I am in the business of helping my clients reach their financial goals.  I provide comprehensive, fee-only financial planning services to a select group of families and individuals.  I wish to develop a long-term relationship with my clients and serve as their "personal financial coach."  I offer two services: writing comprehensive financial plans and providing ongoing financial planning services.  A comprehensive financial plan consists of the following:

Risk Management Plan

I assess the risks you face in the areas of life, health, disability, long-term care, auto, home and personal liability.  I also make recommendations regarding appropriate coverages, carriers, limits and deductibles.

I review your tax returns, analyze your current and projected income tax exposure, and make recommendations on how to reduce your future income tax liability.

I have adopted a completely new advice process called Wealthcare that avoids unnecessary investment risk, yet provides you with confidence that together we can achieve your goals without making needless sacrifices to the only life you have.  While the process is sophisticated and analytically very accurate, it is also elegantly simple.  

We start by defining the main goals you have for your life, which are the purpose of your investments.  We identify your aspirations (ideal goals) to learn about not only what you need, but also what you would like.  We then determine your priorities so we can focus on solutions that achieve the goals you value most.  I then apply a sophisticated stress testing analysis that simulates 1,000 market environments, both good and bad.  Then, by combining your acceptable goals, the dreams you prioritize, and my stress testing analytics, I design a customized recommendation of goals and investment strategy.  You can have confidence that this recommendation is achievable, while avoiding unnecessary investment risk or undue sacrifice to your lifestyle at any point during your lifetime.    

If you sign up for the retainer service (see below), whenever you desire, but no less than semi-annually, I will give you a simple "snapshot" that shows where you stand based on the market's recent returns.  This will tell you whether you are on track to meet your goals, and expose opportunities to either add new goals or make slight changes now to prevent more dramatic changes later.  Your goals and priorities will probably change over your lifetime, but I can respond to such changes at any time.  To see a slide show about this process, click on one of the following links:

PowerPoint (to move to the next slide, click your mouse button or the right arrow on your keyboard)

Portable Document Format (.pdf)  

Click here to read about the differences between Wealthcare and traditional advisory services.

I also provide recommendations regarding contributions, rollovers and conversions to traditional and Roth IRAs, and payout options from retirement plans and Social Security.  Additionally, I help self-employed clients establish their own retirement plan.

I thoroughly analyze your current portfolio, provide an extensive review of the capital markets, help you develop investment objectives, write a detailed investment policy statement, and design a recommended portfolio of specific mutual funds.  For retainer clients, I usually recommend funds from Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) or Vanguard.  For additional information about DFA, please see the following links:

• The Index Insurgents (Forbes, October 2006)

• Reading the Index to Beat the Index (New York Times, January 2004)

• Brain Trust (Bloomberg Wealth Manager, November 2002) 

• DFA Funds Hard to Buy, Easy to Own (CNBC, June 2002)

• Going Their Own Way (Financial Advisor, March 2001)

• How the Really Smart Money Invests (Fortune, July 1998)

• Global Investment Solutions

• DFA's website  

During this process, I show you how to eliminate unnecessary risk, minimize taxes and expenses, and generate any currently needed income.  I also provide recommendations on credit card debt and any auto, home, personal or business loans.

Note:  I never have custody of or discretionary control over any client funds.  Compass Advisors LLC is a registered investment adviser.

I design a plan to achieve your estate planning objectives, such as minimizing estate taxes while ensuring that your estate will be distributed according to your wishes.  I ensure that all the necessary estate planning documents (wills, beneficiary designations, trusts, powers of attorney, etc.) are present and in order.  I also review any current liquidity or business succession plans and make recommendations as appropriate.

I remain available for one month following the delivery of your financial plan to answer any questions you may have and to assist with the implementation of the recommendations.

I have found that following the delivery of a financial plan, oftentimes many of the recommendations do not get implemented for one reason or another.  Sometimes recommendations do get implemented, albeit incorrectly.  Financial planning can be extremely complex, and because of the severe negative consequences that can result, it is imperative that certain recommendations get implemented correctly.

Virtually all clients put me on retainer after the delivery of their financial plan to ensure that my recommendations get implemented correctly and to monitor the appropriateness of their plan in light of changes in the financial markets, tax code or their personal or financial situation.  Financial planning without ongoing monitoring and adjusting is like getting a physical once and believing that you are going to be in great shape for the rest of your life.  This service maintains your financial fitness via:

• Close tracking of every detail of your personal financial situation, using advanced client tracking software

• In-depth reports and task lists

• Taking you through the investment process (three meetings to teach you about investing, and a written investment policy statement)

• Access to DFA mutual funds, which are not available to retail investors

• Checking your retirement plan quarterly to ensure that you are on track to reach your retirement and estate goals

• Checking your asset allocation quarterly to ensure that it is within the limits established by your investment policy statement  

• Updating the rest of your plan periodically as needed

• Assistance with placing trades

• Access to Web-based investment performance reporting software

• Assistance with implementing the recommendations in your financial plan after the initial month 

• Answers to all of your financial planning-related questions

• Important articles, research and commentary about personal finance via e-mail

The only new clients I am currently accepting are those who may be interested in hiring me to provide ongoing financial planning services after their financial plan has been written.  

I am often approached by prospective clients who would like me to provide advice in a single area, usually investments.  It has been my experience that when I attempt to provide advice in a single area, I still need to gather information in other areas since they are largely interdependent.  Consequently, although I do 75% of the work of a comprehensive financial plan, the client receives only 20% of the benefit.  Using a modular approach to financial planning, instead of a comprehensive approach, is like purchasing a car one part at a time instead of purchasing the entire car at once:  It costs considerably more, and if any part is missing or improperly installed, the result is a vehicle that will not get you where you want to go.

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