Working with a good financial advisor will ensure you do not miss an important piece of the puzzle when planning to meet your financial goals. It’s your financial advisors job to be well trained in all kinds of financial products and services in order to make the right recommendations for your personal goals and circumstances. Your advisor will analyze your specific needs, and help determine the best tools and strategies for you. The financial landscape can change fast, and unless you are dedicated to really learning the business and managing your plan yourself as a full time job, it is important to have an advisor you can trust, so you can focus on the things that matter most to you.

Any individual or family seeking financial direction, ideas, organization, or simply peace of mind can benefit from our services. We serve people from all walks of life. Clients have the flexibility to work with us on a one-time, as needed, or ongoing basis. We welcome clients who simply need a one-time financial consultation or second opinion, as well as those who need full financial planning or ongoing investment management services. In addition, any business or organization seeking quality unbiased financial education for their employees or members.

A fiduciary is a person or organization that acts on behalf of another person or persons, putting their clients' interest ahead of their own, with a duty to preserve good faith and trust. Being a fiduciary thus requires being bound both legally and ethically to act in the other's best interests. We are fiduciary advisors and always put your best interests as top priority.

Yes, we offer a Free introductory consultation (in person, over the phone, or virtually via Zoom) – at absolutely no obligation to you.

Your initial meeting with us is an opportunity to discuss your financial goals and current financial structure. The objective of this initial consultation is to learn about each other and determine how best we can benefit you by working together.

Individuals come to us for help for many different financial reasons. Some feel overwhelmed by too many investment options, others want to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement, or are uncertain how to reach their financial objectives. We find it necessary to understand your goals well, in order to help you formulate the best possible plan for you.

If you have specific questions, you are welcome to bring with you some of your financial information. For example:

• Most recent investment statements
• Most recent income tax returns
• Estate planning documents
• Existing Life Insurance or Long Term Care Insurance policy information

We encourage you to schedule a meeting to learn how we can help you. Please feel free to schedule this initial meeting directly on our calendar, by calling, via email, or sending us a message in the “contact us” section. 

Some of the types of investments we provide advice for are Stocks, Bonds, Mutual funds, ETF’s, Brokerage accounts, Managed Accounts, and Insurance Products such as Life Insurance and Annuities when they are a good fit. Before recommending any investment, we consider the current economic conditions, the outlook for a particular asset class or type of security, and how the investment fits within a client’s portfolio given his or her objectives and tolerance for risk. As fiduciaries we strive to obtain the most appropriate investment vehicles to meet a client’s objectives, while being very conscious of total expenses and risk exposure.

A person's age, investment goals, income, and comfort level all are factors in determining their risk tolerance. An aggressive investor, or someone with higher risk tolerance, is willing to risk more money for the possibility of better returns than a conservative investor, who has lower risk tolerance. We walk through a risk

questionnaire together, and talk through each individuals willingness to take risk before making any investment recommendations,

Risk and return are two fundamental factors that must be considered in analyzing any portfolio or investment. All investors want to make the highest possible return from their investments; however, a potential return must always be balanced against potential risk. Indeed, the greater the expected return, often the greater the level of risk involved for a potential loss.

To analyze investments for individuals properly, we must create an accurate risk assessment, or risk profile, for each client. This risk assessment allows us to determine the most suitable investments for each client to consider, taking into consideration both a client's goals and need for growth, in balance with the willingness to take on risk.

Asset allocation refers to the diversity of your entire savings and investment portfolio across asset classes. Stocks, bonds, cash and real estate are asset classes. Asset allocation is an investment strategy that aims to balance risk and reward by apportioning a portfolio's assets according to an individual's goals, risk tolerance, and investment horizon. Diversification refers to the types of investments held within each asset class.

We’ve all heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. Diversification is a risk management strategy that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio. A diversified portfolio contains a mix of distinct asset types and investment vehicles in an attempt at limiting exposure to any single asset or risk. The idea behind this technique is that a portfolio constructed of different kinds of assets will, on average, yield higher long-term returns and lower the risk of any individual holding or security.

At minimum it's a good idea to see your advisor at least once a year if not more often. All good relationships require time and life changes fast so the closer you are to your advisor, and the more your advisor understands you and your goals, the better advise they can provide specific to you and your needs. You should also consider making an appointment in anticipation of life-changing events such as marriage, the birth of a child, divorce, retirement, or after inheriting a substantial amount of money. 

Your assets’ custodian (the outside firm that independently accounts for your investments) will send reports with transactions and other information on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis depending on the asset type. However we can provide comprehensive customized reports at anytime subject to your request.

With a client’s permission, we are always willing to coordinate and work with their other advisors. In fact, we strongly recommend we work as a team to communicate together directly to be most efficient.

You can rollover your existing retirement account into a new account of your choosing without creating an immediate tax consequence, as long as you follow the proper format and procedures. Therefore we highly recommend working with a knowledgeable financial advisor for these transactions. If handled incorrectly it is possible to cause the entire account to become taxed and waste valuable dollars to taxes unnecessarily. This is a large part of our business at EPA and we can help guide you to make this transition as easy as can be into the right plan for you going forward.

The Roth IRA is a tax-efficient retirement savings vehicles that has become very popular. However, you may not be eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA if your earned income is too high or if you do not currently have qualified earned income. A Roth IRA allows your account to grow tax-free while you are contributing funds and subsequent withdrawals from the account in retirement are entirely income tax-free. This is useful because they help to keep your income tax liability hopefully lower in retirement than what it was during your career. Roth’s do not have required minimum distributions (RMD’s), which allows more flexibility for when you withdraw the funds. Also, Roth IRA’s are beneficial for estate planning because they do not carry the same tax ramifications for the beneficiary as does the Traditional IRA. It is a combination of all of these reasons that many consider converting their existing Traditional IRA’s to the more tax efficient Roth IRA. 

The Roth conversion is certainly a planning technique many people explore ahead of retirement or in retirement, but it is important to carefully analyze the pros and cons ahead of moving forward with the conversion. If you have additional questions on Roth conversions please feel free to reach out to us today.

We do not have asset minimum amounts to offer our assistance. We have built our business from day one doing what is best for our clients regardless of the amount of money we are working on and will always operate that way. No matter how big or how small your current financial structure is, we are dedicated to helping you reach your goals.

We are fee-based advisors, thus meaning when you do well, we do well. During inevitable periods of market decline, our fees will shrink. Our interests are therefore more closely aligned putting us on the same side of the table at all times. Today's financial markets can be volatile, calling for greater diligence and oftentimes more frequent changes to portfolio strategy. A feebased structure gives you the flexibility to respond appropriately to critical market changes without the added costs to you from trading activity, since you won't be paying commissions on each trade. While a commissions-based approach is typically focused on specific financial products, a fee based approach generally stresses a broader, more important goal of ensuring that your whole financial picture is in good shape. In this way, a fee-based structure offers a better framework for fully integrated financial planning, which we believe is the best approach to helping you pursue your goals.

You are always welcome to schedule directly on our calendar by hitting the “Schedule an Appointment” button, you can always just give us a call, or send  us a message in the “contact us” section and we will reach back out to set a time with you. We welcome in person, over the phone, and virtual meetings, whichever you are most comfortable with.