• FAQ

    • Who do you serve?

      We provide services to individuals, families, businesses, trusts, partnerships, not-for-profit organizations and retirement plans who wish to pursue long-term goals based on our strategic approach to managing wealth.

    • Describe your broad services.

      We help people by creating financial plans that, when implemented, put them on a path to reaching their goals. Whether you need help with transitioning into retirement, investment management, accumulating assets, or developing a retirement plan for your business, we can find the right fit to meet your needs.

    • How much does it cost to hold the initial planning meeting with your firm?

      There is no cost for our initial Discovery and Investment Plan meetings. We feel it's time well spent to first get to know one another.  We will have a confidential conversation with you about your unique needs, and then determine how we can help. 

    • How do you charge for your services?

      We provide fee based investment management, with our fees based on a percentage of your assets that we manage. We feel that such an approach best aligns our interests with yours, helping us meet our fiduciary obligation as a Registered Investment Advisor firm.

      The fee covers all aspects of our service including financial planning consultations in addition to the investment management. Our fees are tier-based with breakpoints which decrease with additional assets.  Moreover, when working with families, we aggregate assets to determine your fees (while still managing each portfolio according to its distinct policies) enables favorable rates for your immediate family. 

    • Are there any other ways you are compensated?

      Our services may also be retained on an hourly rate basis. This may make sense to individuals with smaller investment accounts who desire investment guidance and ongoing financial planning. Additionally, we may recommend life insurance and annuity products for certain clients. In such cases, our firm is paid via commissions from the issuing insurance company. With our ardent belief in full transparency of investment costs to our clients, all manner of compensation is discussed prior to placement of any financial product. Assets for which commissions are received are excluded from the fee based calculation.

    • Why should advisors have credentials?

      To provide the best advice and counseling to clients, we feel it's important for our advisors to have education beyond a Bachelor's degree, and obtain specialized financial planning designations that are from legitimate and accredited institutions. That is why you will see our advisors hold credentials like CPA, CFP®, PFS, CRPC®, and AAMS®.

    • What happens to my current holdings if I become a client?

      Before any changes are made, we first analyze your existing portfolio and discuss our recommendations with you. Our overall goal is for your portfolio to make sense for you and your objectives, in the most cost-effective and tax efficient way possible. 

    • Do you trade and hold my assets for me?

      While you grant us Limited Power of Attorney (LPOA) to execute transactions on your behalf, you remain in control of your assets. Accounts are held in your name at a quality custodian such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity or TD Ameritrade. We do not hold or maintain custody of any client's money.

    • Describe your investment approach.

      We apply an Evidenced Based investment approach, tailoring your portfolio's level of risk (and its expected returns) according to your personal preferences, goals and circumstances. We adhere to the tenets of Modern Portfolio Theory and the Efficient Markets Theory. They indicate that the overwhelmingly largest determinant of portfolio performance is its asset allocation - how your assets are exposed to various risk factors. Additionally, EMH indicates that asset prices reflect all available information.

      What this means is Wall Street has convinced many that they can pick stocks; however, the evidence shows that most fail to meet or beat their benchmarks. We are strong believers that it’s more efficient to pick haystacks rather than trying to find needles.

    • What if I need a bond(fixed income) portfolio or other special holdings?

      Our philosophy is that equity investments are for growth; fixed income investing has a vital mission all its own: to control overall volatility in a portfolio and provide a stable financial base. It should act as the vehicle for steady, reliable income and contingency reserves.

      If a custom bond portfolio makes sense for you, we build one for you based on analysis of each bond's full range of characteristics (sector, maturity, credit rating and more). Through our relationship with BAM Advisor Services, LLC, an affiliated entity of the Buckingham Family of Financial Services, we have access to strategic fixed income resources and a network of local and national bond dealers that help ensure a wide range of security availability as well as fair and competitive institutional level pricing for you.

    • I am contacting you because I have heard you offer access to Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) funds. How do I learn more about DFA? What is your relationship with them?

      If you have already heard of DFA, you may be aware that it seeks to protect the reliability and manage the costs of its funds by requiring investors to access them via a select group of financial advisory firms. You can learn more about Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) by clicking here to visit their Web site.

      Our firm is proud to be among the select firms who have access to DFA funds. We often find that they provide the best vehicles for building portfolios that can be cost-effectively designed and managed to target your unique objectives through all types of markets. However, we receive no commissions for using DFA funds. Whenever we feel there is a better investment option for your particular needs, we use it.