Client Questions
Why work with a financial advisor?
By working with an advisor at Financial Transparency you are hiring someone at
the helm of the investment ship that has seen all types of waves before, bull and
bear markets. While it may be easy in this day of increased technology and
information to invest, determining reactions to changing equity, interest rate, real
estate, economic conditions is complicated.
DIY investors often pull out of the market at a rocky point and then sit on the
sidelines a lot longer than they intended to, trying to determine when it is a good
time to get back in. An advisor is continuously monitoring the investments, and is
able to use different strategies to try and limit volatility, target specific returns, or
meet particular portfolio needs.
When you are faced with a financial situation that is new to you, a Financial
Transparency advisor is bringing their years of experience to guide you through
the next steps. Dedication to being a fiduciary, who is putting client needs first, the
financial advisors of Financial Transparency are here to serve you.
What am I paying for?
What does the Financial Advisor do?:
1.
Initial Development of your customized plan:
Savings & Budget Goals
Taxes & Estate Planning
Retirement Income Planning
Determine Investment Objectives, Risk Tolerance, & Time Horizon
2.
Implementation of Plan:
Tax Management
Select Investment Solutions
Monitoring / Reviewing all of the above
Behavior modification (help avoid emotional decisions)
3.
Other customized services
Retirement transitioning
Social Security/Medicare/Pension assistance
Insurance protection planning
What does Financial Transparency do?:
•
Turns the investor profile information, submitted by the advisor, into a recommended portfolio for the client.
•
Proprietary portfolios that include passive, active or both investment types.
•
Portfolio diversification.
•
Working with the advisor to create a risk efficient investment portfolio.
•
Frequent communication with your advisor.
•
Daily, monthly, and quarterly monitoring of your portfolio.
•
Access to lower cost investment options.
•
Quarterly review, including economic & investment Information.
•
Handling of account services such as contributions, withdrawals and distributions.
What do the Custodians do?:
•
Access to over 8000 mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, bonds that we can choose from with no, or low, transaction fees
•
Unlimited trading
•
Real-time internet access to account information
•
Tax Reporting (1099s, 5498, Cost Basis, 8949) with electronic downloads of data for CPA
•
Quarterly custodian statement either paper or electronic
•
Performance reporting on the client account website
•
Required Minimum Distribution Calculations for Clients over the age of 70.5
•
ACH Withdrawals and Check processing
Ways that we serve clients.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
A financial plan can make all of
the difference in giving you the
peace of mind that your
investment portfolio and goals
are aligned. We can assist you
in identifying your goals,
preparing the roadmap to
meet them, and monitoring
where you are on your
financial journey. Many clients
find that working with a
financial advisor on specific
goals helps them stay on track,
focused on their priorities.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
With so many investment
options how do you decide
what to do? We take a
quantitative approach and
focus on the numbers. We see
a broad selection of
investments and then analyze
them. With one look at our
quarterly reviews, you will
understand that we are
putting financial transparency
into practice.
SECOND OPINIONS
We understand that, whether
due to friendships, business
reasons, or something else,
that sometimes investors are
not going to stop working with
their current financial advisory
firm. Yet these investors
would like to have a second
professional opinion evaluate
their portfolio. We
understand the sensitivity of
the issue and work with you to
give you the information that
you need.
INSURANCE PLANNING
In some financial plans there is
a need to purchase insurance
in order to protect your family
or business. While we don’t
want to have to think about
the day that insurance
planning helps your family,
finding the right policy and
ensuring that it is enough is
one of the things that we do to
help our clients.