We always have and always will be a “fee-only” fiduciary. We are proud to commit to the five fiduciary principles.
Every client relationship is unique, and we asses our ability to add value during our complimentary first meeting with you. If you are still working, saving, and growing your nest egg, we have a suggested minimum of $100,000. If you are looking for retirement distribution strategies, or to efficiently transfer your wealth to the next generation or to your charity of choice, we recommend a minimum portfolio value of $1,000,000. These minimums may be waived for friends and family of our current clients.
No, we can work with you from anywhere in the world. We have three physical office locations in Bohemia, New York, Beverly, Massachusetts, and Naples, Florida, but we have always had the ability to work virtually. In fact, we currently service clients in over 25 different states.
We have four CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP®) professionals on our team.
You can find a copy of our completed NAPFA questionnaire. Fun fact – in 1993, our founder, Ronald W. Rogé, served on NAPFA’s National Board of Directors and helped to create this exact questionnaire!
We are a “fee-only” advisory firm, and we pride ourselves on offering complete transparency in all that we do – including fees. There is a one-time, up-front charge of $3,800 for the creation of your comprehensive financial plan. Our ongoing asset management fee, which also includes any plan updates, is between 0.50% – 1% and is based on a set fee schedule.
With so many goals competing for your financial resources, it can be overwhelming to plan for the future. Whether paying off student loans, funding a retirement account, saving for an emergency, or buying a new house, having a plan is essential to getting and staying on track. We offer a range of services to help you create the life you envision.
Our financial plans are designed to help you Plan, Achieve, and Live® the life you desire. We start by getting to know you, gathering information, helping you establish your goals, analyzing your situation, and making recommendations customized to your life. Then we create a plan that gives you a road map to the future you envision. We work behind the scenes, constantly monitoring your progress and planning for the unexpected. With everything in place, you can look to the future with excitement and live with confidence, focusing on what matters most.
As a client, you’ll have access to our mobile app (available on both Apple and Android devices), as well as our Secure Client Portal where you can safely upload documents, view quarterly reports, and more. We use Microsoft Teams for virtual calls, and we provide you with informative articles, important company updates, and more via monthly e-mails. We also invite you to connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram so you can see news and updates in real time.
We believe asset allocation is the most important driver of long-term returns, and avoid picking individual stocks. Instead, we typically recommend low-cost index mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Your portfolio may consist of stocks, bonds, cash, and to a lesser extent may include alternative investments like private real estate, timberland, farmland, infrastructure, gold, and managed futures.
Generally, we do not trade frequently in our client accounts. We have a carefully constructed rebalancing procedure based on risk tolerance bands and rebalance your account accordingly. We may change the portfolio due to market conditions, or if there’s a change in your personal circumstances or your risk tolerance level.
Sometimes it’s necessary to react quickly to management changes or other situations we may encounter. Of course, we will discuss any changes as soon as possible, but we don’t generally consult prior to making changes. The asset custodians immediately provide trade confirmations, and the trades will be reflected on the next periodic report from the custodian.
A financial planner will be able to connect all of your financial dots, providing you with a comprehensive plan, and helping you meet your financial goals. They should have training and experience in all kinds of financial products and financial aspects of your life – equities, bonds, insurance, taxes, and estate planning – in order to make the right recommendations for your personal situation.
Our primary custodian is Charles Schwab Institutional. Through their platform, you will have the benefit of institutional access to your investment accounts. We will work with you to establish retirement, non-retirement, trust, and charitable investment accounts, as well as implement retirement plan rollovers to our custodian’s platform. Our partnership with Charles Schwab Institutional also offers:
Through our secure held away assets program, we can pro-actively manage any outside account, including 401(k), 403(b), and Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Fun fact – recent studies show that retirement accounts can grow 76% larger when actively managed by a financial advisor!
The ROTH IRA is one of the most tax-efficient retirement savings vehicles available. ROTH IRAs do not have required minimum distributions (RMDs), allowing more flexibility for when you withdraw the funds and providing what we call “tax diversification.” In addition, ROTH IRA’s are beneficial for estate planning because they do not carry the same tax ramifications for the beneficiary as the Traditional IRA. The ideal time to consider a ROTH conversion is when you have little or no income – after retirement but before you are eligible for social security, and before you need to begin taking your RMDs. The conversion process can be implemented over several years versus all at once, which may offer an optimal tax savings strategy. Our financial advisors – with the aid of sophisticated ROTH conversion software – can help determine if a ROTH conversion is right for you and can calculate any potential tax savings over your lifetime.
While we don’t prepare and file tax returns, we provide a suite of tax planning and reporting solutions. Using dedicated software technology, our advisors can help project the tax implications of various scenarios and aid you in making the best decision.
With your permission, we will always work with your other advisors. In fact, our Professional Teamwork System® allows us to seamlessly work with other professionals you have chosen as part of your financial team, providing comfort and peace of mind that all of your financial information and decisions are coordinated and connected.
We welcome the opportunity to work with your entire family. It is very common for our clients’ children or grandchildren to become clients, too. Fun fact – over 30% of our client-base consists of children and/or grandchildren of our clients!
No, we will evaluate each investment that you bring under our management and consider tax implications as well as the current valuation of those investments. In addition, we take special care of clients that have concentrated stock positions, and frequently correspond with your estate planning attorney and tax professional to create a plan to diversify those assets.
Wealth management consists of comprehensive financial planning and portfolio management with a level of personal service that goes beyond traditional banking, brokerage, and insurance services. Wealth management should be about you, your vision for your future, and the legacy you want to provide your family, friends, and your philanthropic endeavors. Wealth planning is an extremely complex skill and requires on-going continuing education, the successful passing of board-certified exams, years of training, and the experience and wisdom acquired from those years of training. Its components are not only complex but also mutually dependent upon one another.
Financial Planning is a process that builds a road map that defines the direction in which you want your life to proceed into the future. If you think of your future as a story that is yet to be told, financial planning is then the process by which you will tell that story. A financial plan will help you navigate through different life stages such as employment, marriage, home ownership, parenting, eldercare, divorce, retirement, and ultimately death—and all of the stops in between. A financial plan is a course of activities or specific actions that can help achieve and implement your dreams, goals and aspirations. Some major areas of financial planning Include:
Gone are the days when a company would reward a retiree’s long years of service with a gold watch and monthly pension. Today, old-fashioned defined benefit pension plans have been replaced with 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). These accounts require you—not your employer—to determine how much to save, as well as how to invest and manage those savings. They also require you to assume all the investment risks and be fully responsible for both retirement accumulations (savings) and distributions (monthly retirement checks). Setting up a retirement planning strategy should be a top priority. Now more than ever, it’s up to you to achieve your wealth goals. Working with a qualified Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) to discuss how to build your nest egg and to learn which investment options make the most sense for you is extremely important. Today the idea of retirement produces different images for different people. Unfortunately for many people it produces no image; they’re unsure of what their retirement will look like, and they have an even hazier picture of how much retirement could cost them. Planning for the future is the key to living the lifestyle you want in retirement. As a “fee-only” financial advisory firm for more than three decades, our team has had an intimate view of our clients’ goals, dreams, and finances. For many, retirement means starting a new second or third career; starting a new business; remaining a contributing member of society; leaving a legacy for family or others; running a charitable family foundation; or, as one client articulated, to become a “professional grandparent.” Regardless of your personal objective, it’s important to have a vision of your retirement and to plan ahead.