Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, our financial advisors prioritize the needs and interests of our clients by providing personalized financial advice. We are committed to adhering to the fiduciary standard for our advisory clients as regulated by the SEC.

There is a wide variety in quality in terms of advice and service. The majority of financial advisors operate as generalists, meaning they offer a comprehensive range of services to a variety of clients who invest their money in various ways. We are of the opinion that clients are best served by a financial advisor who specializes in a particular area of financial guidance due to the increased complexity of markets, as well as rising levels of regulation and technological advancement. We at LFS Wealth Advisors are experts in the choices that families have to make regarding their finances and their investments, especially when approaching retirement and during retirement. There can be many balls to juggle including tax planning including Roth conversions, health care and Medicare planning, as well as social security and pension decisions. Several of our customers have initially reached out to us because they wished to bring their entire financial picture into alignment and get started making purposeful decisions together with an expert partner.

No, there is no minimum investment. The criteria we use are different than most firms: Can we make a difference to justify our presence in your life?

We take account security very seriously. Whenever there is a request, we verify that it is you. We will only send you money to your home address, or a bank account that is already on file, established when we were face to face watching you sign the paperwork. All electronic communication is encrypted and password protected.

LFS Wealth Advisors does not hold client moneys. We use National Financial Services (Fidelity) as our independent custodian for client investment assets. You maintain priority access to your funds at all times. We require verbal authorization for any money movements to you and written authorization for any money movements to a third party. During normal business hours, you may call our office to make money transfer requests. Our advisors do have the ability to make investment changes and raise cash as needed. You will be consulted on any significant investment changes that impact your pre-determined financial plan and investing strategy.

At the beginning of the advisor relationship, you should expect to meet with us at least two to three times. This includes an initial meeting to gather information and learn more about the financial priorities of you and your family. We then schedule more focused meetings delving into the details of your financial plan and/or investment strategy. From there we take a proactive approach and build a meeting rhythm around the planning and investing needs of each household. All of our advisors are also available for questions or concerns throughout the year as needed.

Think of the relationship as one similar to health care. If LFS is your family doctor, it is important to use state-of-the-art technology to help diagnose, treat and make sure you stay in sound financial health.

CFD Investment is our broker dealer, similar to a Merrill Lynch or Edward Jones. Think of this company as you would the hospital you would go to. We use CFD because they work with independent advisors and help us maintain compliance with SEC and FINRA regulations. There is no such thing as a CFD Mutual Fund. We pay CFD a percentage of our revenue and they monitor every trade, email and all of our books and records to make sure we are providing advice for each client.

Creative Financial Designs is the money management arm of CFD Investments.  They are the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) that we operate managed accounts under. They provide portfolio management, research, and trading capabilities for our managed accounts.  Our in-house portfolio manager, Jimmy Kelly CFA, sits on the Designs Investment Advisory Committee.

National Financial Services (NFS) is the clearing firm for CFD Investments and custodian for Creative Financial Designs. A clearing firm is the company that reconciles all of the data, processes the trades, and actually puts your statements together.  This is where your money is actually at.  NFS is the institutional arm of Fidelity Investments.

eMoney is the system we use to monitor your financial plan. This is like having an MRI every day. You will have your own website that gathers all of your accounts, no matter where they are held, onto one dashboard for easy viewing. Your financial plan, bank accounts, 401ks and other assets come into one secure site updated every night as of the 4:00PM close in the financial markets. Transactions can be pulled in too, and you can get as much or as little detail on each holding, including research, as you want. You will have a living, breathing financial plan that monitors your progress on an ongoing basis.

At LFS Wealth Advisors, we employ a team approach to wealth management. You will have a primary lead advisor, supported by one or more service advisors. Your advisors will work with you to establish the relationship, develop recommendations, implement your plan, and monitor its performance. The team will help you with complex questions and financial analysis, and will engage with you year-round, not only during our annual reviews.

You will also be supported by additional LFS team members with respect to scheduling, answering routine questions, and requesting withdrawals/deposits. By leveraging teamwork, we can work smarter and more efficiently for you along your path to financial peace.