The process I use has been designed to help you make a comfortable decision regarding who you’d like to partner with for your retirement.  There is no cost or obligation for going through this process as I want you to know exactly what you can expect before you pay us a single dollar.

Step One - Initial “Fit” Meeting:

Perhaps most importantly, I understand that for many people, the most uncomfortable part of meeting a potential advisor for the first time is sharing financial information so early in the process.  Therefore, I will not ask you to disclose any personal financial information whatsoever in our initial meeting.

Instead, I’d like to learn more about you and your perceptions about life and money.  We’ll discuss our financial planning and investment philosophies to ensure that you are comfortable with the way in which we help our clients^[1].  The reason I put so much emphasis on philosophy is that I believe that in order for a strategy to be successful, our expectations must be aligned.  This will also be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have regarding our qualifications or anything else you would like to know.

Lastly, I will outline every cost associated with working together.  I believe in total transparency and want you to feel comfortable throughout the process.

At the conclusion of this meeting, we can mutually decide if we’d like to continue through the process or not.  If yes, we can move to Step Two.  If not for whatever reason, we can agree to part ways, with your financial dignity intact.

Step Two - Gathering Information:

We’ll ask you to gather your relevant financial documents for us to review.  We’ll discuss how you’ve gotten to where you are today and what you hope to achieve in the future.

Then, we’ll establish formalized goals that we can use throughout the planning process.  Your goals can always be adjusted as we work together, but this will provide a starting point for the initial planning process.

Any additional perspectives for what you’d like to accomplish will be welcome.

Step Three - Our Analysis:

We will apply our thousands of hours of training and experience to help answer the following questions:

• Can you afford to retire?
• How should you structure your portfolio for retirement withdrawals?
• Can you improve your portfolio?
• Can you eliminate, or at least reduce risks to your retirement?

Step Four - Strategy Discussion:

We will explain where you stand in regards to your financial goals, and answer the four questions we asked during our analysis.  We’ll also show you some steps you can take to help you improve your situation.

At the end of this meeting, we’ll ask if you’d like to begin working with our firm, or if you’d like to think it over.

Step Five - Think It Over:

Making a decision on who you would like to partner with for your financial life is a big decision.  During that process, consider the following questions:

• Do I trust the Shorebridge Wealth Management team?
• Do I agree with their planning and investing principles?
• Do their recommendations make sense for my situation?
• Will their benefits exceed their cost?

*If we’ve gotten to this point, we know we’d love to work with you, but we also realize that we are not a perfect fit for everyone.  There will never be any pressure to become a client.  If you decide we’re not the right fit, we will be thankful for the opportunity and will wish you the very best in your financial future.

Step Six - Complete the Paperwork to Become a Client:

This is very straightforward but is part of the process.  Assuming you’ve made the decision to partner with us for your financial planning, we’ll coordinate the completion of the paperwork to make our relationship official.

On-Going Planning Process:

Once we get through the process noted above, we will generally meet between 1-4 times per year depending on your preferences.  There is no limit to the number of times we meet or communicate by phone or email.  Most clients end up meeting with us about twice per year though we often talk much more.  What will we cover in our on-going periodic meetings?

• Retirement Planning
• Investment Management
• Healthcare Planning
• Social Security Analysis
• Pension Analysis
• Insurance Planning
• Preparing Financial Statements
• Liability Planning
• Behavioral Investment Management
• Education Planning for Children or Grandchildren
• Long-Term Care Planning
• Debt Management
• Estate and Legacy Planning

When appropriate, we will send a meeting recap via email to ensure we captured everything in our time together.  It will often include a summary of our discussion as well as any respective action items that will need to be addressed by you or by us.

^[1]A quick note: I interchangeably use the terms “I”, “We”, “Us” and “Our”.  The “We”, “Our”, and “Us” that is referenced is me (Ashby Daniels) plus any member of the Shorebridge Wealth Management team or that of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., though not any specific person.  These views are my own and are not intended to be representative of Shorebridge Wealth Management or Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.  Please visit my Disclaimers page for additional details.