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How Your Wealth Manager Can Help You with Major Life Changes

Posted by Seton McAndrews | CFP®, Vice President Investments

November 22, 2017

How Your Wealth Manager Can Help You with Major Life Changes

Life changes come in many forms. Some are joyous occasions—marriage, the birth of a new child, a job promotion, sending a child to college, selling or starting a business, or one of our mainstays, retirement.

Other times life changes are more challenging. These might include the passing of a family member, an unexpected illness, divorce, or sending a child to college. Yes, we purposely mentioned college twice! (While wonderful, we know college can be very expensive for parents and sometimes a heartbreaking transition).

Common Financial Credentials: What is a CFP, CWS, and CFA?

May 2, 2017

Once you’ve realized that hiring a financial advisor is worth it, the next step is choosing the right one for you. When you began your search you may have noticed that there is a wide variety of different acronyms that come after their name. For investors of all types, the alphabet soup of financial credentials can be confusing, especially if you’re searching for a wealth manager or financial advisor with a particular skill set. Read on to learn about the difference between a Certified Financial Planner®, a Certified Wealth Strategist®, and a Chartered Financial Analyst®. [+] Read More

3 Reasons You Need A Fiduciary

February 28, 2017

In the realm of investment advice, all it takes is seeing the definition of “fiduciary standard” to understand why it’s so important: Fiduciary - “a Financial Advisor held to a ‘Fiduciary Standard’ occupies a position of special trust and confidence when working with a client. As a Fiduciary, the financial advisor is required to act with undivided loyalty to the client. This includes disclosure of how a financial advisor is to be compensated and any corresponding conflicts of interest." Put simply, abiding by the Fiduciary Standard means putting your clients’ interests first. Most investors might read the above definition and think, wasn’t this the rule the entire time? It should be that simple, right? Not necessarily. [+] Read More

Relationships Strengthen Your Financial Plan

February 8, 2017

If you were asked to give only one answer to the question, “What do you think is the most important quality in a healthy relationship?” what would you say? Our answer: communication. There are, no doubt, other important and necessary qualities in a healthy relationship, like trust, honesty, and commitment to a common goal or end. But it all boils down to the ability to communicate freely and openly. Good communication means being on the same page and working as a team, which in turn makes problem-solving less difficult – and maybe even fun. Think about instances in your workplace or with your spouse/partner where strong communication made everyone happier, more confident, and more productive. There are probably a lot of breakthrough moments that come to mind! Why wouldn’t the same strengths of communication apply to financial planning? Well, they do. [+] Read More

Robo Advisors vs. Traditional Advisors: Should the Differences Matter to You?

January 17, 2017

Over the past few years, there’s been a technology-related buzz in the financial industry, but it’s not about the latest ‘app’ from Silicon Valley or about Snapchat’s IPO. It’s about a fairly new approach to managing money through “robo-advisors.” These “advisors” are essentially online programs that use computer algorithms – instead of real investment managers and human advice – to make portfolio allocations over time. It sounds futuristic and perhaps promising, but there’s a problem. Robo-advisors generally only perform one function: allocating a portfolio. That may be fine for a new or novice investor that does not have complex financial needs – someone who may only be looking for a diversified portfolio in a cookie cutter format (conservative, aggressive, or somewhere in between). [+] Read More

Does Your Advisor Avoid Talking about Performance?

September 28, 2016

Monitoring the performance of an investment portfolio is a tricky task. On one hand, many investors would benefit from not becoming overly focused on performance. Doing so tends to lead to an unhealthy focus on short-term volatility/price movements, which can easily lead to an investor making a knee-jerk, emotional decision that runs counter to their long-term goals. [+] Read More

Time to Reassess Your Financial Advisor? 4 Warning Signs to Watch For

January 5, 2016

The beginning of the year is a good time to closely review your investment plan and make an assessment of how well it’s working for your family. Are you on track to meet your goals? Is your advisor managing your investment portfolio pursuant to your needs (producing sufficient income and/or growth)? And above all, are you happy with the service? A good rule of thumb in our opinion is that if you think your overall experience can be better, then it should be better. There’s really no need to ‘settle’ when it comes to choosing a financial advisor you can trust and who meets your expectations. You’ve worked hard to build your nest egg, and you deserve an advisor who can help you grow it and meet your retirement income needs over time. Here are four warnings signs that your current advisor may not be that person. [+] Read More