“Why should I work with you?” is the question every person should be asking a financial advisor.
Here is the typical response that will be received “You should work with me because I’m a fiduciary financial advisor, which means that I have a legal obligation to put your interests first. I have over 10 years of experience in the financial services industry and have helped hundreds of clients reach their goals. I take the time to get to know my clients and their individual needs, and I develop personalized financial plans that are tailored to each client’s unique situation. I am also committed to providing ongoing support and guidance to my clients, so that they can stay on track to reach their goals.”
Sounds good, but that answer will be almost the same from every advisor. So, if every advisor answers the same way, how is that unique?
Well, just like any industry or profession, there are good apples and bad apples.
How do you find the best apple before taking a bite? You ask a friend or family member. You are asking to be referred to someone that has helped them, and they trust. Every one of us has asked for a good auto mechanic because you don’t want to pay extra to have your windshield wipers changed.
Here at Hawthorne Capital Wealth Advisors, our business grows completely on referrals. We work with over 900 households and have more than $1B (billion) in assets under management.
So why are our clients telling people about us?
Retirement planning – we are making sure you clearly understand the path to retirement. When you know your path forward, you are free to wander. Think about it.
Retirement income planning, Social Security benefits analysis, and Medicare optimization are key components of your retirement. Let’s make sure you understand each one.
Tax planning – we help clients plan for optimizing taxes over the course of their lifetime. Paying taxes is a good problem because you are making money. But we need to optimize when and how much we pay Uncle Sam by working with your CPA.
Estate planning – a good estate plan is a road map to help you navigate your personal and financial goals while providing protection for your family.
Estate planning is essentially looking for ways to preserve assets and constructively plan how to pass as much of your estate to your heirs.
Estate planning should address the coordination of the ways you hold title of assets, your beneficiary selections, and the possible transfer of property while you are alive.
Regardless of net worth, estate planning is important for all stages of life including those starting a family to generational wealth transfer.
Complex strategies may be used by wealthy families to reduce taxes and costs while others may only require a simple will or trust to pass property to their heirs and provide for minor children.
Insurance – while you can’t necessarily prevent the unexpected from happening, you can protect yourself financially.
Your business can experience record years as well as unexpected downturns. Changes in tax law and legislation require you and your team to be vigilant and nimble. Jobs and career opportunities may come and go, and health issues demand recovery and resources.
Any of these situations can pose personal and financial challenges for your business and your family.
Investments – we do customize each client’s investment portfolio based on their risk tolerance, needs, preferences, and unique financial situation. This includes your existing holdings and time horizon by different account types.
No two situations are exactly the same, so why should your portfolio of investments be exactly like someone else’s?
Education planning – before you prepare your children for college, you have to prepare yourself financially. Just because your kid walks out the door doesn’t mean all your money should too.
Paying for college seems to get more expensive every year. Given today's average annual costs for a four-year college, it's no surprise that college expenses can be a financial burden and overwhelming for families.
Based on your college funding goals, we can help you understand the cost of education and how to best meet those goals through a variety of options such as 529 plans, Coverdell plans, UTMA’s, and Roth IRA's.
If completely funding college tuition is not an option, we can help you creatively plan beyond traditional savings methods to meet your goals of higher education for your children.
In addition, we can work with grandparents to develop tax advantage gifting strategies to help offset the high cost of tuition.
Charitable Giving, Philanthropy, and Legacy – these are similar but different enough for a quick definition.
Charity is typically a response to an immediate or specific situation, more short-term oriented.
Philanthropy is a more strategic, long-term approach to providing assistance.
Legacy is what you leave behind when your time is up.
Corporate & Non-Profit Retirement Plans – our scope of services includes 401k plans, profit sharing plans, defined benefit plans, 457 plans, 403b plans, and complex deferred compensation plans.
We started with a major focus on retirement plan consulting to businesses, local governments, and non-profits.
So why should you work with us? Two words: Clarity & Transparency.
With us you get industry expertise without all the industry jargon. We like to have normal conversations while covering all the complex pieces of someone’s financial life.
When you understand your plan and the costs, you can focus on more important things.
Time to get started.
This is being provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any specific securities. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and all investing involves risk. Index returns shown are not reflective of actual performance nor reflect fees and expenses applicable to investing. One cannot invest directly in an index. The views expressed are those of (Advisor Name or Company Name) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mutual Advisors, LLC, or any of its affiliates.
Hawthorne Capital Wealth, nor any of its members, are tax accountants or legal attorneys, and do not provide tax or legal advise. For tax or legal advise, you should consult your tax professional or legal attorney.
Investment advisory services offered through Mutual Advisors LLC DBA Hawthorne Capital Wealth Advisors, an SEC registered investment adviser. Securities offered through Mutual Securities, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC.
Mutual Securities, Inc. and Mutual Advisors, LLC are affiliated companies.