My Fees

One of the big questions clients (rightfully) have is how I get compensated. And it's simple.

If you want me to charge you a planning fee upfront, I will. If you don't, I won't. It really is that simple.

The internet often tells people they should pay an advisor a "fee-only" because they will "get better advice". The reality is, if you are working with someone held to a fiduciary standard, the advice should be held to the same regulatory standard regardless of how that advisor gets compensated. 

The majority of my clients choose the following compensation model, which entails me potentially getting compensated in two ways over time:

1) When the time comes for you to protect your income, your family, and your future with different insurance policies, I'll go out and explore different companies to determine the appropriate fit for what you hope to accomplish. That company then compensates me because they would have never met you had it not been for me. You don't pay anything in addition to the policy premium. The insurance company just gives me a commission from that. The good thing for you is I don't work for a captive insurance company, so we can explore a bunch of different options.

2) When the time comes for you to invest for your future, whether it be in a retirement account like an IRA or Roth IRA, or an investment account like an advisory account, I get compensated based on an advisory fee or percentage of the assets that I help you manage. With that model, the only way my compensation goes up is if your account is growing. If your account value falls, my compensation falls. I only do better if you do better. It's a harmonious relationship where we both grow together.

With this model, I have a lot of work to do upfront. We have to set up a cash flow system to save money, because if you don't have money to save, then there's no money to grow and invest. We have to strategize on asset protection and estate planning strategies, discuss tax diversification and debt repayment strategies, discover wealth building strategies and places to put your money to manage risk while achieving an appropriate rate of return, and if you own a business we have to discuss succession planning, employee retention, capitalization strategies, and more. 

There's a lot we will work on before I ever see any compensation, in fact most of the things we will talk about I don't receive any compensation from, and I'm OK with that. If we decide to work together, I want this to be a long-term relationship. I invest a lot of time and energy into providing value at every step of the way, so that you don't have to worry as much about your finances (unless you like worrying about finances).