You may be frustrated by the lack of service and personal attention from one of the large financial institutions. Are your questions being answered by someone who understands your situation? And, do they even ask you for additional information to clarify your questions before they answer?
Typical Client Characteristics
Financial planning works best with people who are willing to learn, grow and take action, and when there is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
Most of our clients are affluent or semi-affluent individuals and families who desire ongoing professional assistance and coaching in the creation and implementation of strategies to address their life goals, as they may exist now or develop in the future.
Over the years, we have found that our firm works most effectively with people who share some, or all, of the following characteristics:
- A desire to have a financial plan that organizes their financial lives, and which uses their human and financial capital to create a result which helps them achieve their goals;
- A willingness to make a shift in behavior if it furthers their long-term goals.
- Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will be profitable for a client's investment portfolio.
- Recognition that big goals can potentially be achieved by making small changes consistently over time.
Client Expectations
When you become a client of ours, we hope and expect you to be honest and forthcoming about your personal and professional goals, and about your current financial situation. The quality of our advice will depend on the quality of information that you provide to us.
Financial planning is personal, so we will ask you to share with us data and issues that you may not share with anyone but your family. The more effectively we can communicate with one another, the more personalized your long-term plan will be.
Specifically, we expect you to share your personal financial data and financial history with us, and to bring in relevant documents upon request. Just as you must disclose a great deal of information to your doctor, your lawyer, and your accountant for them to do their job well, we will need a great deal of information to make professional recommendations. For example, your medical history may give us insights that we need for projecting mortality, for such areas as retirement or long-term cash flow projections, as well as certain types of risk management (insurance).
We believe that a great financial plan requires a commitment of time from you. The initial year will include five to six meetings over a period of a year. You need to be willing to attend each of these meetings. We design these meetings to provide you with the knowledge and tools to make good decisions. These meetings also provide us with the necessary information to create a unique plan for you.
As time goes on, we expect you to keep us informed, as soon as possible, about important changes that will have a significant effect on your financial and personal life, such as marriage, new baby, any new major financial obligation, change of income, change of health etc.
We always ask that you carefully review all communications and statements immediately and promptly report any errors to us and/or ask for clarification on anything that you do not understand.
Because we schedule meetings in advance, we ask that you be on time for your appointment so that we may fully address every issue you have without taking away from the time set aside for you or the next client.
We ask that you give us at least 24 hours notice for any cancellation or delay. Your courtesy is much appreciated.
The clients who make the most progress do so by making an honest effort to follow the plan. The clients who enjoy exponential progress toward their goals continuously update their plans in annual meetings and fine tune the plans until they have an efficient goal meeting machine tailored to their personality and individual needs. For these clients, following the plan becomes effortless since it is perfectly designed for them and following it has become a habit.
Communication
We take full responsibility for errors. If we make them, we must correct them. But first, we must be made aware of an error. We depend on you to give us the opportunity to correct any mistake. Please talk to us so that we may do so.
We welcome the opportunity to schedule time for analysis and communication with you either by phone or in person. Appointments can be scheduled Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. If something important arises between our scheduled meetings, please call us with updated information, problems, or questions. We ask that you inform us of your financial choices, before you decide, preferably not after the fact.
Most importantly, please be open with us at all times. Remember that you can tell us anything--even things that you are just barely ready to tell yourself. Please do not hold back. Any information you share is always held in the strictest confidence.
To begin the communication by scheduling a no-obligation consultation, click here.