Our Process

At this stage, we will get to know your individual situation and what is most important to you.  We will ask you to tell us your most important personal goals as well as financial goals.  We want to know how you feel about money, your family, your life.  What did you learn about money growing up, and if you have children, what do you want them to learn about it from you?  What will your situation look like in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years and longer for you to look back and say it’s been a success?  What will it look like for you to reflect and say that working with us has improved your life? 

In this step, we will work with you to gather the facts regarding current properties, investments, employee benefits, insurance, liabilities, retirement plans, legal/estate documents, and so forth as your situation dictates.  We will discuss how you feel about risk, and determine reasonable expectations for returns over the short- and long-term.  We will ascertain the time horizon for various different categories (we like to call them buckets) of assets.  We will help you crystallize your goals and to prioritize them.

Here is where Cadence goes to work, with the financial information we have learned about you, to “leave no stone unturned.”  We comb through all the details, and add our own resources and experience to sift through the information looking for missed opportunities, unknown risk factors, available improvements, and concepts and strategies which are not yet being deployed. 

Now all the data and details and potential improvements come together into a coordinated and understandable plan.  Many times, this is the first time a holistic look has been taken, and it is exciting to see it all come together into a cohesive plan, one that takes into account the appropriate amount of growth/risk, the necessary attention to the “what if’s” that life will bring, the maximization of opportunities to avoid or reduce taxes, to make the most of employer-offered plans of all types, and to accomplishing your most important goals in a predictable way. 

We will educate you to whatever level of detail you desire on various options, and then make recommendations as to which course to take based on our understanding of your goals, resources, feelings about risk, time horizon, and every other factor that we have learned about you, your family, and your circumstances. 

Since a plan can only help you accomplish your goals if it is implemented, we will not simply leave you to contend with a myriad of recommendations and instructions, but instead assist you in the actual implementation of the steps on which you choose to take action.  We will work together with other advisors when needed, for example your CPA and attorney, to make things happen in a smooth and productive manner.  Then we will continue to monitor all aspects of your plan, adjusting strategies as need be when your life, your goals, or the economy change over time.