Welcome to BWFA's general questions and answers section. We hope you find it helpful and informative. If you don't find the answer to your question below, please submit a new one at the bottom, send us a comment using the Contact Us form, or call our toll-free number at 1-888-461-3900.
Call and discuss your situation with us. One of our advisors will make an appointment for you to come to our office for a free initial consultation. This friendly exchange of information and ideas will help you get to know us. Together we will discuss your concerns and questions, review the areas in which we can advise you, show you examples of our work, discuss fees, and recommend next steps.
About an hour is sufficient for most people, sometimes it takes more time.
If you have concern about your investments, are considering the uncertainties of retirement, going through a difficult financial transition, uncertain about the practicality of your life plans, or in need of experienced counsel, you should consider a comprehensive financial advisor. Professional advisors can offer a wealth of experience, contribute significant technical knowledge, and add significant value.
As a fee-only registered investment advisor, BWFA is a fiduciary. That means we are required to act at all times in your best interests and give unbiased advice, putting you before our firm's profit incentives. Furthermore we are obligated to disclose potential conflicts of interest. This is the highest standard of care by law.
Most of the "Wall Street" firms you know are brokers, not fiduciaries. They are required to make "suitable" recommendations only.
It's like the difference between going to a doctor for medication who has a sworn oath to put patients first, versus going to a pharmaceutical sales rep who might recommend something "suitable" that may not be the most effective, lowest cost, or safest medication for you.
We sign a pledge to always put our clients first, and to accept compensation from our clients and nobody else.
All of us at BWFA are members of NAPFA, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors www.napfa.org. NAPFA firms are committed to:
Choosing an advisor is a very personal decision that may come with some uncertainty. What we offer is financial advice about how to solve life issues, and what our clients get is peace of mind that comes from working with advisors that they trust will put their needs first. As fee-only advisors, we do not sell or receive compensation from recommending specific investments or insurance. Our success depends on the quality of our advice and the satisfaction of our clients.more on Fee-Only
We use a team approach at BWFA. Your BWFA advisor will coordinate and monitor the services we provide. He or she will also head a service team which includes tax, investment and financial planning experts as needed. This frees you from having to coordinate various advisors on your own.
Financial planning is a process of uncovering your most important financial goals: enjoying a comfortable retirement, sending kids or grandkids to college, buying a second home, protecting you and your family, and making the most of your financial resources.
Investment management is one part of planning and focuses on investing in the market in a way to meet your long-term goals for growth and income. An investment strategy is part of a full financial plan.
At BWFA you can hire us to manage your money, prepare a full plan, or both. It's your choice.
As fee-only financial advisors we charge fees in several ways depending on what you wish us to do. We may charge: a flat fee for planning, a per schedule fee for tax preparation, a percentage fee for investment management, or an hourly fee for certain projects. We suggest that you come to your first session prepared to discuss what you may need us to help you with. Together we will then scope the proposed engagement, show you examples of the work we might do, and negotiate a fee arrangement that meets your needs. more on our fees
Yes, currently the IRS allows you to deduct investment advisory, tax preparation, and planning fees if they exceed 2% of your income. Please contact us for specifics.
Good news—we don't have one! We want professional investment management to be accessible to many clients, so we developed two ways of managing money. One approach is for clients with less than $300,000 and a different one for larger clients with millions of dollars. Contact us for more details.
Some clients prefer to start by hiring us to manage a portion of their assets initially as they become comfortable with BWFA.
We believe there is benefit to you in having all of your accounts working toward the same goals. Thus, as you become comfortable with us, we would expect to manage the bulk of your accounts.
Some clients like to dabble in the market themselves, so keeping a small account to "play" with might make sense in that case.
We are proud of our performance and would be happy to discuss how each of our models have done in the initial consultation at BWFA. Firm policy and regulatory guidelines prevent us from publishing specific numbers here.
We strongly recommend that you consolidate accounts as much as possible. Simply put, you can't manage what you can't count. Many new BWFA clients have various IRAs, 401Ks, stock holdings, mutual funds, and annuities that they have purchased over time. We have a dedicated person to help consolidate those accounts to TD Ameritrade, our custodian.
If you are working and contributing to a 401(k), 403(b), TSP, profit-sharing, or similar plan we may recommend that you continue contributing to that plan, and we can manage those accounts or give you advice on how to manage them yourself.
In any case, we will advise you regarding the most efficient and tax-friendly way to simplify your accounts and will oversee the process.
Yes. IRAs allow greater choices in investments, important advantages in reducing estate taxes to heirs, and potentially lower costs over a former employer's retirement plan. We can help manage the process and ensure that tax deferred contributions remain untaxed in the conversion to an IRA.
From the start we work together to help you choose one of the eight BWFA models to follow for your account:
Given how quickly markets change sometimes, we can't confirm trades with you, but we are always ready to explain to you any changes in your accounts.
Our job is to follow the model that we agreed on together and to buy and sell in a timely manner. We will take into account stocks or mutual funds you want us to keep or that may have tax issues attached to them.
You delegate day-to-day responsibility to us, but you always remain in control.
BWFA was founded in 1986 and took its current form in 1996 when the initial three partners came together.
We are located in the community of Columbia, Maryland in the dynamic corridor between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington DC. You'll find our building near the Mall in Columbia, right behind Toby's Dinner Theatre. Call or email and see our directions page.
We are here to serve you from 8:30am to 5:30pm ET each Monday through Friday. The offices are closed on New York Stock Exchange Holidays.
As part of our commitment to the families of our staff, we do not offer extended evening or weekend appointments.
Please contact us for a free initial consultation to review your current investments and make reccomendations about the best way to manage them going forward. We are knowledgable about stocks, bonds, annuities, mutual funds and fees, and retirement plan options. It is our goal to give you unbiased advice about the best way to manage all of them.
Buying or selling real estate or a vacation home may impact your tax, investment, and retirement plans. We can offer advice regarding any of those issues. If you're looking for advice on specific properties to buy or sell that's outside of our expertise.
While our clients are naturally concentrated in Maryland, DC, and Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia, we have clients in nearly twenty states and overseas. We work with clients by phone and have outfitted our office with state-of-the-art internet video conferencing to make it easy to reach clients anywhere.
Certainly. Clients sometimes start with one service and add others over time. It allows them to get to know us and become more comfortable with our advisors.
However the most value is created for clients by integrating all three services.
More than 95% of our investment clients stay with us every year, but some do choose to leave. You can call or write to us. Alternatively, you can contact TD Ameritrade and they will take us off of your accounts and move them over to their retail division for you to manage. There are no back end fees or surprises.
