Fully Integrated

Surprisingly, no. Many financial professionals are not held to a "fiduciary standard", which allows them to recommend products that pay higher commissions as long as they meet basic requirements. As a firm that prioritizes your success, we embrace the fiduciary standard as the foundation of our client relationships.

Think of our first meeting as a relaxed, get to know you conversation. There’s no pressure to make any decisions or commitments. The more I understand about where you are and where you want to go, the better I can help. I’ll also explain how we work with clients, walk you through our planning process and fees for our services. This is your chance to ask questions, get a feel for our approach, and decide if we’re a good fit. If you like to make the most of our meeting, consider bringing tax returns, investment or retirement account statements, estate planning documents, and insurance policies. But don’t worry if you don’t have everything, we can gather more information later. Most importantly, this meeting is about you. By the end, you should have a clear picture of your options and next steps, whether or not you decide to work with our team.

Financial planning is a client-centric service that takes a holistic and collaborative approach to help you achieve your life goals. Rather than focusing on individual financial products or decisions in isolation, financial planning looks at your complete financial picture – including cash flow, investment, taxes, insurance, retirement, and estate planning – to create an integrated strategy tailored to your specific situation and objectives.

Financial planning is proactive rather than reactive. We regularly review and adjust your plan as your life changes and new opportunities or challenges emerge. At Strategic Insights, we do use technology as a tool, although, we believe financial planning software alone cannot provide the best advice for clients. Your unique circumstances, values and goals require human insight, judgement, and an ongoing relationship.

A backdoor Roth IRA is a strategy that allows high-income earners to contribute to a Roth IRA, even if they exceed the income limits. It involves making a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA and then converting those funds into a Roth IRA. This strategy can be beneficial for individuals who want tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement. However, tax implications—such as the pro-rata rule—should be carefully considered before implementing it.

Asset location is the strategy of placing investments in different types of accounts (taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free) to improve tax efficiency. For example, tax-inefficient investments like bonds are often better held in tax-deferred accounts, while tax-efficient investments like stocks may be better suited for taxable accounts. Proper asset location can help reduce taxes and improve overall portfolio returns over time.

*Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.