I am a CPA that does not do taxes or attestations.
My practice is one of Investment Advisory, Financial Planning, Insurance Consultation, and Independent Fiduciary Services.
I charge flat fees and use engagement letters. No charge for initial meeting. I will also consult for $250/hr. Go to fredmyerscpa.com for copies of fee schedule and engagement letters.
No Sales. No authority over accounts. Just advice.
I also serve as an Independent Fiduciary in certain situations, as a Trustee of
a Trust, or Executor of an Estate.
For each of my Investment Decision Management clients, I first build a Personal Finacial Model that provides me with the client's "big picture", and update it each year. This allows me to project the client's lifetime cash flows under a variety of assumptions, scenarios, and monitor progress over time. The PFM is very useful in projecting for the client when they can stop working, and when their money runs out, given a specfied standard of living. The PFM also gives me, the Advisor, a good handel on how much risk a client's investment portfolio needs to take.
I then aggregate investment account information onto a single page, and manage asset allocations in the aggregate, using no-load, low cost mutual funds and ETFs. I manage them on a quarterly basis with comparisons to their peergroups.
I typically meet each quarter with clients to review their portfolios. I prepare for them a recommendation memo regarding any specific action items.
... moreless ...