SmartAsset
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Financial Freedom Planners
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Verus Financial Partners
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Virginia Estate and Retirement Planning Advisors
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Wealthcare Capital Management
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SBK Financial
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Northbank Partners
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Financial advisors offer a variety of services aimed at managing and increasing clients’ wealth and meeting their financial goals. These goals may include sending a child to college, paying off a mortgage or saving for retirement. Before meeting with a financial advisor, research and define your main goals, as not all advisors specialize in every aspect of finance.
When you’re looking for compatible advisors, first check their certifications and licensing. Common certifications include being a certified financial planner, certified public accountant or chartered financial analyst. Some services, like estate planning, might require an attorney. As long as the advisors on your list are qualified for the services you need, you can move on to the next step of your search.
Take time to do your own research, look at reviews, and ask friends or family for their opinions. Ask the financial advisors you’re considering about:
Other important questions include whether they file client tax returns, examine insurance or annuities, or help with estate planning.
Factors affecting the cost of a financial advisor’s services include the size of your assets, the length of your consultation and the advisor’s experience. For fee-only advisors in Richmond, initial sessions cost between $100 and $300 per hour. These initial sessions typically create a financial plan, but implementation and maintenance cost a flat rate of $1,000 to $3,000 per session.
Some advisors charge between 0.5% to 2% of the value of your assets under management. Typically, advisors that charge AUM fees prefer clients with over $100,000 for investment management, though.
Fee-based and commission-based financial advisors make money from selling financial products or investing in certain mutual funds. While fee-only advisors have higher upfront costs, these fees decrease over time, down to even $100 to $200 per month for ongoing advice. Fee-only advisors also avoid some potential conflicts of interest that can arise when advisors make money from commissions.
When looking at financial advisors, it’s good to understand what basic services entail before choosing a company.
How much do I need to retire?
A common recommendation is saving enough that you can live off of 80% of your final pre-retirement salary, but this can change based on Social Security, pensions and part-time employment.
What is a fiduciary?
A fiduciary is a person or legal entity with the responsibility to act on another person or legal entity’s behalf. This level of trust exists under the condition that the fiduciary acts in the best interest of the beneficiary. There are both fiduciary and non-fiduciary financial advisors, as fiduciary care is not always crucial for certain services.
How do I buy a stock?
First, meet with a broker, either online or in person, and determine your investment amount, strategies and goals. Recently, digital broker services have become increasingly popular through mobile apps and websites. Before buying stocks, determine the amount of money you’re willing to invest and the risk you’re willing to incur.
What is a financial advisor?
Financial advisors cover a wide array of services that includes sharing strategies and tips to help clients manage their finances. Advisors typically help clients plan for their financial futures, often including retirement. Depending on their certifications or licenses, some advisors also manage client investment portfolios with attention to growing their value and minimizing risk.
What is asset management?
In asset management, financial advisors act on a client’s behalf to monitor and manage their investment portfolios. Then, they recommend strategies to reduce risk and grow portfolio value.
SmartAsset |
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SmartAsset provides educational finance resources for consumers. Users can take advantage of its free tools and find financial guides for major life decisions, like retirement, investing, homebuying, paying taxes and applying for credit cards. SmartAsset’s website helps users find local financial advisors, and it has calculators to estimate mortgage information and the amount of taxes you owe. |
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Financial Freedom Planners |
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Financial Freedom Planners is a team of certified financial planners offering financial planning solutions, implementation, monitoring, follow-ups and ongoing subscription packages. Fill out a questionnaire online, meet with an advisor and create a plan for your situation. The company is located at 3741 Westerre Parkway, Ste. C, Richmond, VA 23233. |
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Verus Financial Partners |
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Verus Financial Partners is a financial planning firm that works with individuals, families and people nearing retirement. The company offers a variety of services, from wealth management to Social Security planning. Verus Financial Partners tailors services to your life and goals, and its team includes multiple professionals with different certifications and areas of specialization. The company is located at 9030 Stony Point Parkway, Ste. 160, Richmond, VA 23235. |
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Virginia Estate and Retirement Planning Advisors |
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As a registered investment advisor firm, Virginia Estate and Retirement Planning Advisors offers advice with strict accountability. This independent, privately-owned firm offers client-specific plans, and it’s required by law to disclose conflicts of interest. Services include financial planning, investment management, tax advice and estate planning. The company is located at 4870 Sadler Road, Ste. 300, Glen Allen, VA 23060. |
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Wealthcare Capital Management |
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As a wealth management innovation company, Wealthcare Capital Management offers financial advising services through its advisor-specific GDX360 platform. This platform combines financial planning, investment strategies and goals-driven advice. Wealthcare Capital Management is a fiduciary firm that partners with RIAs. The company is located at Two James Center 1021 E. Cary St., Ste. 1120, Richmond, VA 23219. |
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SBK Financial |
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As a wealth advisory partner, SBK Financial offers wealth management services through financial planning, investment management and tax strategies. Its fee-only advisors work with executives, retirees and families. SBK’s six-step plan offers analysis, planning and implementation to create client-specific advice. The company is located at 1001 Haxall Point, Ste. 705, Richmond, VA 23219. |
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Northbank Partners |
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Northbank Partners is a team of professional financial advisors with different certifications to cover a variety of needs. The company’s main areas of focus are general financial planning and investment management, but clients can seek advice and planning for a broad range of topics, including risk analysis and investment management. The company is located at 3463 W. Cary St., Richmond, VA 23221. |
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