• Q: Doesn't the typical 1% advisor fee negate any potential gains?

      • A: No. Independent research suggests the long-term value generated by a good advisor—through behavioral coaching, tax efficiency, and disciplined planning—can add an estimated 2.39% to 4.87% to annual returns, which is typically much higher than the fee.

    • Q: What is the most significant value an advisor provides?

      • A: Behavioral coaching. Advisors prevent investors from making the most costly mistake: poor market timing (e.g., panic-selling). The cost of a single, emotionally-driven mistake can easily exceed decades of advisory fees.

    • Q: Do advisors beat the market with superior stock-picking?

      • A: The value is not primarily from stock-picking magic. It is generated through disciplined strategies like optimized asset allocation, tax-efficient investing, and systematic retirement withdrawal strategies.

    • Q: Does an advisor's value compound over time?

      • A: Yes. Studies project that over a lifetime, clients who employ an advisor can achieve 36% to over 200% moredollar value in their bottom line due to the compounded effect of avoiding errors and maintaining discipline.

  • There are two ways investment advisors get paid - fees or commissions, sometimes both!

    • Fee

      • this is referred to as an AUM or Asset Under Management fee

      • Most savvy investors preference

      • Means you and your advisor have the same goal - growth.

      • A percentage of your portfolio charged throughout the year.

      • Can range from .3-1.5% or more

      • Often higher charge on lower balances

    • Commission

      • Typically an up-front charge on all new money invested

      • Often in the range of 5.5-5.57%

      • Incentivizes new dollar contribution, but no focus on returns/performance over time

      • Often the model of insurance-focused firms

      • Prone to churning - advisor moving investor from one fund to another to make a new commission

  • No. Unfortunately many people in this industry refer to themselves as “advisors” despite not being a registered investment advisor.

    It is a good practice to confirm anyone that is going to handle your money or provide advice around products that can be considered investment vehicles such as life insurance and annuities, is a registered investment advisor.

    Registered investment advisors have a fiduciary duty. This means they always must do what is in your best interest.

    This is distinct from an insurance agent that may refer to themselves as an “advisor,” but they are only held to a suitability standard. Example: Under a suitability standard, an agent could recommend a life insurance policy or annuity that is appropriate for the client's budget and coverage needs, even if another company's comparable, slightly cheaper policy exists, as long as the recommended policy is still suitable.

  • When moving to our firm as your new investment advisor on a fee basis there are no setup or up-front costs. The prior firm may charge a fee around $100 to close any account with them.

    Consult with your tax professional as any transfers in taxable accounts may result in capital gains taxes. Capital gains mean the portfolio grew and those taxes will be paid at some point.

  • This is the most important decision any investor makes. We get it… it can be a challenge.

    Fees are important, but are they more important than returns after the fees?

    Consider the focus on low fees may be to the detriment of returns. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

    The only way to truly compare firms would be if both provide GIPS-audited returns. This stands for Global Investment Performance Standards. This is the only accurate way to measure the time and dollar weighted returns of their actual returns for actual investors. If your firm does not provide this ask yourself why? They either don’t know how to calculate them or they don’t want to show their performance.

  • GIPS-compliant performance that has undergone verification, represent investment performance data calculated and presented by an investment firm in adherence to the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), which have been independently examined by an external party.

    What are the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS)?

    The GIPS Standards are a set of voluntary, ethical standards for calculating and presenting investment performance, based on the principles of fair representation and full disclosure.

    • Goal: To establish a global, industry-wide standard so that investors can confidently compare the performance of different investment firms across the world on an "apples-to-apples" basis.

    • Sponsor: The GIPS Standards are developed, maintained, and promoted by the CFA Institute.

    • Compliance: Firms must comply with all applicable requirements of the GIPS Standards to claim compliance. The standards mandate consistency in input data, calculation methodology, composite construction (grouping portfolios with similar strategies), and presentation/reporting.

    What does "Audited" or "Verified" Mean in this Context?

    While the term "GIPS-Audited returns" is common, the correct term under GIPS is verification.

    • Verification: This is a process where an independent, third-party firm (a verifier) conducts testing on a firm-wide basis.

    • Purpose: The verifier provides assurance on two key points:

      1. The firm's policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, and the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance are designed in compliance with the GIPS Standards.

      2. These policies and procedures have been implemented on a firm-wide basis.

    • Benefit: Verification adds an extra layer of credibility and trust for investors by confirming the integrity of the firm's claim of GIPS compliance.

    How are GIPS-Compliant Investment Returns Calculated?

    The GIPS Standards generally require the use of a Time-Weighted Rate of Return (TWR) methodology for calculating portfolio returns, as it eliminates the impact of external cash flows (contributions and withdrawals), which are typically client-driven, and thus best reflects the firm's skill in managing the assets.

    Time-Weighted Rate of Return (TWR)

    The TWR involves calculating the return for smaller sub-periods (defined by the time between external cash flows) and then geometrically linking those sub-period returns to find the total period return.

    1. Calculate the Return for Each Sub-Period (Ri​ ):

      Ri​ = EMVi​ - BMVi​ / BMVi​

      • EMVi​ ​: Ending Market Value of the portfolio for sub-period i​.

      • BMVi​ : Beginning Market Value of the portfolio for sub-period i​ (which includes any cash flows that occurred at the very start of the period or end of the previous period).

    2. Geometrically Link the Sub-Period Returns to Calculate the Total Period Return (R):

      R=(1+R1​)×(1+R2​)×⋯×(1+Rn​)−1

      • R1​,R2​,…,Rn​: Returns for each sub-period.

    Important Calculation Principles

    • Net of Transaction Costs: Returns must be calculated after the deduction of actual transaction costs (e.g., brokerage commissions) for both gross-of-fees and net-of-fees presentations.

    • Valuation: Portfolios must be valued using a fair value methodology.

    • Composites: A firm must combine the returns of individual portfolios with similar investment strategies into a composite using an asset-weighted average of the individual portfolio returns.

  • This is why we don't offer health insurance ;-) Typically, insurance is not a scam. It is written out in black and white what is covered and what is not. Where people usually get angry is due to miscommunication. This is why having an agent to ensure the process goes smoothly is essential. Most complaints we hear from bad claims experiences is due to miscommunication, not that something in the policy listed as covered was actually not covered.

    Another element is clients not learning until after a claim that they did not have the proper coverage. This could be because the agent didn't explain it to them, the client didn't read the policy language, or the client didn't respond to prompts to do annual reviews of their coverage.

  • Once you import your insurance information (5 minutes) and we have a phone call to get personal info (20 minutes) it takes 24-48 hours to build a finalized proposal with a side-by-side comparison and video walk through. A final phone call (15 minutes) to make adjustments and get payment info and you are switched. You digitally sign documents from your new carrier and from us (2 minutes) to notify your prior insurance company to close out your old policies and you're all set!

  • This is a loaded question. The general rule is if it is sudden and incidental then it might be covered. If it happens over time it is usually not covered as this is considered maintenance.

    Big exclusions on home insurance are flood and earthquake. Both of those need to be added to a policy to be covered. On auto the big exclusion is anything that is not the car... roof racks, sound systems, contents of the vehicle, etc. Some of these can be added to car coverage and contents are covered under a home or renters insurance policy.

  • A few different reasons and no, it's not so we can work the numbers. If only we had that much power! It's so we can easily get the vehicle identification numbers for vehicles, catch if there are any extras to add you may have forgotten (jewelry riders, etc) and to have policy numbers and contact information for that company so if you decide to change we can send them your signed cancellation request. Item description

  • Insurance Agencies get paid 9-15% of the premiums you pay to the insurance company.

  • Nope, we handle that for you.