How We're Unique

Unique Traits

We are a small boutique-style firm and provide a unique service to our clients. We specialize in working with pre-retirees and retirees who have accumulated a substantial nest egg for their retirement and desire ongoing professional investment management in addition to financial planning advice. Because of our dedication to providing the best possible service to our existing clients, we are very careful to only select new clients that we feel will be a good match for our services and our style.

We take pride in working with our clients in a way that is objective, comprehensive, performance driven, service oriented, and cost-effective as described below.

Objective

Because we are "Fee-Only" providers of financial services, everything comes naturally for us. We are on the same side as our clients and have their interest at heart. Being fee-only enhances everything that we do and makes us most effective in providing the best possible experience for our clients based on integrity and trust. We also provide fee-only advice with respect to insurance. To be sure a financial planner is truly fee-only, look for the fee-only logo.

Comprehensive

Since your financial decisions can have a "ripple effect" on many areas of your life for years to come, we start by looking at your "big picture". We will evaluate your current financial situation and come to understand your goals, concerns, income needs, etc. Then we will develop a financial plan that most effectively integrates all aspects of your financial health including estate planning, tax planning, cash flow, investment management, insurance and more. Our comprehensive approach is described in further detail in the Financial Planning section of our web site.

Upon completion of the initial planning process, we will help you to implement your plan and update your plan as changes occur over time. As your investment advisor, we will provide ongoing investment advice to make sure that your investment portfolio maintains the risk/reward characteristics that we have established for your plan.

Performance Driven

We are also unique in our ongoing commitment to providing superior investment performance for our clients. We place a high priority on managing downside investment risk and obtaining overall tax efficiency for our clients' portfolios. As your advisor, we will work with you to design and manage a portfolio for you that will provide excellent results without taking undue risk. This is explained in more detail in the Investment Management section of our web site.

Service Oriented

We want to help simplify your life and help you gain peace of mind that comes from knowing that every aspect of your financial life is being professionally addressed. Although we will have periodic financial planning and investment reviews, we are available at any time to discuss any questions or concerns that you may have. We desire and value long-term relationships with our clients both personally and financially. Because our success depends on retaining satisfied clients, we will make every effort to provide you with the highest quality of ongoing service.

Cost-effective

We recognize that everyone has different financial planning needs and investment objects. Therefore, we offer a choice of different fee arrangements to select from depending on the service that we will provide. Because we are a small independent firm and do not outsource investment management duties, we are able to provide our services in a very cost effective manner. For a detailed description of services and corresponding fees, please Contact Us to request our form ADV.

Endorsement of Fee-only Advisors

We are a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the largest nationwide organization of comprehensive "fee-only" financial advisors. It has the endorsement of the AARP, the Consumer Federation of America and state regulators. Several financial publications have also recognized the value of "Fee-Only" financial planning.

Newsweek

Financial Planners who take commissions have a built-in conflict of interest - even with a disclosure, my choice would be a fee-only planner."

Jane Bryant Quinn

Forbes

"The most important matter is how the planner is compensated. Hire the financial planner who has no financial stake in (your) investments"

Money

"Start with the general practitioner - a financial planner whose compensation should be from fees alone"

Why Fee-Only?

Fee-Only means no product sales and no commissions. There can be a significant conflict of interest if an advisor stands to gain financially from the sale of any product he or she recommends to the client.

Such a conflict of interest can impair an advisor's objectivity and make it difficult to fulfill his or her fiduciary duty to put their client's interests first.

Because the bulk of a commission-based advisor's compensation is typically received immediately after a product sale, they are more motivated to find "new" clients than providing a high quality of service to existing clients.

We do business differently. We believe our compensation should come from the party to whom we owe our loyalty--the client. We do not accept commissions from product providers.

We work on a "pay-as-you go" basis for quality services rendered and do not place our clients monies in investments with sales charges or surrender fees.

Better Choices

Because we are paid by our clients directly rather than product sponsors, we are not limited to investments choices that pay commissions.

In addition to "no load" mutual funds, we can obtain most "load" funds without a load for our clients, as well as many "institutional funds" not generally available to retail customers.

We are also able to implement investment strategies that might not otherwise be cost effective. For example, we often utilize closed-end bond funds for our clients when we can purchase them at large discounts to their net asset value.

Because we utilize the services of a discount brokerage firm and receive no commissions, we can obtain several thousand shares of closed-end funds, exchange trade funds, or stocks for a very small transaction fee.

When appropriate, we also help our clients obtain annuities and life insurance products without the usual loads and surrender fees.

Fee-Only Logo

Beware of financial advisors who charge fees and receive hidden commissions from mutual funds and annuities. To be sure they truly are fee-only planners, look for the fee-only logo.