CAREFUL CONVERSATIONS

Play it Forward

Many advisory conversations are focused from today backward, leaning into the client’s history to find answers. Families can find it tough to make decisions about the future when much of the dialogue is entrenched in their past.

Planning by definition is a forward-thinking dynamic. We trust that you have the wisdom to make great choices. We simply need to help you see and feel the future impact of each option on your wealth and your family – so that you can move forward with confidence about your path.

Play it Forward is the process by which we apply tangibility to the outcome of various planning scenarios. We paint a detailed picture of where the important people in your life will be in the stages of their lives when the light switch of your decisions finally flips on. How big or real will the numbers be and how prepared will your heirs be to in fact become heirs?

Keepers of Content

As successful adults, we learn to master the complexity of our lives and our life’s work. In so many areas we have a methodology for evaluating our choices and making big decisions with confidence. Yet when it comes to advisory services, there are so many moving parts and overlapping disciplines – accounting and legal work, investments and insurance – even the savvy consumer cannot assimilate the overall impact into a cohesive picture.

That is why we developed the process we call Keepers of Content. We absorb, retain and integrate the moving parts of your financial assets with the idiosyncrasies of your family and your corporate culture. We become educated in how you see the world and we hold that vantage point with you and for you throughout our ongoing relationship.

Keepers of Content is also the collaborative process we’ve designed to convene all the advisory disciplines and voices in one room for contemplative roundtables on your behalf. Instead of hearing disparate voices, you hear only the best wisdom of the combined thinking.

All Fee Cards Face Up

We believe a primary obstacle that prevents families from really relaxing into the planning process is the smoke and mirrors around fees and compensation. It’s one of the greatest mysteries that consumers live with inside their financial lives. Buzz-words such as fee-only, transparency and open-architecture have become commonplace, yet outside the walls of the proverbial conference room, consumers are still paying fees and expenses they are unaware of and receiving advice that is driven by unseen commissions.

There is a tremendous challenge here that extends beyond the financial impact. When you aren’t quite sure how you’re paying for services, it is tough to completely relax into your best decision making. It’s as if the fees themselves have a seat at the advisory table.

For five decades, we have held a firm belief and proactive practice around helping clients understand what they are paying and why. Our commitment to All Fee Cards Face Up means that we have a sincere interest and clear commitment to being your translator in this foreign realm.