Taxes

• Tax Planning
• Tax Services
  Beware: "financial advisers" who use tax preparation to identify and establish an affinity relationship with financial sales prospects.
• Income Tax

Investment

• Investment Management
  With respect to individual investment planning, retirement planning, comprehensive retirement/investment planning, I make every attempt, consistent with client cooperation, to keep my professional fees very reasonable, if not extremely competitive. Even my highest per hour fee is below the national average for these professional services.
• Mutual Funds
  Beware: The SEC allows Investment Advisor Representatives to call themselves fiduciary and/or fee-only despite selling in another capacity, having a direct or indirect relationship to a broker/dealer, insurance company or agency, or insurance agent, or the use of software provided by a mutual fund or insurance company.

Planning

• Financial Planning
  There is no clear definition as to what a “Financial Planner” is, much less what a fiduciary financial advisor is. There is no one trustworthy professional designation for financial planning or fiduciary. In many states anyone can call themselves a “Financial Planner” without having any professional training and without carrying any professional designations. Because there are no consistent licensing requirements for the various persons who call themselves "financial planners," the public has a critical need for a method of distinguishing the qualified and dedicated financial advisor. Unfortunately, there is no designation for giving fiduciary financial advice. All of the current designations, including the CFP and PFS, do not require sufficient education and are used by a variety of people to project expertise and often used by sales people or those with ethical conflicts of interest. Many CPAs have dropped the CFP to use the PFS, because they have conflicts of interest under the new CFP ethics code with respect to the use of the CFP in connection with an assertion of “fee only” services where, in actuality, conflicts exist.
• Retirement Planning
  Always consider the following questions: Does my “Financial Planner” really listen to me? Do they offer me realistic and academically, financially current strategies for Retirement Planning, Investments, Estate Planning and Asset Protection? Are they truly fee only? Do they they make fiduciary recommendations that help me meet my needs and goals in a cost effective and economically efficient process?
• Annuities
  In Illinois, the Illinois Department of Insurance refuses to enforce the Class 4 felony violation of CPA's or attorneys who are also Investment Adviser Representatives (investment, retirement, and estate planners) who obviously give insurance advice without an insurance license and then have another staff person, subsidiary, or related organization consummate the insurance “recommendation”. It is impossible to provide retirement, estate planning, or investment advise for retirement without reviewing and providing advice on insurance held by the client, insurance needs, lack of insurance need, or whether the insurance/annuities they have are expensive and inefficient. In Illinois, it is a Class 4 felony to give insurance advice without an insurance license. Consequently, I have an Illinois insurance license to render advice only as I have no desire to practice feloniously. I do not provide any financial products of any kind at any time in any capacity. I make recommendation and am paid for my professional time by the client only.
• Long Term Care
  Long-Term Care policies are efficient for only a few people who have a known illness (if they can get a policy or afford over time) or good health with a family history and are expensive.
• Asset Protection
• Reverse Mortgages
  A reverse mortgage is not generally desirable unless it provides, as a last resort, an otherwise unavailable but necessary source of monthly funds. It should always be in the name of both spouses. It needs to be carefully inspected for all fees (one time and continuing), the amount and term of payments, limited to the value of the house, and what happens at financial termination.