What I Can Do to Help You

Many clients come to me as they are approaching retirement. They usually have three primary questions. 1) When can I retire?    2) How much money do I need?    3) How do I create income without a paycheck?

What I don't do: I don't print money, so my clients have to live within the resources they've accumulated and the income their money can generate. I also don't sugar-coat reality. If they need to adjust their expectations, I will tell them so.

What I do: I utilize my more than two decades of experience at Equitable, the insights I have gained from constructing over one hundred and fifty comprehensive financial plans for my clients, and my training in retirement planning from the Wharton School to help my clients understand the retirement lifestyle they can support. I work with them to test different scenarios that determine what an appropriate retirement age might be, how social security fits into their plan, and what taxes and different spending levels will do to their retirement plans. Click for More>>

Investors are often fearful about the volatility in the stock market and are afraid of losing their hard-earned money. They come to me looking for a way to lessen their concerns.

What I don't do: I don't predict the future or pretend to know what markets are going to do. I don't claim to be able to consistently pick better investments than others.

What I do: Emotional, capricious, and volatile: not me, the stock market. And that's scary. My job is to help my clients understand how to navigate through volatile markets. I educate them on the power of diversification and I vet and hire top institutional money managers to help manage my clients' assets. Click for More>>

Many individuals have concerns about the industry's high fees and lack of transparency regarding what they pay.

What I don't do: I don't work for free. I don't claim to always have the lowest fees or no fees for products and services.

What I do: I work long and unsociable hours to provide my clients with the best service and performance I can. I am an Investment Advisor Representative (IAR); as such, I have a fiduciary responsibility to serve my clients' best interests ahead of my own and I take that obligation very seriously. I disclose my fees upfront (whether my clients ask or not) so they understand how I am paid.

I believe that the more value I can add, the less concerned clients are about fees. Financial advisors are typically compensated in one of three ways; 1) Commissions 2) Advisory Fees and 3) Referrals. Most people don't think of referrals as a form of compensation but I have grown my business based on building a trusting relationship with my clients and thereby earning their referrals.

People come to me feeling that their financial situation is complicated or hopeless or just hopelessly complicated. If they are not sure about what they need to do or what they want, how can a stranger understand their unique situation?

What I don't do: I don't prescribe a solution before I have diagnosed the problem and I don't come to the table with an agenda about what I want to sell to them.

What I do: I have a time-tested, three-step process for working with clients. Here's what you can expect:

1. Step one is a comprehensive discovery interview. I explore your financial goals and priorities for long-term well-being and listen carefully to your hopes and concerns. Then I look at your current financial assets, expenses, and income.
   
2. Step two is to take all this information and these insights and prepare a written strategic plan for you that ties everything together.
   
3. Step three Only after doing all of this, do I make specific recommendations designed to help you reach your unique financial objectives.
   

We will have an annual sit-down meeting to review your plan, discuss changes in your lives and fine tune your strategies if needed. I will hold myself accountable for making sure that we are following your personalized plan.

I believe that once this process is implemented, you will have that sense of security that lets you sleep better at night. You will feel comfortable dealing with the unexpected tomorrow, because you have a plan in place today! Click for More>>