I used to work for a large, highly ranked wealth management firm in New Jersey, with an office, paraplanners, conference room, client appreciation parties, client appreciation gifts, and other expensive overhead. There were wine tasting and horse racing events, and numerous mentions of our prestigious firm on TV and in the media. I absorbed all the knowledge and experience I could, then opened my own firm and got rid of the excessive expenses.  I believe they are unnecessary to good planning.

I am no-nonsense and frugal in my approach.  I don’t need to pay for fancy office spaces to impress you – my work speaks for itself.  You won’t get any welcome baskets or birthday cards from me.  Where I do spend my budget is on acquiring the best planning tools I can to help me serve your planning needs.  I don’t skimp there.

I spend my overhead dollars wisely.  I believe it’s a win-win situation – lower fees for you, higher revenue for me, so that I can accept less clients, stay small, and give you more focused and personalized attention.

Some people prefer the security and brand name of a big firm where there are thousands of other clients.  Some prefer a smaller, one-on-one relationship with their advisor.  Each client has to determine what works for them.

The same goes for an advisor. I am single with no kids, over 50 years of age. I am not interested in growing a large firm where I can’t remember my clients’ names. I am not looking to make a ton of money.

I have decided to stay small.  I’m currently at 30 clients or so, and will cap it around 45-50. That way, I can enjoy a quality relationship with my clients, as well as quality time with my own hobbies.  It’s what you will probably hear me advising you to do too, and I try to practice what I preach. 

If I wasn’t a financial planner, my second choice of career would have been to teach.  In fact, growing up I was always involved in some kind of tutoring or mentoring activity, and even now I am the first to volunteer for pro bono activities involving planning classes or seminars.   I do the same with my clients.  If we work together, it will be my natural tendency to try and explain what we are doing and educate you on financial planning concepts. Firstly, I believe it helps you become self-reliant in case something ever happens to me.  And secondly, we can plan better when you understand the underlying basics of what we are discussing.

In addition to education, I also believe in collaboration when working together. I involve you in the decision making process and together we analyze the pros and cons of every strategy being considered.  This often triggers additional discussions and ideas that may not have occurred otherwise. My clients never feel as if they are blindly depending on me, instead they confidently feel like a part of the process.

The initial “financial plan” for a new client can take months or even a year, because each topic – taxes, investments, insurance, estate planning – may each take multiple sessions to address.  For example, one of our tasks during a tax review is to look at your last three years of tax returns.  With all the schedules and forms, they can sometimes be hundreds of pages long!  Regardless, I will actually print out every page, go through the numbers with a highlighter, and bring a detailed list of errors or audit flags to the client’s attention.

I don’t believe in artificially setting limits to our meetings. I’ve done meetings that were five hours long, and met several times with the same client in one week. I believe in meeting as often and as long as it takes to get the job done. It’s also more productive and efficient if I go with the client’s natural rhythm of when they have the time and energy to devote to the process. Some want more meetings frontloaded, some like to spread things out.

Whether I have a small or big client, I also give the same exact service.  I can’t help it.  I’m the type of person who needs to get into the weeds and go through everything in detail, it’s not in my personality to say “sorry, you don’t pay me enough, so I can’t go further than this.”    If we work together, we can meet as often as you would like. 

Since I live and work alone, my hours are extremely flexible.  In fact, 8 PM on a Friday or Saturday seems to be my most popular spot, since many of my clients have kids and we wait for them to sleep before we meet.  I’ve also done meetings at midnight to accommodate clients in international time zones. In addition, all of my clients have my personal cell phone number, and can call anytime in case of an emergency.

I know I like to work with service providers who are open to questions, so I try to do the same for my clients.  Whether you want me to explain why I am recommending something different from Dave Ramsey or your Uncle Joe, whether you need me to debate an issue with your CPA, or whether you need to get a second opinion from someone else, I am open to everything and hard to offend.  I would do the same if I were in your shoes, so I completely understand.

I believe that no firm or advisor knows everything, so I welcome all new ideas or discussions.  It helps me grow as well.

As the author of several spirituality books, I firmly believe in a “Do Unto Others” philosophy.  I am not affiliated with any company or product, and I receive no commissions from recommending one investment over another. In addition, I receive no referral fees from any of my partners.  I do receive commissions from a limited lineup of insurance products (Term, Disability, or LTC) in which case I transparently disclose that to clients. I have purposely set myself up as an independent RIA and boutique firm so that I am not bound by quotas, and can offer my clients the best of services and advice based solely on merit.