As fee-only financial advisors, we operate with minimal conflicts of interest. Because our compensation is based upon the assets we advise, when you prosper, we prosper. Whereas retail brokers and salesmen must sell products by commission to earn a living – compromising their ability to provide truly unbiased advice – our only obligation is to you, our client.
Our financial planning process involves nine major stages: discovery, analysis, strategy, refinement, commitment, expert consultation, solution presentation, implementation, and an organizational workshop. This nine-step process alternates between meetings between you and your advisor, and steps completed solely by the Financial Plan team.
Throughout this process, we rely on a few core guiding principles: a commitment to understanding your particular needs and goals, a robust understanding of investment best practices, and the importance of expert advice in providing custom solutions for each financial planning client. We maintain close communication with you along the way, to ensure your needs are being met and your concerns are heard.
Our process relies heavily on our ability to understand your unique needs and goals. Because our financial plans are carefully crafted to suit each client and situation, it’s important to us to begin by listening: learning about you and your finances, your long term goals, your risk tolerance, and more. It’s also important that we find ourselves to be a good fit for each other, with shared values and mutual understanding, since our business relationships tend to last a long time.
Once we understand where you’re coming from, we start by establishing projects based on your goals, along with realistic expectations for achieving them. We’ll discuss the best strategy for you, including relevant investment philosophy, and then we’ll refine our portfolio design and projections.
Once we’ve committed to working together, we meet with a variety of experts at the top of their fields, including a CPA, an insurance case designer, and an estate planning attorney. By relying on expert advice, we can ensure the best possible outcomes for you in all areas of your financial plan.
Finally, we present our recommendations and solutions, based on this input. We’ll then implement the strategy we’ve put together, and meet with you to help familiarize you with any new steps, including account statements and any other necessary information you’ll need to check up on.
For more details about our financial planning process, you can view our helpful infographic here: