Our Services
Money is woven through the fabric of our lives; a reality that is often under-appreciated. As your financial advisor, we can help you discover how well your financial beliefs, habits and resources meld with your values and life goals. A full appreciation of the direction you want to take, leveraged by our advice and personalized strategies, gives you the financial and lifestyle solutions to make wise financial decisions and move confidently toward your dreams.
Our Services Include:
- Exploring your aspirations, values and expectations from a financial vantage point
- Analyzing your current financial situation
- Fostering an understanding of what is needed to facilitate reaching your goals
- Showing you ways to more efficiently utilize and protect your resources
- Helping you prioritize your financial choices and actions
- Being your go-to mentor any time you have a financial question or want a second opinion
- Creating a detailed personalized financial plan
- Guiding you through the process of implementing our actionable recommendations
- Being your advocate at meetings with product and service providers, including salespeople, money managers, accountants, and lawyers
- Providing recurring reviews to ensure that you continue on track
Topics Covered in Such Services Include:
- Spend Versus Save Decisions (Budgeting)
- Cash Flow Planning
- Retirement Income Planning
- Investment Portfolio Analysis and Recommendations
- Portfolio Monitoring Assistance
- Insurance Needs Assessment and Policy Analysis
- College Funding Plans
- Estate and Gift Planning
- Debt Management Techniques
… All with an eye toward tax minimization
Visit the Our Approach page to learn about the two primary ways we deliver these services and the fees involved. For more detail about the services we provide in these areas, read on...
Details About Selected Areas of Service:
Regarding Investments: The most appropriate strategy for many individual investors is to invest in a diverse array of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), both equity and fixed income. For these clients, Cole Financial offers a thorough investment strategy review, analysis of the portfolio’s asset allocation and individual holdings, selection of any needed additional investments, assistance in implementing any recommended changes, and periodic check-ups to keep the portfolio within the parameters of the client's own investing roadmap. Most of these clients hold their investments at on-line discount brokerage firms and in their employer's retirement accounts.
The scope and detail of our investment advice is highly customizable and, therefore, varies significantly based on the client's needs and wishes.
Minimizing fees is especially important in this era of lower returns. We believe that a well-crafted portfolio of mutual funds and ETFs does not require constant oversight, and therefore does not need to incur the 0.5%-1.5% percent-of-asset fees charged by most money managers and stock brokers (on top of the funds’ own fees), or the 5-6% load fees charged when buying funds through a commissioned stock broker. As a result, our by-the-hour fees can provide you a cost-effective, competitive and appropriate alternative for your holdings of mutual funds and ETFs. (Do you know what your fees total annually?)
Clients with more risk tolerance and large portfolios may wish to hold individual stocks and bonds. With many years of experience in equity research and a Chartered Financial Analyst designation, CFC’s President, Jennifer J. Cole, CFA, MBA, is well-qualified to analyze such portfolios. We work with investors who enjoy actively-managing their own investments and want a seasoned professional by their side. Or perhaps you want us to provide a second opinion about your professionally-managed portfolio. Clients who do want active management of their stock or bond portfolios can be referred to appropriate asset managers who charge on a percent-of-assets basis. We receive no compensation from such referrals.
Cole Financial Consulting, LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser (New Mexico and Colorado), follows a fiduciary standard of client care. In addition, we do not take custody of client funds. Rather, we provide the advice clients need to make investment choices that support their long-term financial plans.
Regarding Retirement Income Planning: Everyone knows about the need to save for retirement. But it takes analysis and planning to determine how much is needed to retire, when you can afford to retire, when to take Social Security, how to structure a "portfolio in distribution", how and when to annuitize, and how much can be spent in each year of retirement. We can work with you to create both a long-range Cash Flow Plan (which addresses the big picture) and a nearer-term Retirement Income Plan (which looks closely at the specific source of income in each of the first few years of retirement). Our Retirement Income Plans cover all types of income solutions; we are not wedded to any one solution and we are not compensated differently based on what we recommend. (I.E. we do not sell insurance products, annuities, or investments; we do not accept or pay referral fees; we do not charge asset-under-management fees. We are compensated solely by you, for the advice we provide.) If you have not yet retired, we recommend that you create a retirement income plan before you make any retirement-related decisions.
Regarding Insurance: Unfortunately, bad things happen to good people. Insurance is needed to limit the impact of such risks. Yet buying insurance can be a daunting experience, and mistakes can be costly. As a New Mexico Licensed Insurance Consultant, we can evaluate your risk management needs, the policies you own, and the policies you might want to purchase. We can also evaluate the appropriateness of holding fixed and variable annuities in your investment portfolio. We are licensed for life, health, accident, and annuities. We can also assess your property/casualty needs. After our review of your risk management strategies and needs, we can refer you to quality insurance specialists who can match you with the right product.
Regarding Budgeting and Debt Management: A well-thought-out Personal Financial Plan requires a foundation of solid cash flow management. It is imperative that you be aware of your spending habits and how they relate to your long-term goals. Perhaps your debt levels are uncomfortable. Perhaps your savings are not accumulating as quickly as you would like. If so, we can help you set your spending and savings priorities to create lifestyle solutions, while showing you ways to organize your day-to-day finances.
Regarding Estate Planning: Everyone needs to be prepared. Proper planning ensures that your wishes are met, that your loved ones are taken care of, and that your estate is encumbered with as few legal and tax ramifications as possible. We can help you ascertain your needs and direct you to appropriate specialists to get your documents in order. In addition, we provide the financial education and guidance that heirs need to effectively preserve, grow and utilize their inheritances.