How We Serve
OUR VISION: We empower dentists to live their Ideal Lives.
OUR VALUE PROPOSITION:
We provide holistic financial planning & evidence-based investment management
HOLISTIC FINANCIAL PLANNING
Our comprehensive fee-only financial planning includes the following process:
1. Identify & Prioritize Financial Goals
Every dentist and their spouse or partner has hopes and dreams for their future, but few actually realize those hopes and dreams. We help dentists create a framework for how they will use their financial resources. In addition, we help dentists and their spouse or partner set specific financial goals based on the things they both agree are most meaningful to them. This empowers them to use their finances as a resource to help them obtain their most important goals.
2. Create Personal Financial Statements
Most dentists have detailed financial statements for their practice, but few have detailed personal financial statements. We create a net worth statement for our clients which clearly shows their assets and liabilities. In addition, many dentists feel like they make a good living on paper, but are frustrated by not knowing where their income goes. We create a cash flow statement for a dentist so that they know where their income goes.
3. Develop Personalized Financial Plans
After we have a clear idea of our client’s financial goals and resources, we create a financial plan empowering them to reach their goals. If their goals are not attainable, we recommend adjustments. In addition, we review alternative strategies which could be used to reach a client’s goals. We advise clients in the following areas:
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Debt Management
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Cash Flow Analysis
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Children’s Education Funding
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Major Purchase Funding
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Tax Planning (related to investments)
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Retirement Planning
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Retirement Plan Design
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Investment Planning
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Risk Management
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Estate Planning
4. Monitor Financial Plans
A financial plan is only as good as the information used in creating that plan. Just like a dentist regularly examines their patient’s mouth, we regularly meet with our clients to review their financial plans and make adjustments as needed.
We provide clients with evidenced-based investment options with low and reasonable costs that fit client risk profiles.
Among the variety of mutual funds offered clients is Dimensional Fund Advisors, a company that pioneered research and evidenced-based investment.
EVIDENCE-BASED INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Guiding Principles for Investing
Some of the investment management recommendations & strategies based on research by academics includes considering the following factors:
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Risk Tolerance:
We help our client determine an appropriate level of risk as well as a recommended asset allocation to reach his/her goals, based on research by academics.
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Low Cost Mutual Funds & Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs):
We recommend funds & ETFs which capture the returns of the recommended asset classes. We recommend low-cost funds and ETFs in order to decrease the expense and increase the return potential of our client’s investments.
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Tax-Efficient Funds & ETFs in Taxable Accounts:
If our client has a taxable account, we will recommend tax-efficient funds and ETFs.
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Portfolios Rebalanced:
We review our client's portfolios monthly to determine if they need to be rebalanced. In addition, as contributions are made to our client's portfolios, they will be invested in the most underweighted asset classes and as distributions are made from the portfolio, they will be withdrawn from the most overweighted asset class.
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Behavioral Coaching:
During times of stock market volatility, it may be tempting for a client to abandon their investment strategy. With nearly 20 years of experience managing client investments through two major stock market downturns, we will help our clients remain committed to their long-term investment strategy even in periods of short-term volatility.
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Asset Location Strategy:
When applicable, we will recommend an asset location strategy designed to minimize the taxes our clients are required to pay.
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Tax-Loss Harvesting:
When our client has a taxable investment portfolio, we will periodically review his or her investment portfolios and if certain funds or ETFs have significant unrealized capital losses, we will recommend that the fund or ETF be sold and a similar fund or ETF in the same asset class be purchased in order to realize a capital loss for our client. Our client may be able to use that capital loss to offset capital gains and/or some taxable income.
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Withdrawal Orders:
We will recommend a withdrawal order for distributions in order to minimize the taxes our clients are required to pay as they take distributions.