Looking for a local financial planner?

When thiking about reitrement, investments, and the stresses that come with money, a lot of people turn to the same place they go to get most of their services…google.

When googling “local financial planner” or “fiduciary financial planner near me” investors will often be directed to financial planner that look local, but in reality have their home base (and business model) based on Wall St.

According to Fidelity Institutional, only about 5% of financial planners are fee only fiduciaries.  While that number has most likely changed since the original study, most financial planners are about as “local” as they are fiduciary.

So if someone looks for “fiduciaires in Sammamish” or “Issaquah financial planners” why are they often directed to companies that are neither local or fiduciaries?  The simple answer is that Wall St figured out a ong time ago how to market those two (desireable) things to individuals.

Related: How to Choose a Financial Advisor 

Benefits of a local advisor.

With the rapid adoption of video conferencing, Capital Partners advisors can sit in their office in Issaquah, WA and meet with people across the country.  And, honestly, we love our clients from all places.  But there is something about working with people where you live.  Being able to jump on I-90 and visit a client in Snoqualmie, or fight the I-90/Hwy 18 interchange and visit a client in Maple Valley feels different than helping someone over video.

When clients from Bellevue, Kirkland, or Woodinville just have to take a quick (haha) trip down 405 to go meet their fiduciary in Issaquah, they like the ability to drop in and say high, check on their accounts, and keep gonig out I-90 to Snoqualmie to the river, or to a legendary doughnut shop in Maple Valley.

Practically, a fiduciary financial planner who lives where you do will be personally familiar withthiings like:  local tax rates (and how to plan for the shfiting tax environment), local cost of living, how to plan for local needs, wants, and goals.

Related:  How to maximize your retirement income.

Ingrained in the local community.

With its home base in Issquah, WA, Capital Partners and its advisors are members of their community.  Our marketing, taxes, and personal lives all revolve around where we live.  Between spoonsoring the local Sammamish lacrosse team, having realtives in Snoqualmie, WA, and growing up driving all over Bellevue, Woodinville, Sammamish, Maple Valley…..Capital Partners has its financial planning and fiduciary roots right here.

The owner of this fiduciary financial planning firm was a police officer in the City of Everett but has lived in Redmond, WA, Sammamish, Issaquah, and Snohomish WA.  After transitioning to his fiduciary financial planning practice Chris Reid moved to within a 1/4 mile of where he grew up on Pine Lake and began helping his local Sammamish community start planning for their retirement.

Local Retirement planning and real fiduciaries.

As a fee only fiduciary financial advisor Capital Partners Wealth management takes it obligations to its clients seriously, and has a business model that means we only do better when our retirement planning, investment management, and long term care planning.

We know that if your are planning on staying near your family in Maple Valley, we need to plan for passive retirement income somewhere near Snoqualmie, Issaquah, or Sammamish (or Cle Elum for a little less damp weather.)

Retirement planning for living in Bellevue is going to look different than financial planning for someone who wants to live in rural Woodinville.  Being a real fee only fiduciary for someone in Issaquah is different than being a fiduciary for someone who lived between Covington and Enumclaw.

Beyond investment management.

While Capital Partners has a proven track record of excellent fiduciary investment managment for peoplr looking to plan for their retirement, we take into account financial planning needs beyond money management.

We know that after retirement, our clients will most likely want to age near their families.  And if their families live near Sammamish, WA, their long term care expenses will be significant.  As fidcuiaires we have an obligation to plan for our clients retirement and final years living around their fmailies in Issaquah, Woodinville, Redmond, or Kirkland.  Because we have deep knolwedge about long term care planning, we are able to not only help our retirement planning clients create passive income for their lifestyle, we know who to put in place the insurance needed to make sure that long term care expenses don’t evicerate a financial plan and stress out a family.

Related:  Check our free long term care planning tips here.

Local financial planner, local tax planning.

Being founded in Sammamish, WA and with a home base in Issaquah, WA, Capital Partners knows how the State of Washington is an insatiable tax vacuum.

With the highest death tax in the country, we know that tax planning goes hand in hand with bring a fiduciary financial planner.  We know that when our clients pass on their assets from their finaicial plan to their families, even if they are spread around the greater Sammamish area, there will be tax implications.

We love to help local Issaquah residents avoid dropping a tax bomb in their kids financial plan.  When people pass on their children are often in this highest earning years.  When they pass on pre-tax money to those kids (often Microsoft, Amazon or other highly paid workers with their own fiduciary financial planning needs) the tax implications are huge.

When planning on passing on assets and reducing unnecesary taxes for those kids living in Maple Valley, Snoqualmie, Issaquah or Sammamish, we know that a sold financial plan, along with tax minimization techniques, can have a huge impact on the amount those who inherit money have to pay.

Things like Roth converstions, DAFs, and other insurance planning can maximize the amount of invesments that are passed from one financial plan to another.

Things to look for in a local financial planner.

When looking for a finaical planner it is important to cut through the marketing and hype and get down the the details.

Questions you need to ask when deciding who to help you with your financial planning and retirement planning needs:

Do NOT ask if they are a fiduciary, instead ask if they can make commissions on investments.

Ask if they have any specialized tools like alternative investments, structured notes, real estate, or insurance strategies.

Ask what their income strategies are.

Ask what their safe money for retirement stratgies are.

Ask about any additional fees you may incur throughout the year.

Ask if their firm is a subsidary of a larger organization, or if they are truly independent.

Ask if they are an investment advisor only, or if they are a broker at all.

The questions to these can reveal if they are your friendly neighborhood Wall St extension, or if they are really an independent local fiduciary financial advisor.

Capital Partners Wealth Managment local roots.

People often have a financial planner in near where they live, but that office may be headquartered on the other side of the country.  For folks looking for fiduciaries and financial planners near Sammamish, it doesn’t get much more local than Capital Partners.

The founder of this Sammamish, WA financial planning firm grew up on Pine Lake, went to Pine Lake Middle School, and graduated from Issaquah High School.  As a fiduciary and someone who is ingrained in his local community, Chris Reid believes people deserve to work with someone in their area.

While meeting with a financial planner in person is no longer necessary, it does provide a level of understanding that is hard to achieve over video conference.  Located in Issaquah, WA Capital Partners’ location allows clients in Issaquah, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Maple Valley, Bellevue, and Woodinville easy access to a fiduciary who they can work with to help set their investing stresses aside.

When meeting for a cup of coffee (or having a cup in the Issaquah office) clients find that financial planning stresses start to dissolve as a retirement plan comes together.  Having the right investments that fit into a financial plan lets clients know that their fiduciary can guide them through their retirement with peace of mind.

Reach out to Capital Partners with any questions, take a retirement quiz, and look forward to stress free local financial planning.