Karen has been in the financial planning business for over 22 years, so she brings a world of experience. Karen currently holds several designations, most prominently the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP^®) designation (more on this in the next question). She also holds the Chartered Planning Counselor designation (CRPC^®), which focuses on client financial needs before and after retirement.

Anthony has been an associate planner for the past 6 years. he has his JD (having previously passed the Illinois Bar exam), CPA (having previously passed the CPA exam) and lastly his MBA with a concentration in financial analysis. Although he is not currently practicing in those areas, he brings the background which comes from such extensive training.

An individual who has earned this designation has met the education, experience, examination, ethics standards, and continuing education established by the Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards (CFP^® Board). Training includes, but is not limited to, at least three years of professional experience, or 6,000 hours of full-time, hands-on qualifying work, and candidates must pass 10 college-level courses on subjects such as retirement planning, insurance planning, taxation and estate planning. CFPs^® must also pass a rigorous two day exam, and meet ethical and continuing education requirements. All planners are advisors, but not all advisors are planners.

You should be aware that nothing prevents an individual from stating they are a "Financial Planner", even if they have not earned the CFP^® mark. Therefore, it is important to differentiate between planners who have earned this designation and those who have not.

While Anthony does not have this designation, he has multiple degrees in a a variety of financial disciplines, so together with Karen's experience in the field, Anthony brings a level of technical knowledge to our team that few planners can bring. 

This depends on the engagement type and the needs of each client. We work to first understand your financial objectives and provide a roadmap. Our engagements include the following:

• A comprehensive, written plan in some/all of the following areas:
   
  • All communication & Servicing for one year from date of contract, including all calls and emails
  • Collaboration with your other advisors (accountants, attorneys, etc.)
  • Access to y our personal financial E-Worth website, which includes account aggregation (all accounts connected in real time in one location), an eVault (where you can store electronic documents securely) and numerous budgeting/additional financial tools
    
    

You can read more about our financial planning process here, but we begin each engagement with a complementary 1½ hour meeting. In this meeting, which is completely confidential, we learn about you and your family in order to understand your current financial picture (including your financial objectives and goals, assets/liabilities, income, etc.). We will then discuss if and how we can assist you, and walk you through a sample plan. Lastly, we will take you through our planning process in further detail, quote the cost of the engagement, and answer any questions you may have.

No, we do not, and we take great pride in this. Our philosophy in terms of who we want as clients is simple: We want to work with people that 1) are motivated to improve their financial well-being and 2) are willing to listen and act on our advice.

Absolutely - we work with clients in multiple states in various parts of the country. We have the ability to present our financial plans virtually through the latest financial planning technology and understand the state-specific income and estate laws that affect your planning.

We charge a flat fee for our financial planning services, which will be quoted at the initial complementary meeting. This depends on two main facets primarily: 1) one's net worth/income and 2) any other complexities within the client's financial life. Based on our experience, the higher the net worth/income, the more complex one's financial picture has become. These individuals generally require greater tax/estate plan modeling and consulting, and may also require us to spend more time collaborating with their other advisors (accountants, attorneys, etc.).

Yes, we do have the ability to manage our client's investments or help with their insurance needs. However, it is not a requirement. Some clients prefer a "one stop shop" for their financial planning needs, while others simply want help with their financial planning outside the realm of investments. We provide these additional services as desired. When we manage investments or help with an insurance need, it is driven by our financial plan analysis. If our analysis demonstrates that your investments and/or insurance are appropriate, we will not recommend any changes. However, if you desire help or we feel, based on our analysis, that you should make some changes, we have the ability to assist you.

We are different in many important ways.

First, regarding insurance, while Lincoln Financial Group has an insurance arm, we are not bound by Lincoln to only utilize their insurance - we have the ability to use many different carriers based on a client's individual health/financial needs. We have a general insurance agency which helps us advocate on your behalf to find the most appropriate product for the client at the best possible price and ensure it is structured to your planning.

Second, regarding investment management, Lincoln owns no mutual funds/ETFs, thus we are agnostic when clients invest with us. We are able to case a wide net in terms of the investment firms we can invest your assets in. We simply want the best possible outcome for our clients.

There are no fees for insurance policies purchased through our firm, outside of the actual cost of the policy. Note that insurance rates do not increase because such insurance was purchased through an agent.

Investment fees depend on the type of account utilized. For advisory accounts (where we act as an investment advisor rep, which is the vast majority of our money under management), the advisory fee is a percentage of the amount invested. The higher the dollar amount, the lower our fee as a percentage, and typically ranges from 0.7% to 1% (although larger accounts may be 0.25%).

For commission-based accounts (in the limited situations where we act as a broker), the commission varies based on the investment type, share class, investment manager utilized, etc. and is set by the company.

Yes, we do so in several different ways. The fiduciary standard as defined by the CFP^® Board requires that a financial advisor act solely in the client's best interest in offering personalized financial advice.

Karen is a fiduciary because she is a CFP^®, so she is bound by the CFP^® Board's Standards of Professional Conduct. When managing money in advisory accounts, we are acting as an investment advisor, representative and are considered a fiduciary by the SEC. With the recent Department of Labor fiduciary rule change, in the instance where we sell a brokered product (and thus receive a commission), we are also considered a fiduciary.

For the most part, we utilize advisory accounts when managing investments, thus we make money if you do. There are some instances where we utilize brokered investments and receive a commission - but we only do so when it benefits the client, and we will clearly outline any associated fees and explain why we chose a specific product over another.