5 Questions to ask a potential financial advisor
We know there are likely many more questions, but these seem to be the top five that are recommended you ask when interviewing a potential advisor. Our hope is that if you have additional questions, you’ll give us a chance to answer them in person or on the phone.
How Much?
If you were to do a search of the top questions to ask a potential advisor, “How much are your fees?” or “How do you get paid?” is usually number one. We are a fee based Registered Investment Advisory Firm. Each of our portfolio’s have break points, which reduces the fee for higher balances, based on the amount under management. The following is for $0 - $499,999.
Short-Term Portfolio - 1.2% annually (.3% per quarter)
Conservative Portfolio - 1.2% annually (.3% per quarter)
Long Term Balanced & Aggressive Portfolio - 1.4% annually (..35% quarterly)
Kinetic Portfolio - 1.6% annually (.4% quarterly)
Blended Portfolio - If the blended allocation includes the Kinetic Portfolio, the fee will be the same as the Kinetic Portfolio. If not, the fee will be the same as the Aggressive portfolio regardless of the mix.
We do not charge for unmanaged portions of an account.
Fiduciary?
A fiduciary is someone that is ethically bound to act in another’s best interest. Not all “advisors” are fiduciaries, though all brokers and advisors are required to make sure their advice is “suitable”. In our case, we are fiduciaries, which means we are required to act in your best interest. We take this seriously and consider it our privilege.
Services?
We are a fee based RIA that provides financial planning, retirement planning, retirement income planning, social security consultation/advice, tax planning, tax preparation, money management, life insurance, long term care insurance, disability insurance and fixed/indexed annuities. Here are just some of the accounts we can manage: individual, joint, trust, IRA, Roth IRA, Roll-overs and Beneficiary IRA (inherited). In some cases, we can also provide advice and professional management of 401k, 403b, 4o1a and 457 accounts, while you are still employed.
All of us are licensed as Investment Advisor Representatives having successfully completed the Series 63&65 Examination or the equivalent Series 66 Examination.
Ben Scellick & Shara Pagels are CPA’s. Matthew Atkins is a National Social Security Advisor Certificate Holder.
If you would like information regarding FINRA administered exams, CLICK HERE.
Licenses?
Philosophy?
We invest our clients money in low cost exchange traded funds (ETF’s) or mutual funds that provide for diversification within the ETF or mutual fund. We invest these funds based on the suitability of each individual and their respective goals. We intentionally do not trade very much (although the Kinetic Portfolio is a bit more active) in order to keep the trading costs to a minimum. Our goal is to provide low overall costs to our clients, in order to maximize return on their investment. Though we cannot guarantee a positive return, we work hard to see that our clients are achieving returns that are consistent with their objectives and suitability.