Services

Interview us- Anyone may sit down and interview us about ourselves and our services for absolutely no fee. This usually involves questions about our services, fees, philosophy, and investment strategies.

Compensation- We work for a flat fee based on an hourly rate of $125. We generally propose a flat fee for services that are agreed upon prior to starting a project, rather than an open-ended hourly arrangement. As fee-only planners and NAPFA Registered Financial Advisors, we abstain from any business arrangements or affiliations that would represent potential conflicts of interests as stated in the NAPFA’s Fiduciary Oath. Therefore, we receive no other compensation, such as sales commissions.

Consultation/Initial Meeting- We offer consultations to individuals who feel they may only need a “check-up” of their current financial situation or general advice. During the consultation we can also discuss our detailed planning and/or wealth management services.

Financial Planning & Investment Analysis- We provide counsel in all areas of personal financial planning including retirement, investment, insurance, tax, and estate planning.

Comprehensive Financial Plan

• We gather all personal and financial information in order to thoroughly review your complete financial situation.
• We then work collaboratively with you to define your planning goals and objectives. Detailed  financial projections are then prepared with “Golden Years” planning and Monte Carlo software.
• Questions such as ‘When can I retire?’, ‘How do I need to invest to get there?’ and ‘How will I afford to send my children to college?’ are answered.
• We provide a detailed analysis and recommendations on your current investments portfolio.
• We carefully review all areas of your financial situation to make sure they fit your plan and goals.
• This process takes an average of two to four weeks, including the option to have us meet at your home for convenience, or our office in Asheville.
• Fees generally range from $1,000 and up for straight forward retirement projections and are based on the complexity of your specific individual situation.

We do provide a service that primarily deals with investment analysis.

Wealth Management- Our investment philosophy is based upon asset allocation and seeks to lower risk and reduce returns by holding a portfolio diversified across different asset classes while avoiding market timing.  Each portfolio is customized to fit their unique circumstances and risk tolerance.  This service is primarily provided to clients as a continuation of the financial planning process. Assets are held at a discount brokerage house such as Shareholders Service Group, which acts as the custodian.

For this select group of clients, we commit to serving as their full time personal financial advisor. Services performed for these clients include, but are not limited to, portfolio management, tax planning, cash management, and ongoing financial planning.

In order to maintain the highest level of service to these clients, we constantly review and monitor our efficiency and effectiveness.  Once we reach our maximum capacity, we will stop taking new clients or we will hire a new advisor to maintain a desirable advisor to client ratio.  Because of this commitment, we will never compromise the level of service to our wealth management clients.

Fee schedule for Wealth Management

• We provide detailed ongoing reviews and quarterly reports under this agreement.  The reports will provide all relevant information for monitoring your investments.

What a prospective “Interview us” client might say:
“ I would like to sit down and meet you and ask questions regarding your services and how they might fit my unique set of circumstances.”

What a prospective “Consultation” client might say:
“ I have a few questions that I need another opinion on or I need a financial checkup.”

What a prospective “Investment Analysis” client might say:
“ I would like to have someone review my IRA accounts, 401(k), and brokerage accounts, analyze my investments, and make recommendations.”

What a prospective “Wealth Management” client might say:
“ I’m planning on retiring in 10 years. I’ll be putting two children through college between now and then. What do I need to do to make that happen?”

“I like the portfolio recommendations you made as part of our financial plan. Can you manage our investments in accordance with the plan?”

“ I would like to donate a large sum of money to charity and I need a strategy that will best fit my situation.” We have experience designing charitable donation plans like utilizing charitable trusts coordinating with legal and tax professionals.

“I need someone that will not only manage my investments, but will coordinate my other financial activities. I need an advisor I can trust to ensure my investments, tax strategy, insurance coverage, and estate plan are working smoothly together to achieve my long range goals.”