Our Philosophy

We Aim to Build Wealth

That is really the bottom line. Our clients have needs, wants, goals – and it all comes down to doing the right thing for them and striving to help them to build wealth. Our clients are our greatest asset. We are their trusted advisors. Though we have many paragraphs below outlining our philosophy, it really comes down to this: doing the right things for our clients. What more could you want? What better way to run a business? Our loyalty, dedication, and advocacy for you will be a pleasant respite from the confusion and worries of investing in today`s financial world.

So, how do we operationalize that loyalty, dedication and advocacy? We strive to understand and analyze your financial situation – much like a physician would approach evaluating your medical situation. We give you a written report that serves as our baseline understanding of your circumstances and goals. It looks like pages of facts, which it is. But underlying all the numbers and graphs is really you and your life and your hopes for the future. Don`t get us wrong – our professional staff is a bunch of number people. But numbers are useless without an understanding of your needs, desires, fears, dislikes, likes, belief systems, hopes, dreams – all those "soft" issues that actually matter more than the numbers. We feel we are comprehensive in the Financial Planning business because we truly take the time to explore and incorporate those issues into your plans. That is what we will do for you.

Clients generally come to us with such questions as:

• How should I invest my money?
• What`s the best way to pay for my children`s education?
• When can I afford to retire – in the lifestyle I want?
• What levels of insurance are appropriate?
• How do I best use my company`s benefit plans?
• How can I reduce my tax bill?
• I run a business, how do I best leverage that business for myself and my family?
• Is my estate structured to minimize taxes and transfer costs?

In answering these questions, we are committed to using the financial planning process as outlined by the CFP Board. This process consists of the following six steps:

1. Establishing and defining the client-planner relationship. We clearly document and explain the services we will provide you and define our responsibilities as well as yours. We fully explain how we will be paid. We establish how long our professional relationship should last and on how decisions will be made.

2. Gathering client date, including goals. We develop a sound factual information base so that our recommendations are based on reality. Since most of our clients are busy people, we minimize your time required in completing questionnaires. We do this by using original source documents such as your wills and tax returns, thus we can locate the information we actually need and save you time.

3. Analyzing and evaluating your financial status. We analyze your information to assess your current situation and determine what you will need to do to meet your goals. This generally includes analyzing your assets, liabilities and cash flow, current insurance coverages, investments and tax strategies.

4. Developing and presenting financial planning recommendations and/or alternatives. We provide financial planning recommendations that address your goals, based on the information you have provided. We go over the recommendations with you to help you understand them so that you can make informed decisions. We also listen to your concerns and revise the recommendations as appropriate.

5. Implementing the financial planning recommendations. We develop a time table and task list that covers how the recommendations will be carried out. Depending on the circumstances, we may carry out the recommendations or serve as your "coach," coordinating the whole process with you and other professionals such as attorneys or bankers.

6. Monitoring the financial planning recommendations. Finally, we monitor your progress towards your goals and report to you periodically to review your situation and adjust the recommendations, if needed, as your life changes. Where you investments are concerned, we provide you with ongoing reports through the mail, email, this website and at in-person meetings. We keep an extensive database of all investment activities in order to devise year-end tax strategies, periodic rebalancing, and other necessary portfolio activities.