Our Compensation

Many "financial planners" earn all or a significant part of their compensation from commissions generated from the sale of mutual funds, annuities, insurance and various other financial products. This creates an inherent conflict of interest in upholding their fiduciary responsibility to you. A fiduciary relationship is one where the appointed agent has a special relationship of trust and confidence towards the obligations of the other. In our experience, it is difficult for these "financial product salespeople" to recommend no-load mutual funds, low-cost term life insurance, etc. even though their purchase may be in the best interest of their clients. As a matter of fact, in working with a broker-dealer, they are restricted to selling ONLY the products their broker-dealer has on their list or face regulatory inquiries. We believe the fiduciary relationship is compromised at the outset of the relationship.

We are paid by you alone and do not receive any commissions or trailers from the sale of financial products nor any "kick backs" from any third parties.  Our fee is made known up front and put into an agreement that we both sign.  The fee is then fixed until the work we agreed to is fulfilled, giving you peace of mind that there are no hidden fees or expenses to surprise you later.  As you can appreciate, calculating a fee is unique to each client's situation.  If you desire a fee estimate, please contact us and we would be happy to have a discussion with you.

To align with our philosophy of comprehensive financial planning , we base our fee on a sliding scale percentage based on your total net worth. "Why charge a fee on personal property and/or home instead of a percentage of investment assets?"  In our view, we may render advice on the tax implications in selling your home in the US, turning it into a rental or assist you in getting a mortgage in Canada (your debts reduce your net worth yet debt management is a part of what we do).  Besides, the IRS calculates estate taxes on your worldwide estate, including your home and the value of your life insurance. 

The implementation of your plan may require additional fees to be paid to othe r professionals or providers and are not included in our fees.  For example, we may recommend seeking legal counsel but since we are not attorneys and do not draft legal documents or render legal advice, additional fees may be required for this legal counsel.  Likewise, there may be expenses in setting up and implementing an investment allocation based on our recommendations.  The financial institution may require these fees and are in addition to the fees you pay to us for your planning.