•    Often, you can leave your 401(k) money where it is.  In the case of some smaller accounts, you may be asked to transfer it to another account.  Many people prefer to rollover their 401(k) to an IRA so that they have more control over it, and so that they consolidate their money in one place.

•    That depends.  Often, lower income earners pay a low tax rate, and saving into a ROTH makes sense because the money will grow, and when withdrawn, no taxes will have to be paid. Also, a Roth does not have required minimum distributions at 70 ½, and transfers to non-spousal heirs more easily.  There are times when having a tax-deferred traditional IRA makes more sense as well.  This is a conversation that we would love to have with you.

•    Great question. All financial advisors fall into one of two broad categories: Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and broker-dealers. RIAs are fiduciaries, while broker-dealers aren’t.  Broker-dealers are held to what’s referred to as a suitability standard when offering financial and investment advice, rather than a fiduciary standard. This means that their advice must be “suitable” for the client’s needs at that particular time. The suitability standard is less stringent than the fiduciary standard in terms of the advisor’s obligation to make recommendations that are in the client’s best interest.
In addition to the fiduciary obligation, the other main difference between an RIA and a broker-dealer is in the way they are compensated. RIAs either charge their clients a percentage of assets under management or a fixed or hourly fee. Broker-dealers, in contrast, receive most of their compensation through commissions based on the investment products they recommend and sell.

•    We use third party money managers.   They charge a fee to your account based on the assets under management.  They share that fee with us so that we can do the financial planning and account review with you.  We also make money in commissions from insurance products that we sell.

•    We have no account minimums as an agency.  We think that beginning investors need professional guidance as much as seasoned investors do.  Some of our third party managers and some specific strategies have minimums, but we can work to find an appropriate strategy for you regardless of your account size.

•    Like many planning questions, that depends.  How old do you plan to be when you retire? What if you aren’t able to work as long as you initially planned?  Do you have pensions or inheritances that you are expecting?  Let’s talk about all the variables and figure that out together.

•    This can be a particularly overwhelming time, even if you are the partner that handles the day-to-day finances.  Let’s sit down and prioritize what needs to be done and take very manageable steps together to handle the finances.

•    We like to think of budgeting like dieting.  When you are making major changes such as buying a house, getting married, changing jobs, having a child, or getting divorced, you need to sit down and do a strict budget.  Once you have your brain wrapped around that, just like eating sensibly, you need to spend sensibly.  We find that many people can spend sensibly without a strict monthly budget, but only if you get your head around it in the beginning.

•    First and foremost, you need to be upfront about everything that you are doing for other people named in the trust distribution.  Sharing what and why and how you are gathering assets for distribution will save a lot of headaches in the long run.  We can sit down and talk about this process together.

•    There are a lot of options other than just going to the Marketplace to buy insurance, especially if you are self-employed or own a small business with a few employees.  Let’s talk options that can lower your overall expenses.

•    Sometimes this very emotional process needs a set of objective eyes.  We can take your situation, formulate a plan, and offer some peace to your situation.

•    There are many insurance options to protect your family, and most of them are far less expensive than people think they will be.  Don’t let a few dollars get in the way of protecting your most important people.

 •    We use a variety of tactical money managers that manage accounts to minimize losses when the market is losing.  It is still an investment and not an insurance product, but we want all of our clients to be able to sleep at night know that their accounts are being taken care of and will be there when they need it.

•    Actively managed accounts trade quite a bit, but there is no charge to the client for the buying and selling within their account.  Managers use several strategies to add and lower market exposure on a regular basis, and there is no-load on these trades.