- Forness Financial

We believe you should be able to access your money at any time. Hopefully, you’ll never need all of your money at once, but you never know what is around the corner. You may not need your money, but you may need to get out of the market, have an investment opportunity, rebalance your portfolio, etc. All of these changes require liquidity. Liquidity also ensures you are never locked in to working with us. At any time, for any reason, you can take your money elsewhere without being charged a fee.

In order to maintain flexibility and liquidity, it is important to avoid investment products that restrict how much you can take out and when (i.e. annuities).

Flexibility

Life is constantly changing and you need to be able to change with it. Anyone can give you a snap shot of what your retirement looks like today, but that assumes nothing ever changes (life events, interest rates, tax rates, market returns, etc.) The reality is those things are changing every day and you need to be able to change with them. That is why we are continuously working with our clients to adjust to these changes and ensure they are making the most of their money.

Retirement income specialists

Norm and Ryan are retirement income specialists. For our clients who are approaching retirement, we analyze their situation to figure out what size portfolio it will take to produce the income they need to sustain them throughout their retirement. Then we put a plan together to get them there. For our retired clients, we work with them on building a retirement income portfolio to produce the income they need that will last throughout their retirement.

Fiduciary

As an RIA, Forness Financial is held to a higher standard than many financial advisors or firms. In the investment field, there are two primary parties who are able to offer investment advice. These parties are investment advisors and investment brokers who work for brokers-dealers. Many clients may consider the investment advice they receive from each party similar, but there is a key difference. The difference pertains to two competing standards that advisors and brokers must adhere to, and the distinction has important implications for individuals who hire outside financial assistance.

Registered investment advisors are held to a fiduciary standard that was established as part of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. The standard requires the advisor to put their client’s interests above their own. The act is specific in defining what a fiduciary means, and it stipulates that an advisor must place his or her interests below that of the client. It consists of a duty of loyalty and care, and simply means that the advisor must act in the best interest of his or her client.

Investment brokers who work with a broker-dealer only have to fulfill a suitability obligation. Instead of having to place his or her interests below that of the client, the suitability standard only details that the advisor has to reasonably believe that any recommendations made are suitable for clients, in terms of the client’s financial needs, objectives and unique circumstances. A key distinction in terms of loyalty is also important, in that a broker’s duty is to the broker-dealer he or she works for, not necessarily the client served.

RIA

Forness Financial is a pure Registered Investment Advisory firm. Some RIAs are hybrid firms. Therefore, they can offer fee-based advice and make commissions on the products they sell. At Forness Financial, we do not and cannot make commissions from investment products because we are a pure RIA. This makes our fee-based structure transparent and easy to understand. It also gives us incentive to grow and manage your assets properly. See below for more information on our fees. Click here to learn more about the benefits of working with an RIA.

Personalized service

At Forness Financial, you deal directly with either Norm or Ryan. Each client’s financial plan and recommendations are based on their particular situation and tailored to fit their needs. We create custom portfolios for each client because each client is unique in their goals, risk tolerance, retirement income need, tax situation, timeframe, etc.

Our size

Perhaps our biggest attribute is our size. We are a small firm by design. This allows us to tailor each client’s recommendations based on their individual needs, and maintain the high level of service our clients deserve and have come to expect. Your interactions will always be with either Norm or Ryan. You will never be assigned to a junior advisor or an assistant. When you call, you will speak with one of us. When you receive a call or email, it will be from one of us.

Transparency on all costs

At Forness Financial, we believe our clients should know exactly what they are paying. We are upfront with all costs and review them regularly with our clients.

Total Costs

At Forness Financial, we keep your total costs low so you can keep more of what you make.

All of our services are covered on a fee basis (click here to see fee schedule). We never charge per meeting or by the hour. Services covered in total cost include financial planning, retirement planning, retirement income planning, tax planning*, social security maximization planning, education planning, risk management, and estate planning*. Please see our service page for more details on each service.

The total costs are made up of the two areas discussed above. The fee we charge for our services and the investment costs built into investment vehicles (i.e. mutual funds, ETFs, managed accounts, etc.). You will not have any additional fees beyond the asset-based and investment fees discussed above (i.e. trading fees, account maintenance fees, etc.).

Low cost, institutional-level investments

We offer institutional-level pricing on mutual fund shares and ETFs which can be significantly lower than traditional retail shares. Paying too much in fees and expenses is a guaranteed way to lower your long-term returns. By using low cost index ETFs as core investments and institutional-level mutual funds to build around this core, we are able to keep your costs down. In addition, we do not use any higher cost commission based products (i.e. Annuities).