If you’ve been researching financial advisors, you’ve probably come across the term fiduciary. It tends to show up as a signal of trust: “You should work with a fiduciary.” But for most people, that raises a more practical question: What does that actually mean—and how do I know if it applies to the advisor I’m talking to?…
DetailsMost financial planning questions don’t start with pricing, but at some point, they tend to land there. If you’re considering working with a financial planner in Seattle, the conversation usually shifts to: What does this actually cost—and what am I paying for? Let’s walk through it together: What you’re paying How pricing works And how to…
DetailsWhat if I told you that you could make ONE decision now that would help make allllll your financial decisions for the next 12 months so much simpler? Would you be interested? (Duh. Of course you would!) I call this decision your Chief Initiative, and it is basically a values and goals statement that can…
DetailsAs everything winds down for the holiday season and people start thinking of their New Year’s resolutions, I want to shift your thinking about how you go about setting goals and resolutions. Because resolutions…they sort of suck. Studies show that fewer than 8% of people who set New Year’s resolutions actually achieve them. But there…
DetailsMany people might think that financial success is all about the money…I mean, yes, it is? In that, it matters how much you can keep. And the more you keep, the more you can leverage that savings. But aside from investing strategy, there is so, soooooo much more to being financially successful. You might be…
DetailsAs everyone scrambles to check off their to-do list for the year and shift into the holiday, I asked my planners what they think are effective year-end financial strategies? Here’s what they said: Joann Nieciecki: “Honestly, amid the holiday chaos and winter break with kids, my finances are the last thing on my mind. Instead…
DetailsThe other day I asked a health professional one simple question. ONE QUESTION. And he proceeded to talk for the next 15 minutes about all of the ways people should be more afraid of this specific thing I asked about, how basically we were all screwed. Apparently, he was very passionate about this topic. When…
DetailsAlthough I didn’t realize it then, when I was younger, I used gift-giving to gain love, approval, control, and admiration. People seem to think that the less control you exert over your environment, the less control you have over your money, but I found exactly the opposite. The less codependent I became, the less money…
DetailsEnvironmental Social Governance Investing (ESG) and Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) are fraught with misunderstanding. When I was first coming up as a planner, your only options were extremely expensive mutual funds. Now, you can invest in a relatively low-cost portfolio, but I still see confusion about oversight and to what extent these funds meet the…
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