What Does It Cost?

Our fees are transparent meaning that they are "in writing" and you know what you will be paying "in advance". Since we don’t accept commissions from any investment or insurance companies, you know exactly how much you are paying and exactly what service you are receiving.

Specific fees will, of course, depend upon what type of advice you require. We generally charge in one of the following three ways:

• Asset Management Fees - These fees are calculated as a percentage of the assets we manage on your behalf. For this fee, we help you establish and maintain an appropriate asset allocation that reflects your goals, timeframes, and propensity for risk. We also provide performance reporting so that you can gauge your progress and we help control the tax impacts of your investment decisions.
• Project Fees - The majority of our comprehensive and limited scope financial planning services are performed for flat, all-inclusive fees (professional fees and most expenses). When quoting a fee, we talk with you about what issues concern you most and how we might address those concerns. We then prepare a written agreement summarizing the scope of work and our fee BEFORE we begin work. Together, we can then adjust the scope of work so that the fee remains sensitive to your budget.
• Hourly Fees - For more complex projects, we quote an hourly fee. However, to assist you in controlling fees, we provide you with a written scope of service and an estimated time required to complete your project.

When proposing a fee, we first consider the anticipated length of the engagement. For long-term engagements such as investment management or comprehensive financial planning, we generally provide a complimentary consultation in order to determine our compatibility with the prospective client and their needs. For short-term projects, we simply provide a scope of service with an all-inclusive fee. Common examples of such short-term projects include the following engagements:

• Financial Aid Award Review
• Financial Aid Application Consultation
• Income Tax Analysis
• Portfolio Risk Assessment
• Portfolio Allocation Recommendation
• Retirement Plan or IRA Distribution Analysis