is a group of dedicated advisors, with over 40 years experience, that work collectively to ensure your investment strategies align with your personal and professional goals.

We work diligently to reach educators and provide pain-free guidance toward retirement and financial freedom. We promise to help grow your 403(b) as smartly and swiftly as possible.

ONE-ON-ONE ADVISING

We promise you will always work with the same person when planning your future.

Never a bot. Never a salesperson.

Working together we will make decisions that work to benefit your 403(b) plan, goals, and get you to retirement as swiftly and smartly as possible.

Schedule a Consultation

OUR PRINCIPLES

GUIDE YOUR INVESTMENTS

We develop personal and trusted relationships with our clients to ensure there is a full understanding of 403(b) investments, goals, and the purpose behind all of our decisions.

EDUCATION

Creating realistic and achievable financial plans

Like teachers we feel that education is the key to advancement and freedom. The uneducated consumer is an easy target for poor quality and high cost investments. Their planning is often unrealistic or non-existent. They make decisions based on emotional reactions or they allow others to make decisions for them; often to their own detriment. By focusing on educating our clients we have the privilege of working with individuals who can define realistic goals and work with us as a team to achieve those goals. They develop effective long-term financial habits and understand what they are doing and why. They make decisions based on a rationally thought out process that they understand.

EMPOWERMENT

Continuous education to understand financial instruments

One of our main goals is to assist our clients in continually growing their knowledge of financial markets and instruments. We work to have an evolving conversation in which the client’s insights and knowledge builds. Through this process clients may start as someone with little to no knowledge of how investment vehicles work. However, over time they become surer of their decisions and grow more confident in their long-term plans. We want our clients to feel confident in our services and we want them to know why they feel this way.

TRANSPARENCY

Evaluation and accountability of fees and details of accounts

Most people have no idea what they are paying for their investments or how they work. Product sales representatives work to hide this. They often do not discuss key product features like surrender charges, insurance charges mixed into the investments, and conflicts of interest with their proprietary product line. We work in a manner where these conflicts do not arise but also make sure that our clients know how we are paid and where they can see this. We are clear about all product features and limitations as part of the process of matching our clients with the right product for their needs.

FREEDOM

Individualized goals and necessary steps to reach financial freedom

Because we do not utilize proprietary products our clients are free to come and go from us as they please. With one signature our clients can remove us from their accounts and become their own advisor or obtain a new one. They don’t even need to tell us. This generally doesn’t happen, but the point is that we maintain our clients through our service and asset management. Our client relationships are built on mutual respect and appreciation. We work hard to maintain our clients and our clients know that they are not stuck with us or committed to us for any minimum amount of time.

INDEPENDENCE

Always working on your behalf

We have no affiliation with any product producing company. We are independent advisors acting on behalf of our clients. Because we produce no products and are not beholden to any company that does, we represent our clients in all actions and transactions and not a financial company. We research all the options available to you through your district and match you up with the product that makes most sense for you.

HOW DOES

MAKE MONEY?

There are expenses associated with all types of retirement accounts. They are internal to the account. Therefore, your investment expenses are drawn directly from the account. In a fee-based 403(b) through teacheretire we charge an annual fee of 1%. If we are utilizing A share or C share mutual funds there are standard fees for the funds that we would cover in detail on our meeting.

How much should I save?

We generally recommend that people save between 10 and 15% of their income towards retirement. With this said, if that is not currently a reality, don’t let that paralyze you. Save what you can as saving something is better than not saving at all. The contributions are flexible and can be changed at any time.

Do I need a 403(b) if I have a pension?

Yes. Your pension will replace a portion of your income, but most people take a 30-40% pay cut when they retire and rely on their pension. In addition, inflation (the cost of goods and services rising over time) is generally higher than the cost of living raises that are attached to a pension. This means the buying power of that pension is decreasing over time.

Should I pay off my student loans first?

While we typically recommend that you try to pay more than the minimum on any debt, we wouldn’t recommend completely paying off your student loans before beginning to invest. Even with extra funds going towards student loans it will still take many years to pay them off. We don’t recommend missing out on years of savings in this scenario. Do some of both!

How does a digital meeting work?

You will receive an invitation with a link to the digital “room” where we are sharing our screen. There is audio but no video. You will be the only person attending your digital meeting. You can attend the meeting from any computer or device. You can download the free Zoom app and run the entire meeting from your smartphone or tablet. Everything will work fine on a traditional PC or Mac as well.

BROWSE THROUGH MORE FAQs

NOW IS THE TIME

Take the first step in launching your retirement strategy today with personalized planning