Wayne Firebaugh, Inc., is a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor providing financial advice and investment management to individuals, corporate retirement plans, and institutions. When asked what "fee-only" means, we answer that it allows us to provide objective, unbiased advice because we do not accept commissions. If we recommend an investment or insurance product to a client, we make our suggestion based on the professional belief it is in the best interest of the client not because some company pays us to sell their product. We are beholden to no one except our clients. In fact, we gladly accept the role of fiduciary to our clients. The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors describes what it means to be such an advisor.

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 the financial advisor is to be compensated and any corresponding conflicts of interest.

Compensation -[Advisors] are compensated solely by their clients, and do not receive any outside inducements for recommending investments or financial products. This is the true definition of being a "Fee-Only Advisor."

• Loyalty - An advisor who is loyal to only his or her clients will not be swayed by outside forces to recommend investments with higher commissions or payouts.
• Disclosure - People must understand how their financial advisor is being compensated and whether or not any potential conflicts may impede an advisor's ability to provide truly independent advice. Disclosure must be made before a client works with an advisor or implements any of his or her advice.

Federal and state law requires that Registered Investment Advisors be held to a fiduciary standard. To satisfy this extremely high legal standard, an advisor must act solely in the best interest of the client, even if that interest is in conflict with the advisor's financial interest. Investment Advisors must disclose any conflict, or potential conflict, to the client prior to and throughout a business engagement. Investment Advisors must fully disclose how they are compensated. In addition, our firm has adopted a Code of Ethics to ensure that we live up to our fiduciary obligations.

Unfortunately, not all "financial advisors" work for federally or state-registered investment advisory firms. Many so-called financial advisors are registered representatives, better known as brokers, and are employed by brokerage firms. Generally, registered representatives need not comply with the fiduciary duty standard that is owed when you are dealing with a registered investment advisory firm.

Because broker-dealers are not necessarily acting in your best interest, the SEC and FINRA require them to add the following disclosure to your client agreement. Read this disclosure, and decide if this is the type of relationship you want to dictate your financial security:

"Your account is a brokerage account and not an advisory account. Our interests may not always be the same as yours. Please ask us questions to make sure you understand your rights and our obligations to you, including the extent of our obligations to disclose conflicts of interest and to act in your best interest. We are paid both by you and, sometimes, by people who compensate us based on what you buy. Therefore, our profits, and our salespersons' compensation, may vary by product and over time."

If this disclaimer appears in agreements you are signing, you should ask questions of your advisor. Obtain complete disclosure about how he or she is compensated, and where his or her loyalties lie. Then decide if the relationship is in your best interest. {Source: www.focusonfiduciary.com NAPFA Consumer Education Foundation}