Better Advice for Your Money

When I was just about 22 years old a neighbor of mine got me involved in the investment business. He was a very well known businessman in Alexander Valley—where I grew up—and had his busy fingers into lots of different ventures. He would take me around to investment seminars in his big, comfy Cadillac and we would eat together at fine restaurants. I was quite impressed!

I wanted to make money in the investment business and I wanted to help my clients make money. I wanted to really understand this business. I started reading everything about investing. I even read all the mutual fund prospectuses—you know, those things with lots of fine print that no body ever reads. My neighbor/mentor told me I was wasting my time. I didn’t need to know anything—except how to fill out the mutual fund order form and ask the client for their check. That’s it! Anything more was a waste of time—according to him.

Personally, I thought the brokerage model was flawed since it was focused more on selling products than providing advice. The fee-only model didn’t exist back then, but I was an early adopter of it, because I strongly believed that it could serve clients better.

My role is not defined by giving you the hottest stock tip, convincing you to buy this year’s best performing mutual fund, or trying to sell you a product to solve a problem you don’t have. Instead, it’s about helping you clearly envision and define your long-term goals and providing the prudent, comprehensive advice you need to get there.

If you may be interested in the kind of investment management work I do, and the independent advice I give, won’t you consider giving me a call?

There are lots of people out there that are getting “sold” investment products by well-meaning, very friendly guys driving around in Cadillacs. But… they are not getting the best advice for their money!

Five Great Goals

There are five things that virtually everyone I speak with is trying to achieve with their money. These goals represent the most primal emotional/financial needs of real people; they speak to the deepest yearnings of Americans for their own financial well-being and that of the people they love. And since these five issues are the main financial concerns in my own and my family's life, I have a genuine empathy for my clients and their well-being.

The Five Great Goals of Life Are:

1. Retirement without compromise in lifestyle, or any real concern about outliving your income.
2. Meaningful intervention in the financial lives of your children.
3. The education of your grandchildren.
4. The ability to care for your parents, if and when they need it.
5. An important legacy to institutions/charities you believe in.

The central financial planning problem of our time is simply that almost no one is investing enough capital to have a real shot at achieving all their goals. I help my clients face the potentially huge gap between what they're doing now, and what they need to be doing, in order to get where they say they want to go. The critical issue isn't investment performance, but investor behavior. And that's where I partner with you.