I created Guide Wealth Management to prove that you could offer exceptional quality of service for a reasonable cost. We launched almost a year ago in New York and I wanted to explain what the firm is about today, and how it dovetails into Saverocity Finance, and the Finance area of the Forum.
Financial Empowerment
I’ve been passionate about financial education for a very long time, this site started out with me talking about financial freedom, and discusses topics to increase awareness of the options we have as consumers. My alter ego on Saverocity is the points guy (not THE Points Guy…) and i’ve long held the position where points and miles should fit into the overall picture. Points are a form of currency, but really they are just the icing on the cake.
Why Wealth Management?
I describe Wealth Management as the intersection between comprehensive financial planning and investment management. It is an integrated service. I do believe that everyone needs some sort of wealth management, but not everyone should pay for it, because while it might be doing good in theory, costs can overtake the benefit for those with little in savings. For that reason, I’ve been fighting to keep active both on Saverocity Finance and The Forum with ‘pro bono’ advice and want to reiterate that here. I’m happy to extend the use of my technology tools to the readers here, and my time whenever I can. Once you are ready to step up to a more ‘official relationship’ that is where Guide comes into play.
What Guide can do for you
We can look at your entire financial situation and help bring clarity. We do this using a combination of cutting edge financial technology, and solid industry education. We offer highly sophisticated planning techniques, covering modular needs such as tax efficiency, college or retirement savings, through to estate transfer techniques that work with State and Federal rules. We like to think of ourselves as your ‘Personal CFO’ and have helped clients with a diverse array of topics, such as evaluating mortgage options, social security enrollment, offshore trust investments, and international pension plans.
Guide manages investments, building customized portfolios which are constantly monitored for rebalance and tax loss harvesting opportunities. Your money is held by a third party custodian.
What Saverocity Finance and The Forum can do for you
Firstly, the Forum is bigger than just me, by design. There’s lots of very smart people there who can help with solid advice. But in terms of what I offer here on the Blog and in The Forum, it’s very similar to what you might expect as a client of Guide, the difference being that there is only so much time in the day, and they come first. When establishing Guide I invested in some of the best software available, the platform I use for planning is by far the most sophisticated (and expensive) that I’ve encountered, and on top of that I’ve added in other solutions that offer great value. So, feel free to ask away.
Be careful where you go for advice
There is a raging battle between the Fiduciary and Suitability Standard. The latter is what you will find at most places where you would encounter financial ‘advice’. This might be your bank, credit union, broker. The suitability standard gives that person the ability to dispense advice that might not be in your best interest. For example, you might have heard of a Roth being a good idea, you ask your banker, and he sets you up with a Roth that comes with a kickback fee of 5% per month to himself…
The Fiduciary Standard means that the advisor must put your interests first, Guide Wealth Management follows this standard, as have I from a personal perspective for many years. That means that pro bono advice you get on Saverocity will be in your best interest, not in mine.
Guide Wealth Management is a Fee Only firm. This means we cannot recommend any product or service that provides us with a commission or kickback.
Where to go
We’ve got 4 sections in the Finance Forum:
Additionally, we offer Personal Finance Reviews, which are like a mini financial plan. You can email or message me to create an anonymous one.
Moving from the pro bono level to a relationship with Guide Wealth Management is less expensive than you think, but it is all about the right mindset, when you are ready to have someone manage your finances professionally vs the DIY approach, drop us a line.
Please check out the site when you have a moment: Guide Wealth Management
Looks nice. I would be very interested to learn of all the technology you use in your firm at some point, definitely no rush!
We can talk whenever you have time.
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