That’s an entirely reasonable question! Shocking to both my parents and my partner, I am apparently fascinated by personal finances, retirement planning, tax planning and investment management. And if you are considering getting a financial advisor, this might seem odd to you as well. But I assure you that mere interest in these topics wasn’t enough for me to jump through the various regulatory hoops and start a business in the “financial advisory” industry, particularly in light of the (entirely well-earned) reputation of financial advisors as… (well, on second thought, let’s just leave that to your imagination). Instead, a major motivation for me was seeing my mother’s retirement planning (or lack thereof), and then recognizing that she was not that dissimilar from a myriad of other accomplished and intelligent professionals that I know. For my mother, a pediatrician who started and ran a successful independent medical practice, everything turned out “fine”; despite the fact that she did not contribute to retirement accounts unless I specifically reminded her for that tax year. But she also was sold, as her primary retirement vehicle, some sort of “Universal Variable Life Policy” that, in my opinion, was completely inappropriate for her retirement and tax planning needs.

And fundamentally, I believe that many other accomplished and intelligent professionals, particularly physicians and attorneys, are at risk of ending up like my mother (“fine” but nowhere close to where they should have been). Worse, along the way to “fine”, they will pay too many fees and endure too much stress or uncertainty. These professionals have been ill-served by the financial industry despite their high income and potential planning needs. Not under-served, of course, as there are countless financial advisors, stockbrokers and salespeople (life insurance and annuities, primarily) who are all too eager to work with highly paid professionals, and especially those professionals that are too busy, too comfortable or too focused on their profession or their business to spend time or energy on personal finances and/or changes in tax laws.

Accordingly, a few unfortunate situations can frequently arise. For example, a professional pays an exorbitant fee for a once yearly conversation with a financial advisor who adds little value. Or, perhaps wary of financial advisors and the vicissitudes of the market, the professional does basically the bare minimum (e.g. savings accounts with hundreds of thousands of dollars or more). Then, of course, another option is that the professional charges in, guns blazing, to the market but realizes only much later that (i) they have missed several great opportunities to simplify and optimize their savings or (ii) worse yet, their individual stock picking has significantly under-performed the market as a whole. And irrespective of whether any of those situations sound like someone you know, there are many professionals who simply need additional assistance from a trusted advisor at a fair price, but haven’t found the level of trust or correct value among the advisors they have run across.

My goal is not to “beat the market” and I am not trying to make you fabulously wealthy. You are (going to be) wealthy, though perhaps not fabulously so, because you are talented and have been (or will be) rewarded for those talents. My goal is to be the trusted advisor who understands you and your family’s situations, and will be there to help you avoid mistakes, efficiently deploy capital, minimize/reduce your total tax burden, and plan for the day when you decide to transition into whatever the next stage holds. Even if that is continuing your career from a position of financial independence, going part time, or devoting yourself to substantially more charitable or pro bono endeavors.

So why am I doing this? Because there are a lot of smart and interesting people who need help with finances, and I want to help them, so that they can focus on the more interesting and rewarding things in their lives! Also, on a personal note, clearly I am still angry that someone sold my mother, a smart and incredibly caring pediatrician, a Variable Universal Life Policy as her primary retirement vehicle. (Did I mention I am fee-only? No performance fees, no commissions, no complicated insurance or annuity sales pitches.)