What is financial planning?

Financial planning is the process of putting together actionable strategies to achieve your most important goals.
Some aspects of financial planning involve budgeting, saving, risk management planning, retirement planning, and estate planning.

Why should you hire a financial planner?

A financial planner serves as a valuable partner in navigating the complex financial landscape, staying accountable to your plan, and helping you make life's most important decisions.

Read more about how having an advisor can improve your investment outcomes here. 

Do you offer a free consultation?

Yes, the first consultation with us is always complementary. During this initial consultation, we will discuss your goals, explain our process, and see if we're a good fit to work together.

Are you fiduciary advisors? 

We are fully licensed fiduciary advisors. 
The primary benefit of having a fiduciary financial advisor is the assurance that they are legally and ethically obligated to act in your best interest.

How do you get paid?

We have two financial planning packages:

1) Ongoing Financial Planning   - You get a customized financial plan along with ongoing support from your advisor and our team to implement, monitor, and adjust your financial plan as your life changes.

If you have less than $200,000 invested with our firm, your cost is $250 up front & $100/month.

If you have more than $200,000 invested with our firm using our Unified Program through My Advice Architect, your ongoing financial plan is included in your investment management costs.

Investment Management:

$200K-$500K: 1.25%
$500K-$1M: 1.15%
>$1M : 1%

2) One-Time Financial Plan - You get a customized financial plan, but we leave the implementation, monitoring, and adjusting to you.
$1,500

Additional compensation may apply in the form of commissions for purchase of individual stocks, bonds and through service fees (12b-1) for mutual fund transactions. Fees, charges and expenses are detailed in the Cetera Investment Advisers LLC’s ADV Part 2A.

Read more about what's included in our packages here.

What are your services & resources?

• Customized Financial Plan
• In office or virtual Planning Meetings
• Unlimited email & virtual support
• Customized savings plan
• Portfolio Management 
• Retirement Planning
• Insurance Planning
• State Pension Planning
• Social Security Planning
• Employee Benefit Guidance
• Budgeting
• Credit Card Planning 
• Estate Planning
• Adviceworks Client Portal
• Monthly Newsletter
• Educational Workshops

How will our relationship work?

Once we have our complementary initial consultation, we will both decide if we are a good fit. Then we will schedule our second meeting for preliminary plan delivery and schedule a paperwork phone call with our Client Services Associate. Once you are signed up as a client, we will reach out to you to schedule a planning meeting three times per year. In the meantime, you can reach out to us with any pressing questions via phone or email. We will also keep you updated on what's going on in the financial world and continue to help you increase your financial literacy through our monthly newsletters, educational videos, workshops, and more.

What is your investment philosophy?

The portfolios we construct are based on your financial plan, time horizon, and risk tolerance. We implement a buy-and-hold strategy that does not attempt to time the market. If appropriate, we rebalance portfolios to adjust for significant market movement and to systematically buy low and sell high. 

When possible, we believe in maximizing diversification within investment portfolios. This could be through diversification of styles (passive vs. active), investment companies, asset classes, tax treatment, etc.

Who are you affiliated with?

We are affiliated with Cetera Investment Services LLC under the marketing name, Cetera Investors. An affiliation means that we pay Cetera to provide services to our team like our Adviceworks client portal, compliance services, an office space, payroll services, etc. to ensure our focus is centered around serving our clients.

Individuals affiliated with this broker/dealer firm are either Registered Representatives who offer only brokerage services and receive transaction-based compensation (commissions), Investment Adviser Representatives who offer only investment advisory services using the Unified Program through My Advice Architect and receive fees based on assets, or both Registered Representatives and Investment Adviser Representatives, who can offer both types of services. The advisors on our team offer both types of services.

As a teacher, what should my first steps be when it comes to financial planning?

1. Schedule a meeting with Alex. He specializes in working with educators and non-profits and has extensive knowledge of the public pension systems and 403(b) plans.
2. Download your most recent pension statement. This is critical so that Alex can help you run retirement plan estimates.
3. Locate any relevant financial statements (i.e. 403(b), IRA, Roth IRA, brokerage, and insurance accounts) and have them available for your initial consultation.
4. Write down questions to ask Alex during your first consultation.

As a young professional, what should my first steps be when creating a financial plan?

1. Schedule a meeting with Brandon. He specializes in working with young professionals. He is especially knowledgeable when it comes to creating a budget, starting a savings plan, reviewing your employment benefits, and helping you maximize your credit cards. 
2. Find all the information you need about the benefits offered to you through work. Have this available during your meeting with Brandon.
3. Locate any relevant financial statements (i.e. bank, credit card, 403(b), IRA, Roth IRA, brokerage, and insurance accounts) and have them available for your initial consultation.
4. Write down your main goals and questions to ask Brandon during your first consultation.

As a business owner, what should my first steps be when creating a financial plan?

1. Schedule a meeting with Tori. She specializes in working with female business owners of color. She helps business owners save money on taxes, create benefits for their employees, and create strategies to pursue both business and personal financial goals. Tori creates a safe space for entrepreneurs by listening with compassion and creating a truly customized plan.
2. Gather information on your current business structure, retirement plans, and last year's tax return.
3. Locate any relevant personal financial statements (i.e. bank, credit card, 403(b), IRA, Roth IRA, brokerage, and insurance accounts) and have them available for your initial consultation.
4. Write down your main goals and questions to ask Tori during your first consultation.