It’s a recurring theme for me: a potential client walks into the office looking for minor tweaking of their “financial plan” which consists of a mess of investments and no actual plan at all. This scenario is all too common in today’s complicated financial landscape, and it prompted me to create New Dimensions Wealth Management after more than 12 years in the industry. My new breed of financial planning firm is based on the principles of clarity, simplicity and transparency.
Clarity: A Financial Plan with Clear Objectives
Every client at New Dimensions starts with a financial profile which helps establish clear objectives for their financial future. Armed with this information, we design a plan for each client that goes far beyond investments and includes factors such as insurance, retirement, education and estate planning.
This comprehensive approach makes it easier to see past temporary economic distractions and maintain a sharp focus on long-term goals.
Simplicity: Total Market Investing
Investing is not hard; it’s also not the most important piece of the financial plan. Once the critical non-investment pieces of the plan are in place, low-cost passive investments are the tools we use to build a portfolio. We often tell clients not to invest your retirement savings in anything you can’t explain to a 5th Grader.
This emphasis on long-term financial planning over short-term investing noise is fundamentally different from the big banks and brokerage houses. We understand that it’s not possible for individuals, including the money managers of oversized and overpriced investment firms, to outsmart the collective intelligence of the market. Our simple and cost effective approach to investing with Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) investments is supported by decades of research and the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Transparency: Understanding the Cost of Investing
New Dimensions believes a comprehensive financial plan combined with a simple total market portfolio should be accessible and affordable. Often investors aren’t aware of the total cost of their investments because so much is hidden. But we want to talk about it, because a difference of one percent in fees can make or break a financial plan. Investors should demand a Fee-Only planner who is transparent with all fees.
People are inclined to make choices that are emotionally charged when the stakes are high, as in a bad economy or looming retirement, but a financial plan helps take the emotional aspect out of the equation. A written financial plan makes it so much easier to stay on track and achieve your financial goals.
Financial planning may not change your lifestyle, but it just might change your life. Are you ready to change yours? Get in touch, we’d love to help.
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