Frequently Asked Questions

Can you help me?

For the vast majority of our clients, we can:

Reduce your taxes.
Reduce your investment risks while enhancing expected long-term returns.
Reduce your investments’ total fees and costs.
Strengthen your financial foundation by protecting your assets and making sure your wealth goes where you intend upon death.

Prior to accepting any engagement, we ensure that our services will truly add value. In essence, we want to make certain that you have found the type of comprehensive, objective advice that you desire, and that we will enjoy working together over the long term.

What client types do you work with?

Busy professionals such as doctors, dentists, attorneys, and small business owners without the time or knowledge to maximize their financial opportunities while minimizing their risk.
Retirees who want to protect their hard-earned savings and still provide the necessary income to maintain the lifestyle they are accustomed to.
Individuals subject to estate taxes who want to minimize their estate tax liability, and leave a legacy for their family or make charitable bequests.
Executives with stock options, deferred compensation, or complex tax issues.

Do you have minimum client requirements?

Although we do not have minimum client criteria, we do not accept everyone as a client. We want you to receive exceptional value from our services. If we do not believe that we can provide this value, we will not pursue a relationship.

Where do I begin?

See the Next Step, or Contact Us.

In the first meeting, our primary goal is to better understand your goals, objectives, time horizon, personal beliefs, investment experience, and willingness and ability to take risks. If we mutually agree that we can meet your planning needs, we will formalize the engagement by entering into an agreement for services.

Do you sell any investment products?

No. To maintain objectivity, we do not sell any investment products or insurance. We do not accept commissions, 12b-1 fees, or other monetary compensation from product providers. This allows us to seek extremely low-cost investment products for our clients, including institutional-style mutual funds not normally available to individual investors.

How do you get paid?

Our fees are based on our three core financial planning services:

Wealth Management for an annual fee, paid quarterly. This fee encompasses all of our financial planning, investment advisory, and tax services.
A Comprehensive Financial Plan for a fee ranging from $2,500–$6,000, depending on complexity.
The Financial Checkup for a fee of $750, which includes a 2-hour consultation on your specific financial issues, written recommendations, and one hour of additional e-mail and phone support to help implement our recommendations.

How are you regulated?

We are an Oregon Registered Investment Advisor. All of our new clients receive Form ADV Part 2, which sets forth additional information regarding our firm.

Who controls my investments?

You control your investments. We monitor your accounts and make recommendations when appropriate. Our clients pre-approve trades and transactions in their accounts. We do accept a limited form of “discretion” over our clients’ accounts in order to affect trades. Our clients’ investment accounts are held by TD Ameritrade Institutional.

Do you have minimum standards for your advisor representatives?

Our Advisors must have at least 5 years of industry experience and a CFP® Professional financial planning designation.

What is a fiduciary?

With a fiduciary duty to our clients, we are legally responsible to follow prudent investor practices as well as serve our clients’ best interests. To learn more about what it means to be a fiduciary, go to

www.focusonfiduciary.com.

What if I need life, disability, long-term care, health, or other insurance?

After determining you need insurance, we can recommend insurance advisors who specialize in these areas.

What reports will I receive on my accounts?

A monthly brokerage statement detailing your account values and transactions.
A quarterly report from us showing your accounts with performance measures.

Must I invest with you?

No. However, most clients want us to manage their investments after we prepare their plan. We often use lower-cost institutional-style mutual funds not normally available to individual investors.

Can you advise me on investments you do not manage?

Yes. As your financial advisor, we review these accounts as part of your overall investment plan. For investments such as a company 401k or 457 plan, we can guide you on how to choose among the funds available to you.