When an individual or family in Marin County thinks of working with a financial advisor, they may have one or several areas of concern related to their financial situation. They may want advice on their plans for retirement, their investments, their estate planning, their philanthropic giving, or perhaps taxes.
All of these, of course, are key components of your financial life, and they are cornerstones of working with a Bay Area financial advisor. You can maximize your financial advising by strengthening your awareness of how much, and what areas of your financial life a financial planner can help with.
Your Entire Financial Life
At Fairview Capital, we will take the time to get to know you, your family, your needs, and your short- and long-term goals. After all, the financial strategies for someone in their 30s, who wants to save for a home purchase will be quite different from someone in their 60s who wants to pass on their business and travel extensively. Our financial planning depends on your goals, and we devise a personalized plan to meet those goals.
Here is a brief overview of our services.
Investment Strategy
- Investment selection with in-house research and personalized recommendations. Our internal research team ensures direct portfolio oversight, tax efficiency, and reduced client fees.
- Asset allocation. We optimize a personalized asset allocation strategy designed with your short and long-term financial goals in mind.
- Risk management. We strategize how to protect our clients against the risk posed by fluctuating markets and exogenous events, such as inflation, natural disasters, and more. We are always looking for ways to mitigate and manage risk to improve your financial well-being.
Retirement Planning
- Income planning for retirement. People want to make sure they will have enough for a comfortable retirement. We perform cash flow projections for multiple scenarios.
- Reviewing Social Security. Social Security benefits depend on your age at retirement and other factors, such as your marital status and your spouse’s income. We will help you optimize benefits for your goals.
- Reviewing benefits. We will help you determine your employment and other benefits for retirement.
- Business succession planning. We work with people to plan for business succession.
Income and Tax Planning
- Tax-efficient investing. Our investment strategies are designed with tax efficiency in mind.
- Tax strategies. We devise tax strategies to minimize taxation and further your goals.
- Coordination with accountants.
Family Concerns
- Education funding for children and grandchildren, including tax-advantaged savings.
- We can help to create a plan to assist your parents and children per your goals.
- Annual gifting to pass on generational wealth and mitigate estate taxes.
- Effect of life events on financial planning. We will review life events that have a potential impact on your financial life, such as births, deaths, marriage, and divorce.
Estate Planning
- Trusts and Wills. The choice of trusts or wills to pass on your assets to family and friends has multiple factors and effects. In coordination with your estate attorney, we will discuss these aspects with you.
- Intergenerational wealth transfers. We work with you to maximize the timing and amount of intergenerational wealth transfers, according to your goals.
- Philanthropic planning.
- Coordination with your estate attorney.
Insurance and Risk Management
- Review of insurance needs and coverage (life, home, health)
- Disability insurance, if needed.
- Long-term care planning, if needed.
Why Choose a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional
The term “financial planner” or “financial advisor” can be used by anyone, of any background. That’s why it’s important to make sure that the financial planner you choose is fully qualified. The most prudent method is to choose one with a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional (CFP®) designation. They are required to have specific training and experience in all elements of financial planning.
All CFP®s must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. In addition, a candidate for the CFP® certification must do the following:
- Complete specific coursework on financial planning, including retirement planning, investments, and tax strategies
- Pass the CFP® exam on this coursework
- Complete the professional experience requirement (up to 6,000 hours of professional experience)
- Adhere to the ethical standards, including agreeing to act as a fiduciary for your clients and passing the CFP® Board’s background check
As a result of these requirements, you can rely on your CFP® being fully qualified to help you meet your financial goals.
Why Being a Fiduciary Matters
It’s important for people looking for financial planning in Marin County to understand why the fiduciary designation matters. A fiduciary is required to put their clients’ financial best interests before their own. Financial advisors who are not fiduciaries are not required to do this.
If you work with a financial planner who is a broker, for example, they may only be required to meet a suitability standard. The stocks, bonds, or other financial products they may recommend to you must be suitable for your goals, income, stage of life, and other metrics.
They may also be mandated to sell and recommend certain stocks or other products, such as insurance, which may not be in your best interest. A fiduciary could not recommend a course of action that would result in their own financial best interest – a commission – over your own.
Working With a Marin County CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional
At Fairview Capital we build trusting lifelong relationships with clients by providing highly informed investment decisions and prudent wealth management for all life stages and through your entire financial life. We work with individuals and families through all stages of life to achieve both short- and long-term financial goals. Connect with Fairview today for more information.
The information contained in this communication is provided for general purposes only, and was prepared in reliance on independent, third-party sources that Fairview Capital Investment Management, LLC (“Fairview Capital”), an SEC-registered investment adviser, believes are reliable. Nevertheless, Fairview Capital does not guarantee its accuracy or timeliness of any information provided herein. The information reflects subjective judgments, assumptions and Fairview Capital’s opinion on the date made and may change without notice; Fairview Capital is not obligated to update this information. Nothing in this communication should be construed as investment or tax advice, a solicitation, offer, or recommendation, to buy or sell any security. Investment management services are offered only pursuant to a written investment management agreement, which investors are urged to carefully read and consider in determining whether such agreement is suitable for their individual needs and circumstances. The information in this communication should not be construed as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company or security. If this post mentions a specific investment or security, we or our affiliates may have a position in that security (either long or short), and we may profit from a price change in that security.
Investment management and advisory services–which are not FDIC insured–are provided by Fairview Capital. Any links provided to other sites are offered as a matter of convenience and are not intended to imply that Fairview Capital or its affiliates endorses, sponsors, promotes and/or is affiliated with the owners of or participants in those sites, or endorses any information contained on those sites, unless expressly stated otherwise. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of money you invest, and past performance does not guarantee future performance. Please see Fairview Capital’s Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS for important details.
