info@CFPforDoctors.com
319-541-5767
What is comprehensive financial planning?
- Broadly speaking, there are two types of financial planning: comprehensive financial planning and focused financial planning.
- Comprehensive financial planning
- Involves a systematic review of all aspects of your personal finances including debt management, risk management, investment management, retirement planning, cash flow planning, education planning, tax planning, and estate planning.
- Focused financial planning
- Involves a focused review of one aspect of your personal finances, such as retirement planning.
- We believe you are more likely to achieve your financial goals by engaging in a comprehensive financial planning process rather than addressing financial decisions independently with no overall, cohesive plan.
- We only offer comprehensive financial planning services because we believe it is in your best interest that we understand your entire financial picture prior to us making any recommendations.
Are you an independent financial advisor?
- Yes, as an independent financial advisor, we are not affiliated with any other firms. This allows us to remain unbiased in our recommendations. We consider your specific situation, all of your options, and recommend the best solutions in an unbiased manner.
- To determine a Registered Investment Adviser's affiliations, refer to their Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), Item 10.
Are you a fiduciary?
- Yes, as a fiduciary, we are obligated at all times to place your best interests first, must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, adopt a Code of Ethics, and must fully disclose how we are compensated.
- The fiduciary duty is required of Certified Financial Planners® when providing financial advice or financial planning.
- The fiduciary duty is required of all Registered Investment Advisers, who must complete Form ADV which contains this information and more.
- All of our advisory agreements confirm we will always maintain our fiduciary duty to clients.
Are you a fee-only advisor?
- Yes, this means we only receive compensation from our clients. We do not receive compensation from any other sources such as commissions from financial product sales or referral fees.
Why should I consider working with you rather than other financial advisors?
- We structured our business to avoid conflicts of interest, including the facts that we are an independent, fiduciary, fee-only firm.
- Our experience in the healthcare profession may allow us to relate to you better than other financial advisors.
- We have completed several relevant, rigorous financial designations and certifications that many other financial advisors have not.
What is your financial planning process?
- We follow the financial planning process of the CFP® Board
- Step 1: Understanding the client's personal and financial circumstances
- Step 2: Identifying and selecting goals
- Step 3: Analyzing the client's current course of action and potential alternative course(s) of action
- Step 4: Developing the financial planning recommendation(s)
- Step 5: Presenting the financial planning recommendation(s)
- Step 6: Implementing the financial planning recommendation(s)
- Step 7: Monitoring progress and updating
- Standalone Agreements cover Steps 1-5
- Ongoing Agreements cover Steps 6-7 as well
What is your approach to financial planning?
- We generally approach financial planning as a three-layered pyramid, addressing issues in the base layer first, the middle layer second, and the top layer last.
- The base layer of the pyramid includes:
- Establishing adequate risk management strategies to protect you from catastrophic risks
- Establishing an adequate emergency fund
- Eliminating high interest rate debt(s)
- Establishing estate planning documents
- Saving for retirement (essential expenses)
- The middle layer of the pyramid includes:
- Saving for college education expenses
- Saving for retirement (discretionary expenses)
- The top layer of the pyramid includes:
- Second homes
- Legacy goals
What are some of your investment strategies?
- Buy-and-hold
- Strategic asset allocation
- Diversification
- Periodic rebalancing
- Dollar-cost averaging
- Asset location
- Maintaining discipline and avoiding behavioral mistakes such as performance chasing, attempting to time the market, and panic selling during market downturns
- For more information, please refer to our Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), Item 8.
What is your engagement process?
- Introductory virtual meeting to answer your questions and mutually determine if our services would be a good fit for you
- To request an introductory virtual meeting, please visit our Schedule Meeting page
- Following the introductory virtual meeting, if we mutually decide to proceed, we will send you a copy of our Privacy Policy, Brochure and Brochure Supplement, and our Standalone Agreement with the exception of your specific fee. If you wish to proceed after reviewing these three documents, we will securely obtain your most recently filed income tax return (or income tax returns if Married Filing Separately) in order to calculate and finalize your specific fee. Once we finalize your specific fee, we will provide you the final version of the Standalone Agreement
- Once we both sign the Standalone Agreement, and once we obtain payment from you of half of the Standalone Agreement fee, we will securely gather from you the remainder of the documents we need, as well as schedule a virtual meeting to gather additional information from you including your specific financial goals
- We will analyze your situation, consider your options, and develop our recommendations
- We will set up a virtual meeting to discuss our recommendations and answer any follow-up questions
- If we both wish to maintain an ongoing relationship once the Standalone Agreement ends, we may enter an Ongoing Agreement
I already have a financial advisor. Will you provide a second opinion?
- Yes.
Do you work virtually?
- Yes, we conduct all meetings virtually.
Do you work with people nationwide?
- Yes, we are available to work with all U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, or those with a valid U.S. visa who reside in the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia.
Do I have to pay for the first meeting?
- No, the first meeting is an introductory virtual meeting to mutually determine if it would make sense for us to work together.
- To set up an introductory virtual meeting, please visit our Schedule Meeting page
How do you get paid?
- As a fee-only advisor, we only receive compensation from our clients. We do not receive compensation from any other sources such as commissions from financial product sales or referral fees.
What are your fees?
- For Standalone Agreements, our minimum fee is $6,000 for single clients and $9,000 for legally married clients. Your fee may be higher, depending on our calculation of your fee based on our Fee Schedule, listed below.
- For Ongoing Agreements, our minimum annual fee is $4,000/year for single clients and $6,000/year for legally married clients. Your annual fee may be higher, depending on our calculation of your annual fee based on our Fee Schedule, listed below.
Fee Schedule:
Standalone Agreements: Fee = (0.02)(Adjusted Gross Income)
Ongoing Agreements: Annual Fee = (0.02)(Adjusted Gross Income)
The Adjusted Gross Income is from your most recently filed federal income tax return. For legally married couples, the Adjusted Gross Income is based on the combined Adjusted Gross Income of both spouses, whether you file taxes jointly or separately.
For example, if your most recently filed federal income tax return showed an Adjusted Gross Income of $400,000, the calculated fee for a Standalone Agreement would be (0.02)($400,000) = $8,000. For single clients, your fee would be $8,000. For legally married clients, your fee would be the minimum fee of $9,000 for legally married clients as stated above.
Do you have an investment minimum?
- No.
Which documents/statements would be needed to proceed with a financial consultation?
- Valid photo ID (U.S. issued, non-expired driver's license, state identification card, or passport)
- Account statements (e.g., 401(k), 403(b), 457b, 529 Plan, auto loan, brokerage account, checking account, credit card, defined benefit pension, Health Savings Account, money market account, mortgage, personal loan, Roth 401(k), Roth 403(b), Roth 457b, Roth IRA, savings account, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, student loan, traditional IRA)
- Annuity statements
- Credit report
- Employee benefits
- Estate planning documents (e.g., healthcare power of attorney, living will (advance medical directive), property power of attorney, side letter of instruction, trust, will)
- Insurance policies (e.g., auto insurance, disability insurance, health insurance, general liability insurance, homeowner's/renter's insurance, life insurance, long term care insurance, personal liability umbrella insurance, malpractice insurance)
- Liabilities (e.g., auto loans, credit card debt, mortgage, personal loans, student loans)
- Other legal documents (e.g., articles of incorporation, buy-sell agreements, certificate of formation, divorce decrees, ESOP agreement, operating agreement, partnership agreement, phantom stock agreement, prenuptial agreement, S Corp shareholder agreement, stock option agreement)
- Personal property (estimated value of electronics, jewelry, furniture, other personal property)
- Real estate deeds
- Social Security statements
- Last two filed income tax returns (Form 1040) and supporting documentation (e.g., W-2's, 1099's, Schedule K-1's, recent paystub), any gift tax returns, any income tax returns for trusts, partnerships, C Corporations, or S Corporations you have an interest in
- Vehicle titles (e.g., auto, RV, boat, motorcycle)
I'd like to learn more, what is the next step?
- To set up an introductory virtual meeting, please visit our Schedule Meeting page
If you have additional questions, please email us at info@CFPforDoctors.com.
