Start My Retirement

Due to capacity constraints, I no longer offer any one time plans or hourly services.  I believe that financial planning is best as an ongoing process, and not a one time event. I am also quite confident that the value of ongoing financial planning can far exceed the price you pay.  My services are best suited for those who are looking for a partner to guide them to and through retirement.

After the first year, you can cancel at any time.

Absolutely not.  We will only be investing in low cost, well diversified funds that you can buy/sell on a daily basis (although let’s hope we aren’t buying and selling that frequently 🙂 )

Yes, we absolutely can.  We can meet over Zoom to deliver our services to people who live in other states.  This is actually how we work with over 90% of our clients.

This is a really important question. 

First, I am a Certified Financial Planner, which requires deep levels of education, experience, and expertise.  There are around 300,000 people who call themselves Financial Advisors, but only 82,000 of them are CFPs.

Second, I specialize in Retirement Planning issues.  I have written three books on the subject, and dedicate my time to learning more about the issues they face and how I can best help them.

Third, I am a former Professor of Financial Planning at Cal State University – Northridge.  The reason I mention that is because I have the heart of a teacher, and I sincerely like teaching people.  A good financial planner should be able to do a number of things for you, but they should also be able to teach you at the same time.

Absolutely not.  I only want to work with people who want to work with me.  I will never try to twist your arm.  I do want you to make an informed decision about whether I can help you, someone else can help you, or whether you even need a Financial Planner.

Because time is our most valuable asset (one of the few things that we can never get back once it’s gone), I want to make sure that we are on the same page in terms of who I can help and who I cannot help.  Here is who wouldn’t benefit from my services:

-People looking to pick single stocks and want advice on which stocks to pick.
-People who want to time the market, as well as change their investment strategy depending on who the president is.
-People who want complex investments that outperform all other investments (this doesn’t exist).

My crystal ball is unfortunately broken so I cannot time the market, or tell you what’s going to happen in the next three days or months.  And I am not the next Warren Buffett, as much as I wish I were, so I won’t be much help in terms of picking stocks.

I have found that the clients who are happiest with my services, get the most value from working with me, and who I enjoy working with have a few similar qualities:

-They are willing and eager to partner with an expert who they can delegate a number of their retirement responsibilities to.
-They are looking for a smart, low cost, well diversified investment strategy that will create the retirement income they need.  
-They are kind, respectful people who treat other people the way they’d like to be treated.  
-Their main goal in working with me is to ensure they have a comfortable, fulfilling, and stress free retirement.  They do not believe that accumulating the most amount of money, getting the highest investment return possible, or even saving the most on taxes is the main goal. Their main goal is to live a good life with the money that they have. 
-They appreciate the simplicity and ease of working with a digital first firm.  They like that they can schedule a Zoom call with me in their homes, without having to deal with traffic or rearranging their days around an in person meeting.  They are comfortable sending and receiving documents that we securely send via our financial planning software. Please note: I can meet in person with clients, but the majority of our meetings are conducted via Zoom, phones calls and emails. I do not (and never will) have a big expensive office, which helps keep my costs down to pass the savings onto you.  If you want to meet with your advisor in person every time you speak with them, that’s fine, but my firm is not the best fit to help you.

No.  One of the things that really disappoints me about the financial services industry is that the focus is primarily or solely on helping people who already have lots of money.

To be clear: If you have lots of money, congrats!  I am very happy for you and I am working to get there myself. I also have a number of clients who fit that bill.

However, it wouldn’t sit well with me if the only people I worked with were already well off.  So if you don’t think you can afford any of my services, but really need some help, feel free to book a call or email me so we can help you with your concerns and put together a game plan.