised of Certified Financial Planners (CFP), Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA), Certified Retirement Counselors (CRC), and Accredited Investment Fiduciaries (AIF). Our team pools and coordinates our expertise, in-depth knowledge, and skills for your personal, individualized benefit. The collective expertise of our elite team is all-inclusive as part of your advisory annual cost.

 

 

 

 

We Are Fiduciary Advisors

When selecting an advisor, it is important to know that there are two primary types of investment advisors: Fiduciary Advisors and Non-Fiduciary Advisors.

 

 

What are the differences between a Fiduciary and a Non-Fiduciary Advisor that significantly affect your retirement planning and your investment portfolio?

 

• Fiduciary Advisors are Registered Investment Advisors ( RIAs ) while Non-Fiduciary Advisors are sales representatives of brokerage firms & insurance companies.

• Fiduciary Advisors are held to the highest ethical standards in the industry while Non-Fiduciary Advisors are held to lower ethical standards than RIAs.

• Fiduciary Advisors are required to make “The Best” recommendations for their clients, putting the investor’s interests ahead of their own interests, while Non-Fiduciary Advisors are required to make “suitable” but not necessarily the “best” recommendations for their client. Suitable is a vague standard because it can vary by investor.

• Fiduciary Advisors are the only professionals who can provide financial advice and ongoing services for fees (rather than commissions) while Non-Fiduciary Advisors’ licenses (such as Series 6 or 7) limit them to selling investment products for commissions.

 

Before selecting your advisor, determine if you want a Fiduciary Advisor or a Sales Representative investing your assets and giving you financial, retirement, and investment advice.

 

 

 

Watch & Learn in a Nutshell…
The Top 3 Criteria for Choosing a Financial Advisor

 

 

 

We Are Fee-Only Retirement Advisors

Our  sole  basis  of  client compensation, as a fee only financial planner, is advisory fees. Our “Fee-Only” (commission free) approach to retirement financial planning and investment management allows us to avoid advisor/client conflicts of interest and always place your best interest first.

 

Our Advisory Fees are All Inclusive

• Retirement & Wealth Accumulation Planning
• Investment Management
• Retirement Income Management
• Portfolio Performance Reports
• Client Review Meetings
• Concierge Client Services

Standard Platform Fee Schedule

Our Standard Platform Fee Schedule applies to clients with a portfolio over $1 million. The annual percentage cost for portfolios valued between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 begins at 1.25% and declines incrementally to 1%, declining further for larger portfolios. Portfolios under $1,000,000 are subject to a minimum quarterly fee. Your cost is determined by the aggregate value of your assets under our management (401k, IRA, Personal). As your account value increases, your annual cost percentage incrementally decreases. 

 

As fee-only financial planners and investment managers, our fee schedule is all inclusive… planning and investment management.

 

 

 

We Are Discretionary Portfolio Managers

We  are  the  perfect  fit  for  you  if  you  want  us  to  do  the  day-to-day,  heavy  lifting  of investing  and portfolio management for you. While you’re spending your free time enjoying family and friends, travel and leisure, spiritual growth, enhancing your career, physical fitness, or just relaxing, we are minding the store as your trusted advisor.

 

After extensive planning sessions to identify your goals and risk tolerance, we’ll develop your written investment policy statement that governs the parameters of our portfolio management. Only within these parameters do we discretionarily make the individual investment selections and future rebalancing allocations in your portfolio. While we do not consult you prior to buying or selling your investments, you stay well informed via trade confirmation, monthly activity statements, quarterly portfolio performance reports and annual review meetings. We do not have the discretionary authority or ability to remove cash or securities from your account, only you retain this authority. Additionally, because we do not charge commissions, any advantage that could possibly be gained through excessively trading your portfolio is completely eliminated.

 

We utilize Charles Schwab & Co., a full-service national brokerage firm, to custody your portfolio’s assets;  execute your investment trades, per our instructions; process and record your deposits and withdrawals; and provide you with trade data and monthly account statements, either online or in paper format. Your assets are insured through Charles Schwab & Co., up to $150 million aggregate, by SIPC, FDIC and private insurance coverage against fraud and the custodian’s financial collapse, but not against asset value fluctuations.

 

Each and every investment decision we make for you is governed by our Management Principles’ Checklist: Does it protect your principal, Generate sustainable income, Hedge against inflation, and Allow you to get a good nights’ sleep.

 

 

Why Discretionary Management?

If you are managing your investments yourself or even if you are approving trade suggestions provided by your stockbroker, objective investing is very difficult. The average investor is vulnerable to poor decision-making that leads to irrational buying and selling at the wrong time, resulting in investment underperformance. To properly invest, you need to emotionally detach yourself from your money. The emotions of fear, greed, regret, and pride lead to irrational investment decisions.

 

While the average investor perceives that they earned double-digit returns over the past 10 years, the surprising fact is that over the last 10 years, the average balanced investor earned a mere average per year in the low single digits on their investments. Earning only an average annually of 1% – 5% on your investment portfolio appears to be the price paid for allowing emotions to enter into investment decisions.

 

Our fully discretionary management of your investments is intended to allow you to separate your emotions from your portfolio’s performance. This separation may dramatically increase the odds that your portfolio will earn a rate of return that exceeds the rate of return of the average balanced investor’s.