Plan development is a multi-faceted process that is often built on the foundation of a personal and involved advisor relationship. That is why we spend time getting to know and understand client goals, wishes, needs and amount/types of assets in question. Although no two plans are alike, we can guarantee one thing: life happens and plans change, and when it does, your advisor will be there to help you navigate and adjust. Here is what our process entails:
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Comprehensive Financial Assessment
Our advice is only as good as the information we have at hand. That is why we take the time to go over your household balance sheet, cash flow, permissions and constraints to identify what decisions led you to your current financial state. Then we take the time to simply get to know you — where you see yourself in 5, 10 or 20 years from now, and how our collaborative process may help deliver the guidance you can trust.
Goal Establishment
Traditional financial plans may involve aligning your investments and your risk tolerance to dial in a foundation of what may, or may not be attainable. For us, that’s just the beginning. We are able to set clear and concise goals with our clients by ensuring their four financial facets – tax planning, risk mitigation, investments and final wishes – are crafted with careful consideration of one another. Starting with definitive direction is going to allow us to better wether any variables life inevitably throws our way.
Portfolio Selection
Educating a client on our investment philosophy and management style is the first step in selecting the appropriate asset mix. Once full transparency is achieved, we can make a recommendation with portfolio illustrations, full cash flow outlays and an asset probability spread. This unlocks both parties to commit to a prudent investment strategy that is cohesive to established goals and time horizon. We look to optimize client assets by:
- Extreme emphasis on minimizing portfolio expenses
- Combine strategic and tactical management methods
- Match asset mix with account tax registration
- Available cash in account will always be held in Money Market funds
Forward Management
Newton’s first law states: “every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force.” Think of your financial plan as the “object” and life-events as the “external force.” The only thing we can guarantee when formulating a financial plan is the variables of your life will change and evolve. In fact, we believe the most important part of planning is how well you and your advisor can adjust to change; that is why our approach allows our clients to have access to us – like we’re on retainer – 52 weeks out of the year. Our fee is more than just portfolio management; it’s being here for you in times of uncertainty – when you need us most.
Annual Refresh
Even though we are available to our clients year round for anything life may throw at them, we still advise pressing the refresh button once a year. Whether it’s over the phone, zoom, face to face, or FaceTime, we need to make sure that all parties are on the same page. A client can expect to discuss the following topics when we get together:
- How are you? Health and happiness are most important.
- Has there been any material changes affecting your family, finances or health?
- Career outlook – bonuses, salary, or benefit changes.
- Portfolio performance and planning evaluations.
- Annual market forecast – where we see the domestic and foreign market heading and what our forward plan of action is.
- Observations and steps to stay on track.
We are In It for the Long Run
Our relationship is crucial to the outcome of the years to come. The better we understand your situation and goals the better we can help you reach them.