You can expect a long-term relationship when working with Financial Freedom.
In fact, our client relationships often span multiple generations. Paying meticulous attention to detail and garnering a deep understanding of your finances, we will help you manage your wealth no matter where life leads you.
Our Fee-Only, Retainer Based Approach
At Financial Freedom, we value your success. For this reason, we chose to structure our company as a fee-only wealth management firm. What this means for you is that:
- We do not take a percentage of your assets as payment;
- We do not accept any commissions or compensation from third parties; and
- We will always provide independent and objective recommendations.
We are your strongest financial advocates. Our retainer agreements are developed after getting to know your wealth management objectives and the scope of our work together. As a fee-only firm, you can rest assured that our team always has your best interests in mind. Learn more about our fee-only approach.
Are We a Good Fit?
Over the past 30 years, we have learned key attributes that help ensure that we have a good fit with potential new clients. A good fit is critically important to a mutually beneficial long-term relationship. From our experience, key attributes of a “win-win” relationship include:
- A minimum of $1 million of investable assets.
- A desire for an on-going long-term wealth management relationship; one-time project work or “second opinions” would not be a good fit.
- Good personal chemistry; life is too short to not like each other.
- A desire to develop an in-depth relationship where we develop a deep level of trust and treat each other as partners versus a customer/supplier relationship.
- Someone who values professional advice and believes that the right professional can “add value” to their lives.
Financial Freedom Review Process
In the world of wealth management, transparency is king. You’ve worked hard to build your assets, which is why we’re dedicated to regular performance reviews. We provide our clients with an annual Wealth Management Services evaluation package. In this evaluation, we recap all the Comprehensive Financial Planning actions we have taken. This process also involves comparing each client’s portfolio investment return performance to relevant industry benchmarks. This evaluation process lets you see how our retainer relationship directly contributes to the achievement of your goals.
Our Approach to Client Service
Why do the professionals at Financial Freedom treat each client as a top priority? Because your success is our success. We know that trusting others with your investments is a big deal, but with over 30 years of experience in wealth management, our team will be by your side. We also believe that a sense of urgency matters. Our firm has SDR – Same Day Response – where we will respond to phone calls or e-mails the same day they are received. With five convenient office locations across the United States, our team is readily available to help make your dreams a reality.
Fund Expenses Matter
The team at Financial Freedom is focused on buying high-quality, low-expense ratio exchange-traded and mutual funds. We are very sensitive to the fact that if funds have high expense ratios, it has a significant negative impact on net investment returns. With fixed income and equity investment returns shrinking from historical levels, high fee expenses will represent a significant percentage of the investment return. We use funds from Vanguard, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Dodge & Cox, and other fund companies that offer very competitive expense ratios. We do not use loaded funds (funds with upfront commissions) and many of the funds that we use have no transaction fees (the funds are free to buy and sell).
Acting As Your Financial Quarterback
One thing that makes Financial Freedom unique is our ability to work with other professionals to streamline the financial planning process and increase overall efficiency. Financial Freedom has developed a strong team of specialists and has ongoing working relationships with the following specific professionals:
- Attorneys
- Estate Planning Attorneys
- Certified Public Accountants (CPAs)
- Long-Term Care Providers
- Insurance Professionals
- Fidelity Investments and other leading financial services companies, and
- Local banking professionals
Once we have completed the comprehensive financial plan, we coordinate your requirements with these professionals to ensure complete and effective implementation. In this regard, Financial Freedom really acts as the “quarterback” of your financial plan—matching your specific requirements with the right professional. Contact us to schedule your free initial consultation.