We provide comprehensive, fee-only financial planning, which includes investment management, tax planning, retirement planning, strategies for charitable giving, estate planning, and planning for cash flow, debt, insurance, and asset protection. We do this in the context of a client family’s goals and in collaboration with their other advisors.

We provide investment advice that reduces cost, controls risk, and improves tax efficiency (which saves paying tax now, and in future generations), while providing advice and planning that reduces insurance costs, facilitates tax efficient charitable giving strategies, and helps our clients avoid financial mistakes.

Fee-only means that our revenue comes from client fees. As a fee-only firm, we do not sell products, and none of our revenue comes from commissions, trails, loads, referral fees, or any other compensation that could influence the advice we give clients. This creates a pristine relationship of trust with our clients because they know our advice is given only in their best interest. Fee-only is not the same as fee-based, which may include fees, but also includes other compensation from the provider of financial products.

A fiduciary is someone who has a legal or ethical obligation to act in the best interest of someone else. We have proudly held to this standard since our founding in 2004.

"Financial advisor" is a title used by a broad range of people, usually compensated in a number of ways including commissions. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional is qualified to provide advice with a comprehensive planning focus instead of a product focus.

There is overlap between these two terms, and the use of the terms are very different depending on the firm. Both imply a comprehensive view of the client’s financial situation, but the terms are used differently by firms in the industry. Generally, wealth management is financial planning for higher net worth families. However, there are many wealth management services that are solely focused on security selection without regard for tax implications, investment costs, estate planning, retirement planning, or asset protection. It is important for the consumer to ask what they are getting when they hire a firm.

We do not have a minimum account size requirement, but we are a good solution for families who have a minimum net worth of $2 million. The more complexity a family has, the more value we can add.

We do not prepare tax returns. We work closely with our clients’ tax preparers, or with clients who prepare their own tax returns, to provide information needed for the return and to work with client tax preparers to develop a collaborative tax plan.

We work closely with clients and their other advisors to create an estate plan structure, then work with the client family to thoughtfully develop an inheritance and charitable giving plan that is consistent with the client’s multi-generational wishes.

We are located in Hoover, Alabama (just south of Birmingham, Alabama) and in Bend, Oregon. Many of our clients live in Alabama or Oregon, but also live in other states. We also work with families who live overseas or have chosen to retire overseas.