Who do you serve?

  • We provide our services to individuals, families, trusts, businesses, not-for-profit organizations and retirement plans who wish to pursue long-term goals based on our strategic approach to managing wealth.

 

Why do clients work with WS Wealth Management, LLC?

  • We use a consultative client relationship process. We listen. Through a series of initial and ongoing meetings, we develop a deep understanding of our clients’ financial challenges and then develop comprehensive solutions to address them.
  • We communicate with our clients regularly. Our clients value the unsolicited communication we provide. Remember, WS Wealth Management is a fee-only advisor. We do not have products to sell. We communicate frequently with clients because we value the long-term relationships we build with them and their families. With other “advisors,” you may only hear from them sporadically or when they have something new to sell. That is not the case with WS.
  • We are aligned with a national group of top independent advisors, The BAM ALLIANCE, who share our same philosophy. This relationship gives us access to consult with industry experts, low fees with custodians and fund providers, and access to one of the most respected fund companies in the world, Dimensional Funds.

 

How much does it cost to hold an initial discovery meeting with your firm?

  • There is no cost for our initial Discovery and Recommendation meetings. We feel it is time well spent to get to know one another before we seek a mutual commitment to establish a long-term advisory relationship.

 

How do you charge for your services?

  • WS Wealth Management is an independent, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm. WS is compensated based on a percentage of client assets we manage or by a fixed fee arrangement. We do not receive commissions or transactional-based compensation, ever. By remaining a strictly fee-only advisor, our interests are aligned with those of our clients’ and conflicts of interest are avoided.
  • Our fee structure is transparent, simple, and easy to understand.

 

What is the difference between a fee-only advisor, such as your firm, and a fee-based financial advisor?

  • A fee-based advisor charges a fee and also receives commissions or other forms of compensation for products they recommend or sell to you. Unlike the fee-based advisor, the fee-only advisor does not receive compensation from a brokerage firm, a mutual fund company, an insurance company, or anyone else. They only receive compensation from you for the advice they provide. In other words, fee-only advisors work for you and you alone.

 

Why work with a fee-only advisor?

  • When your advisor works for you alone, they have no incentive to recommend one investment or planning solution over another.
  • The fee-only advisor receives no commissions, finders' fees, trips, soft dollars, kickbacks, fancy dinners, or referral fees.
  • There are no hidden costs, no conflicts of interest, and no personal biases.
  • One hundred percent of a fee-only advisor's compensation comes from you. This compensation method helps assure you that your advisor is recommending what is best for your particular situation, not being tempted to recommend what pays them the best commission.

 

Do you have a minimum relationship size?

  • Generally, our minimum relationship size is $500,000 or more of investable assets. However, we do not strictly adhere to this minimum if clients have unique circumstances that would make their situation a good fit for our services such as future asset rollovers, contributions, inheritance, business or real estate sales, etc.

 

Where are the investments held?

  • WS Wealth Management does not maintain custody of client assets. The custodian for client assets is Charles Schwab Institutional. You will receive monthly statements and trade confirmations directly from Charles Schwab.

 

What happens to my current holdings if I become a client?

  • Before any changes are made, we first analyze your existing portfolio and discuss our recommendations with you. Our overall investment management goal is for your portfolio to make sense for you and your lifetime objectives in the most cost-effective way possible. We achieve this goal by capturing your unique willingness, ability, and need to take on market risk via appropriate diversification; to minimize the expenses involved in investing; to manage for appropriate asset location between taxable and tax-sheltered accounts, and to eliminate any unnecessary complexity within the collection of accounts within your portfolio. If existing holdings lend themselves to these objectives, we leave them in place. If changes are warranted, we work with you to ensure any transactions occur as smoothly and cost-effectively as possible.

 

I am contacting you because I heard you offer access to Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) funds. How do I learn more about DFA? What is your relationship with them?

  • DFA only offers its funds to institutions and independent, fee-only financial advisory firms like WS Wealth Management. DFA funds are not available to the general public. Our firm is proud to be among the select few advisory firms that have access to DFA funds. We often find that they provide the best vehicles for building portfolios that can be cost-effectively designed and managed to target your unique objectives through all types of market cycles. However, WSS does not receive any compensation for recommending DFA funds. Whenever we feel there is a better investment option for your particular needs, we use it.