The best way to overcome financial uncertainty is to intentionally plan for financial stability.
But the outdated, one-size-fits-all approach to traditional financial planning isn’t going to cut it.
Instead, you need an ongoing partner to help you create and implement a clear financial plan that is strategically built around your unique needs.
This is exactly what we offer our clients.
Unlike other financial planners,
we focus on understanding the whole person in front of us before we address their finances. Our motto is people first, money second.
Together, we’ll realign your mindsets and goals with your vision, all while helping you build healthier financial habits. Are you ready to plan for a financially secure life? Let’s get started!
Long-Term Ongoing Planning
We created Financial Alignment Planning™ to address life’s ongoing shifts because if there’s one thing we know, life never stands still.
Ideal for those looking for ongoing advice (think years, not months), and whose circumstances might be in flux.
Annual fees start at $6,000 for W2 employees and $7,800 for self-employed folks.
Short-Term Project Plan
We offer comprehensive project plans on a limited basis for folks looking for a short-term planning relationship (3 months).
Ideal for folks with less complex financial circumstances or those looking for a second set of eyes on their plan.
Project fees start at a flat $5,000 and increase with complexity.
Introducing
Financial Alignment Planning™
To get where you want to go, you first need to understand where you currently are and why you want to move forward. That’s where we come in. Through empathetic listening and inspirational exercises, we will create a safe space to explore your identity, core values, and desires without judgment. Next, we’ll determine how it all relates to your finances, helping us create an in-depth financial plan we can put into action.
Once your foundation is solid, our focus shifts to refining and monitoring as life happens and priorities realign.
Our Financial Alignment Planning™ Process
PRE-COMMITTMENT
Assess fit
Fit Call
Goal: Discuss what made you want to invest the time to talk with us and get to know each other.
Takeaway: Better understanding of our approach to planning and whether it resonates with you.
Explore Your Truth
Discovery Meeting
Goal: To ask important questions like What’s important to you?, and What’s essential to living your ideal life?
Takeaway: Gaining more self-knowledge on what’s most important to you, helping you decide if now is the time to invest in financial planning.
Note: If we decide to move forward with financial planning, we will send a contract and onboarding materials after this meeting.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION
Envision Freedom & Passion
Vision Meeting
Goal: To paint a clear picture of what you desire most.
Takeaway: Clarifying your vision in a transformational way that helps you build confidence in your own financial future.
Crunch the Numbers
Money Flow Meeting
Goal: To get a handle on income & expenses and implement a spending plan (a.k.a. budget) to give you insight into your cash flow.
Takeaway: Gaining a deeper understanding of exactly how you will save, invest, spend, and give.
How do I create an intentional spending plan?
How much should I save to buy the house, go on that vacation, grow my family? And where should I save it?
What is my emergency fund target? My long-term savings target? My opportunity fund target?
Build & protect
Investments & Insurance Meeting
Goal: To understand what you’re invested in and how to best protect your loved ones.
Takeaway: Reassurance that your family is taken care of should something happen to you and that your assets are working as hard for you as you did for them.
Do I have enough insurance to protect my loved ones if something happens to me?
What are my options for aligning my investments with my values? And what type of accounts are appropriate for me?
Take Smart Action
Design Meeting
Goal: To explore options for bringing your vision to life and start implementing your plan of action based on all of the intentional work you’ve done so far.
Takeaway: Having all of your questions answered before you follow along with your personal roadmap.
What options do I have to minimize my taxes?
How do I create structure for my annual charitable giving?
What’s the best way to save for education?
ONGOING CARE
ONGOING ALIGNMENT
Quarterly Life Update & Review Meetings
Goal: To ensure the train is still on the tracks and make adjustments as you live your rich life.
Takeaway: Confidence that your resources and intentional actions continue to align with your values.
Rest assured, with our ongoing alignment we’re in this for the long haul with you, no matter how you define financial success.
Fees
Unlike most firms, we don’t have mandatory asset minimums to work together. Given the unique needs of the types of clients we serve, we do have a minimum annual fee starting at:
W2 Employee(s): $6,000/yr
Self-Employed: $7,800/yr
The first $500,000 of your investment portfolio is included in the annual financial alignment planning fee. Any investment balance that exceeds $500,000 is billed at a rate of 0.6% per year.
For example, Peyton & Charlie are self-employed and have a portfolio of $800,000. They pay $7,200 annually for financial alignment planning. The first $500,000 is included in the $7,200 fee leaving $300,000 to be billed at 0.6% per year.
Please note that investment management is often a recommended service as it is part of financial alignment planning. Managing the full process allows us to do our best work. If interested, check out our Impact driven Investing process.
Our Project plan Process
Get Organized Meeting
Goal: To verify details such as assets & liabilities, income & expenses, and begin implementing a spending plan (a.k.a. budget) to give you insight into your cash flow.
Takeaway: Gaining a deeper understanding of exactly how you will save, invest, spend, and give.
How do I create an intentional spending plan?
What is my emergency fund target? My long-term savings target? My opportunity fund target?
verify & Crunch the Numbers
Design Meeting
Goal: To explore options for bringing your vision to life.
Takeaway: Have all of your questions answered before you follow along with your personal roadmap.
How should I save to buy the house, go on that vacation, grow my family? And where should I save it?
What’s the best way to save for education?
Brainstorm strategies
Delivery Meeting
Goal: To review your plan and prioritize your next steps so you can start implementing your action items based on all of the intentional work you’ve done.
Takeaway: Having an outline of the tasks required to arrive at point B on time and on track.
What are my next steps?
What are the priorities?
Take smart action
Project Fees
Project fees start at a flat $5,000 and increase with complexity. Payment is due 50% upfront and 50% at plan delivery.
Factors that may increase complexity include, but are not limited to:
Owning rental property
Receiving equity compensation
Self-employment income
FAQS
+If fees for Financial Alignment are paid monthly, does that mean we will meet or check-in on a monthly basis?
Not necessarily. Much of our work together will happen in the first 6 months where we will meet 4-5 times. After our initial work, our meeting cadence will slow quite a bit to every 3-4 months and as needed communication.
+You're a Los Angeles financial planner, but do you work with non-locals?
Absolutely! Thanks to technology, we can work with anyone pretty much anywhere across the U.S. as we are a completely location independent firm. If you have any questions about how this works, we would be happy to answer them.
+Do you offer hourly work?
We offer hourly engagements on an extremely limited basis; however, we do offer projects based on availability with fees starting at $5,000.
+Do I need to earn a certain amount of income or have a minimum portfolio balance to work with you?
We do not base our fees on your income or assets but we do use them as a benchmark to ensure they can support the fee. Generally speaking, while we don’t have any account minimums, we do have a minimum annual fee of $6,000 W2 Employee(s)/$7,800 Self-Employed folks. If you don't yet have an annual household income of $200,000 and/or $250,000 of investible assets, it might not yet make sense to work with us.
+I'm not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, can we still work together?
Though we do some of our best work with LGBTQ+ clients given our unique shared experience, our training and expertise with creatives lends itself well to working with non-LGBTQ+ folks. As long as our values align, we're open to exploring the potential of working together.