FAQ

Can I retire? How will I retire? What will happen to my plans if/when the market goes down? How can I pay for college? How much house can I afford? How much do I need to save to achieve my short and long term goals? Are my investments appropriate for me? What will happen to my family if something happens to me or my spouse–will they be taken care of? How can I make sure my assets /investments /retirement plan are invested wisely and appropriately for me? All of these can be carefully answered within our comprehensive financial planning process.

We focus on educating and empowering our clients to make sound financial decisions. We maintain high standards of education and training for all of our client work. Our process-oriented approach assists our clients in taking the proper steps to build, protect, sustain and pass-on their income and family wealth. We use the financial planning process to bring all of the pieces of our clients’ financial lives together. Our systems are online and safely accessible to our clients via secure portals to ease in sharing with your other trusted professionals (CPA, Attorney, etc.). At the core of our planning are our rigorous ethical standards. These require that our recommendations are in the best interests of each of our clients, despite any conflicts of interest that exist.

We have a comprehensive approach to planning. Although to some this may seem like an unnecessary step in investment planning, consider that the impact of a deficiency in any one of these protections could lead to the client’s financial downfall. Our job is to help prepare and assist our valued clients with comprehensive protection as well.  

Each plan includes 1 year of reasonable follow up assistance as need to accomplish client’s objectives and implementation with your professionals.

Yes. A checklist will be written in the plan which provides action steps to point clients in the right direction. More comprehensive plans will also include information which are written to your professionals from you, to request the type of item with specific parameters that you might need.

We offer a complimentary initial appointment for you to meet us and ask any questions you might have, as well as to discuss what level of personalized planning you would like. Then, if you choose to proceed, a detailed estimate is sent to you in writing so that we can proceed with a clear understanding of the work to be done, and you know what the costs is for these services. In general, we base our fee on the work hours required to complete each plan. This will be based upon the client’s number and complexity of holding in addition to what we discuss and define as the scope of the financial planning project during our initial complementary informational meeting.

This is personalized to the scope and complexity of the work agreed upon.

No, as a Registered Investment Advisory firm, this is frowned upon ethically, as it creates a conflict of interest to us as advisors.

Each plan includes a written or digital summary of your current finances in addition to recommendations for change. This will allow you to review your plan with family or professionals you choose. Once your plan in complete, we will also be happy to send you your personal link to your plan so that you can review your plan or try out new assumptions such as your age of retirement, spending and or how much to save, all within the planning software’s interactive features.

No, ethics and rule-following remain our highest priority. Our clients’ trust is invaluable. We will continue to place this at the forefront of our financial planning practice.

There are several programs available to families wishing to set aside funds methodically for college. The program appropriate for you will be determined by several factors including the age of your children, assets currently held and goals for college for your children. There are also some unique investment vehicles available to families that can ‘multi-task’ your goal of funding college with other goals, including retirement savings and protection that many are not aware of until we talk.

The answer to this question will be based upon what you have saved for retirement, your current age, income goal & current income. We enjoy assisting our clients in putting together personalized saving & investment plans that work with either plan they have in place or new plans that will optimize the accumulation of retirement capital. We can define the recommended savings level to give you the best potential to reach your retirement goal.

We are happy to go over this with you. There is a calculator available under “Calculators” section on this website for you to try. We also have a separate, more nominal fee for restricting the planning to just this area. The investment allocation analysis for a single 401k can be as low as $100 for a single client. As for whether you should use a ROTH or Traditional 401k plan at work, or how much to each, the calculator is just a starting point. Your personalized answer will be based upon your own income and needs. An informed decision here will help you to optimize what you can put away towards your retirement.

These are important questions that can easily be addressed and prepared for and protected against. Solutions that match your needs and circumstances will be carefully researched and analyzed as part of our financial planning, or more specialized insurance planning process.

Many don’t realize how important and significant this question is. Statistically, an improper investment balance can predict probability of success, or failure to meet your goals over time. We will work together to assess your risk tolerances & goals, matching these to your current holdings & future savings and investment plans.