Top Financial Planners Near Me: Do You Need It – PillarWM

Most high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals sincerely desire to handle all their money themselves, safeguard their families from financial problems and plan for retirement. But unfortunately, they don’t have sufficient knowledge of the various financial matters such as retirement, insurance, and investment planning. Such individuals then start looking up “top financial planners near me” on the internet to get guidance on how to secure, manage, and increase their wealth. Read our handy guide for investors with $10 million or more to learn more about financial planners can help you become financially secure,

At Pillar Wealth Management, we have a highly competent and skilled team of financial planners who work with individuals who have liquid investable assets worth anywhere between $5 million and $500 million. We offer several services to our clients, including wealth transfer, cash flow management, risk management etc., to help them achieve their long and short-term financial goals.

Table of Contents
What Does A Financial Planner Do? Do I Need A Financial Planner? Is It Worth Paying the Top Financial Planners Near Me? How Do Financial Planners Make Money? Last Few Words

What Does A Financial Planner Do?

Several high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals have heard about a financial planner, but they aren’t sure what does a financial planner do. In simple words, a financial planner is a qualified professional who assists corporations and individuals in accomplishing their long-term financial goals.

Financial planners perform their duties by consulting with clients to identify their financial goals, openness to risk, and corporate or life stages. After these steps, financial planners identify a suitable category of investments for them. Moreover, financial planners also come up with a strategy to help their clients meet their financial targets by apportioning their wealth into a diversified collection of investments aimed at creating an income stream.

Some of the other areas that a financial planner can help you include:

• Cash Flow Planning
• Wealth Transfer
• Tax Management
• Risk Management
• Retirement Planning
• Balance Sheet Optimization

You may consult with a financial planner to get advice on any one of the areas highlighted above in certain cases. Otherwise, a financial planner can develop a comprehensive financial strategy that addresses every issue listed above. Schedule a meeting with us to learn the financial planning services we offer at Pillar Wealth Management.

Cash Flow Planning

Managing cash flows is one of the most essential services offered by financial planners. Wealth passes through the hands of several wealthy people. Thus, if you fail to keep an eye on the rate at which you gain and spend your wealth, you may not know the direction your finances are going towards.

Pillar Wealth Management provides cash flow planning services so that you don’t run out of wealth. We identify your income sources and expenses and assess your liabilities and assets to formulate a holistic cash flow plan to help you keep your cash inflows and outflows in check. This allows you to have a thorough knowledge of your finances so that you get the financial security you wished for.

Wealth Transfer

Many high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors choose to transfer a part of their wealth and assets to their offspring or other beneficiaries once they hit a certain age. This procedure sounds very simple and straightforward on paper. However, in reality, it’s quite complicated and riddled with multiple challenges such as exorbitant tax rates. We discuss some of the problems of wealth transfer in our book, The Art of Protecting Ultra-High Net Worth Portfolios and Estates – Strategies for Families Worth $25 Million to $500 Million.

By definition, wealth transfer refers to the procedure of transferring your wealth and other assets to your beneficiaries. It involves a combination of various financial planning tools such as wills, estate planning, life insurance, and trusts. At Pillar Wealth Management, our financial planners are adept at offering wealth transfer services where we develop a transference strategy that ensures your wealth reaches the right people in the most tax-efficient manner.

Tax Management

Whenever you sell your assets at a profit or get a positive return on your investments, you have to pay taxes. However, there are plenty of techniques to effectively reduce the amount of money you need to send Uncle Sam.

Tax management encompasses creating and implementing strategies to minimize your tax liability as much as possible. Our financial planners will create a tax-saving strategy that will help you fulfill your financial targets. For instance, we can advise you about tax-free or low-tax investments such as municipal bonds or guide you about leveraging tax holidays. Set up a meeting with our financial planners to know more about how you can reduce your tax obligation.

Risk Management

Every investment comes with a specific level of risk. If you’re investing your wealth in any particular area, you are essentially taking up a risk. Nevertheless, the degree of risk differs with every investment. For example, the risk associated with a US T-Bill is almost negligible, whereas the risk associated with real-estate securities is quite high.

Risk management services offered by financial planners will allow you to invest in a way such that your investment-related risk is minimized. It encompasses identifying, analyzing, and reducing the risks that can stem from various reasons such as market volatility, natural disasters, etc. Don’t forget to read our insightful guide, Improving Portfolio Performance, to know how you can maximize your investment performance.

Retirement Planning

Retirement planning is one of the most critical tasks that you can undertake. Because once you retire, you won’t have an active income source, and you’ll have to rely on the passive income created by your investments.

Different high net worth and ultra-high net worth have different retirement plans. For instance, some wish to live a stress-free retirement, and some aim to take long vacations, whereas others set new financial goals that they desire to accomplish post-retirement. We can help with whatever is it that you want to do after your retirement!

Our firm’s financial planning services include creating a holistic retirement strategy so that you have access to a constant stream of income even after your retirement. Plus, if you have any post-retirement financial goals, we can help you fulfill those too! Read our in-depth guide to learn the five critical shifts you need to make to increase portfolio growth strategies.

Balance Sheet Optimization

Real assets have to be converted into cash to purchase goods and services. So, not having sufficient liquid assets or cash can require you to sell your real assets at highly discounted prices. On the other hand, having too much liquidity can expose you to counterparty risk. Therefore, your balance sheet has to be diversified to reduce risk and help you cope with unpredictable situations.

Comprehensive balance sheet optimization means adjusting your balance sheet as your circumstances change. This way, your balance sheet will reflect your different priorities in your life’s journey.

Pillar Wealth Management studies your entire balance sheet and helps you keep track of how much you own in financial assets (equities, bonds, and cash), real assets (collectibles, commodities, and property) and debt (loans, mortgages, and credit cards). We optimize your balance sheet to ensure that you have adequate financial assets (cash) to purchase what you want when you want it.

Do I Need A Financial Planner?

If you’re still contemplating, “Do I need a financial planner?” then here are some additional advantages of hiring a financial planner.

Custom-Made Financial Plans

Unlike other major investment firms and private banks that offer standardized, cookie-cutter solutions, private financial planners will create financial strategies that are perfectly aligned with your specific needs. They will have a meeting with you to understand your financial objectives and develop tailored plans to help you accomplish those objectives in the best possible way.

Expert Guidance

Financial planners have great knowledge of the various financial markets and how they work. They have plenty of experience in financial planning, especially for high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals. Since financial planners are masters of their trades, they can thoroughly guide you on investing, securing, and growing your wealth.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we have been offering financial planning services for more than three decades, so we know all the intricacies of financial planning.

Fiduciary Services

Financial planners also provide fiduciary services. Fiduciary services mean there is no conflict of interest, and financial planners are completely dedicated to assisting you to accomplish your targets. They will ensure that every decision they take or strategy they create is in your best interest and will bring you the maximum return.

Is It Worth Paying the Top Financial Planners Near Me?

One of the most common questions asked about financial planners is that “is it worth paying a financial planner when I can easily handle my own money?” After all, you might have a 401k, and if you want to make other investments, you can access a ton of advice and information from the internet.

While we agree with this, we want you to know that there are multiple ways in which a financial planner can add value to your investment efforts. For instance, they can offer guidance on creating a holistic investment plan, minimize your tax burden, optimally allocate your assets, and help you time/structure withdrawals from your retirement account. Every one of these services can steadily increase your returns. Make sure you read our comprehensive guide to learn how to choose the best financial planner.

How Do Financial Planners Make Money?

Before opting for a financial planner, an important question that you should contemplate is, “How do financial planners make money?” This is extremely necessary because those who earn through a commission may have different objectives than those who don’t. Our useful guide for investors with $10 million or more contains several other questions that you should ask a financial planner before choosing them.

Generally, people in the financial industry, such as financial planners, get paid in the following ways:

Commissions

Some financial planners in the industry make money only by receiving commissions for recommending and selling certain financial service products to a client. These may include real estate, mutual funds, insurance products, loans, annuities, and other investments. For instance, if your financial planner recommends you invest $10,000 into a mutual fund, they will receive a 3% commission, i.e., $300.

Commissions are not preferred as they create a conflict of interest – they encourage the financial planner to recommend certain products and transactions that benefit them instead of benefitting you.

Salaries and Bonuses

Some financial planners get a salary from the firm they work for, rather than charging a fee or earning a commission. These financial planners may also get a bonus for reaching a specific milestone, such as getting a pre-defined number of new clients every year.

Client Fees or Fee-Only

Many financial planners make money by charging a specified percentage of the value of the assets they are managing on their client’s behalf. Typically, this is 1% of the total assets under management for an account of $1 million per year.

However, the fee structure is based on a sliding scale, which means clients who have more money might have to pay a lower amount. For instance, if a financial planner charges 1% to clients who have $5 million, they may charge 0.7% to clients with $10+ million.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we follow a fee-only structure and charge our clients a fixed yearly fee. This allows us to work in our client’s best interests. Sign up for a meeting with our managers to get further details about our fee structure.

Fee-based

Fee-based financial planners typically earn money in two ways – commissions from selling investment products and charging a percentage of the assets they’re handling for their client. In a fee-based structure, you won’t be the only one paying the financial planner, and they’ll also be receiving referral fees and commissions from third parties.

Last Few Words

Our financial planners’ services at Pillar Wealth Management are starkly different from those provided by the major Wall Street firms, who are more inclined to satisfy their shareholders rather than build their client’s legacy.

We offer personalized financial planning services to help fulfill your financial objectives in the most optimum manner. To know more about Pillar Wealth Management and how you can benefit from a financial planner, visit our website and schedule a meeting with us.

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