Financial Planning, Investments & Tax Planning
With our deep tax knowledge as CPAs, we at FAM understand the crucial tax consequences of our financial advice and believe effective tax planning is essential to successful financial planning.
Retirement planning and IRA distribution rules are always considered when implementing an investment strategy, especially during the spend-down years. As your investment advisors, we strive to make decisions that make the most sense to your overall long-term plan. That means planning for periods as long as 10-15 years. This forward-thinking will produce tangible wealth accumulation for families for generations to come.
Fee-Only & Fiduciary
We refuse to accept outside commissions for our work; only our clients pay our fees. In our industry, this reduces conflicts of interest and keeps our focus aligned with the client’s goals. Our wealth management fees are based on assets under management, commonly called AUM. We feel AUM is a good proxy for a client’s financial complexity. Though not universally true, a greater net worth generally equates to a more complex financial life. This approach aligns our interests with yours and helps to preserve our independent advice.
Our fees are tier-based, with breakpoints at which your fees decrease on additional assets. In addition, we take a family approach to investing. Aggregating assets to determine your costs (while still managing each portfolio according to its distinct policies) enables us to provide favorable rates for your immediate family.
Employer Retirement Plans
As an employer, your retirement plan is one of the most critical benefits you offer your employees. You are providing a convenient way for them to save and “pay themselves first”.
We review a lot of retirement plans and they have a common theme:
Participants lack the understanding of why they are saving and what their savings can grow to 20-30 years in the future.
Participants don’t understand the impact high fees can have on their ability to save for a secure future.
We believe participant education is one of the key factors to a successful retirement. Through group educational meetings and one-on-one participant sessions, Forest has been able to guide participants through the industry jargon and help them make smart decisions regarding their plan assets.
Our plan design is based on a fiduciary promise to provide a customized transparent solution to meet your needs as a business owner while still providing a cost-effective and highly desirable benefit to your employees.Our plans have always been designed with our clients’ best interest in mind, a philosophy commonly called the “fiduciary rule.” We didn’t need a Department of Labor rule to mandate our actions. Focusing on the client, not the product, just made sense.