Breaking the norm…
The financial advice industry is a confusing one to say. With splintered regulation, simplified marketing, overly complex investments, practices that disconnect benefits from costs, and the ever changing tax and estate landscape are just a few things that are part of this confusion.
“Advisors” (sometimes just glorified salesman) have added to this confusion. For too long they have focused more on investment products then on advice. Investment products will always be a part of a financial picture but they shouldn’t be the first priority.
What clients need is a firm that is Advice Focused using a Big Picture Plan as a guide for goals that are accomplished thru simple focused investment strategies that are continually monitored and reviewed while looking thru a Tax & Estate Lens. This process is valuable to long term success.
Time to look at a new firm whose focus is on clients, their objectives, their overall financial picture, and not on meeting some sales goals.
Services Provided
FINANCIAL &/OR RETIREMENT PLANNING
A Financial Plan can help you put all the individual pieces together in one place; taxes, investments, Social Security, risks, inflation, diversification, insurances, inheritances, income & expenses, debts, pensions, estate valuations, distribution strategies, etc…
Since the effects of financial decisions can be felt by all financial matters its very useful to have them compiled together to see how they interact. Questions like: What strategy of debt payoff will help the big picture best? Roth or a Traditional IRA/401k, which will benefit me most? What investment to use, a Retirement Date Fund or a customized portfolio? How will the risk of that help me sleep? What worries are there about retiring early? What about Social Security and how does it work? What is a Pension and how does it work for me? These are just a few examples of questions I hear all the time and the answers have different outcomes for all of your finances.
This plan can focus on any aspect of your financial life however, most tend to be looking for a Retirement focused Plan so they can feel confident they are on the right track.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
The plan and putting all the moving parts together is really the first step. Focusing on investing strategies before you have a plan is putting the cart before the horse. You need both but most focus on the investing first because its the exciting part. However, once you have a plan together, either by us or from somewhere else, the asset(s) need to be managed according to the plan. If you’re not interested in managing the investments and portfolio on your own we can help with that. If we manage the portfolio, a full complete customized financial plan is included. If you have your own plan, we can help manage the portfolio as a stand alone service.
“Complexity doesn’t equal better. More times than not it equals confusion & confusion generally equals mistakes. So keep it simple, it works way better than you think.”
– Joshua R. Cook