FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
We always start with a Pre-Discover Session. It's a short 15 minute phone call or webinar. If it makes sense to you, we'll schedule a Discover Session. At the end of our Discover Session, we will know if it makes sense to work together and which service level makes sense. We will decide between Your Personal Wealth Solution or Your Identity Alignment SolutionTM. YOUR PERSONAL WEALTH SOLUTION: Discover what you are presently doing. Looking and listening beyond the data, we may Discover opportunities for greater financial success and uncover financial leaks. Eight out of ten are leaking money unknowingly and unnecessarily – either personally, in their business or both. By plugging those leaks, you may Discover you can retire earlier with more money. You may also pay less for college, improve investment performance and protection for yourself, family and/or your business, reduce fees and taxes and pass more on to your heirs. Understand how to plug financial leaks and reduce risk; how financial leaks and losses hurt you more than gains ever help you. Understand how some strategies limit your ability to grow wealth. Understand efficient ways to buy real estate, structure your business, pay for large capital items, pay for your children’s education – all in ways to avoid huge financial leaks that may ultimately cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime, and so much more. Choose the best solution for you. Without discovery and understanding it is difficult to Choose. Therefore, we invest whatever time is necessary to help you make good financial choices. After all, you are ultimately responsible for those choices and should never be rushed. Financial advisors should be held to the highest legal fiduciary standard, which means always acting in the best interest of their client – no exceptions. Implement Your Personal Wealth Solution, when you are ready. We are your accountability and implementation partner to get everything done right. Whether you are building wealth or have already accumulated substantial wealth, it is our privilege to help you create Your Personal Wealth Solution. YOUR IDENTITY ALIGNMENT SOLUTIONTM: To help you take everything to a much higher level, we created a program called Your Identity Alignment Solution™. This program is not for everyone. However, if you want to talk about your life in addition to your money, want your resources aligned with your true identity, want to make a difference with your resources, are willing to take time for much deeper conversations about who you really are, willing to explore the relationship you have with and to money, you like working with professionals and planning for the future, then you might be interested in Your Identity Alignment Solution™. We created Your Identity Alignment Solution™ based on our experience working with hundreds of clients over three decades. We’ve learned that many people have put their dreams [some personal, some professional] on a shelf and labeled them unattainable. However, by creating a plan that is aligned with who they truly are, with understanding about the relationship they’ve had to and with money, those dreams become viable. We help you identify false thinking that limits break through to a more fulfilling and enjoyable life. Additionally, we find that many get into trouble because they listen to “cookie-cutter” thinking and act on common knowledge. This is information and ideas commonly held, but not necessarily right for their personal situation. We call this The Common Knowledge Trap. When you fall into this trap, you are likely to “leak” a lot of money, have unknown risk and therefore not enjoy your life to the fullest. That’s why we recommend you do three things: 1. Honestly assess your current situation. What’s working and what isn’t? 2. Get greater clarity about who you really are and what you want out of life. We call this Your Identity Truth. 3. Develop an integrated plan to achieve Your Identity Truth with regard to • your family, business or work-life, and lifestyle • passing on your desired legacy • properly structured legal documents, financial products and services So, what is resonating with you? Your Personal Wealth Solution? Your Identity Alignment Solution™? That’s what we’ll figure out during your Discover Session. What does it cost to hire EWS? Here’s our fee structure: $2,500 Your Personal Wealth Solution $4,000 Your Identity Alignment SolutionTM you can also add college planning for an extra $650 as a business owner, add an extra $600 to review your business, which of course is tax deductible Do we have to pay all at once? No. We receive a $500 down payment plus any add on you need. Then we create: a Secure Client Portal for you so that: all of our document sharing stays encrypted; you have access to your data in a way that creates clarity about what’s possible you can clearly see what your beneficiaries will inherit need a net worth statement, it’s a click away and so much more
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
Our clients love our 4-Step Process. 1. DISCOVER new insights into what you are presently doing. Looking and listening beyond the data, we may Discover opportunities for greater financial success and also uncover financial leaks. Eight out of ten individuals, families and/or businesses are leaking money unknowingly and unnecessarily. By plugging those leaks, you may Discover you can retire earlier and with more money; pay less for college; reduce taxes and pass more to your heirs. 2. Understand how financial leaks and losses hurt you more than gains could ever help you. Understand how to plug those financial leaks and reduce risk. Understand how some strategies limit your ability to grow wealth. Understand ways to buy real estate, pay for large capital items, pay for your children’s education in ways that avoid huge financial leaks that may ultimately cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. 3. Without discovery and understanding it is difficult to Choose. We invest whatever time is necessary to help you make good financial choices. You are ultimately responsible for those choices and should never be rushed. Financial advisors should be held to the highest legal fiduciary standard, which means we must always act in the best interest of their client – no exceptions. 4. When it’s time to Implement your personal solutions, we are your accountability and implementation partner to get everything done right. Whether you are building wealth or have already accumulated substantial wealth, it is our privilege to help you create your personal wealth solution.
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
Money isn’t everything, but it can be the difference between dreams and disappointment. When I finished high school, I dreamed of being a doctor. I wanted to help heal people, but that dream wasn’t to be. My parents didn’t have a dime to put toward my college. Because they didn’t have enough, it was just a dream they assumed I could do without. Achieving that dream without financial guidance took years. It was five years before I could get into pre-med at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and shortly after I started, I met my first husband, got pregnant, and saw my dreams drift away again. Before I knew it, I was a single mom with two kids and no college degree, still trying to find a way to help people and take care of my family. Reaching Retirement Dreams Takes Creative Thinking Retirement is expensive. Even if you’ve done very well throughout your career, you still need help finding the best strategies to protect your dreams. Far too often, I hear stories of people who had to put off retirement for years or make terrible concessions to get by. But retirement doesn’t have to involve compromise or sacrifice. To achieve the golden years of your dreams, you need to work with someone who really gets you and what you want, knows the system, understands all the options, and puts your goals first.