Hiring a firm, or trusting an individual within a firm, Financial Advisors in Boston, MA to invest and protect your money for retirement or wealth accumulation is a big decision. Knowing what asset management company or wealth advisory service to hire can be a tough decision to make. How do you know your money is in the right hands? How do you know about their fees and how it affects your retirement or savings long term? In the financial planning business, reputation is one thing. But the philosophy and how they go about managing your portfolio is much more important.
Many seek the advice of a financial planner to navigate sudden changes in life such as marriage, divorce, death or switching a career. Selling a business can often result in needing a new approach, with a good business broker and a financial planner needed to take the seller to the next level of success.
Every stage of life calls for a different approach to saving and planning. If one started investing at age 21, the needs of that person are drastically different than one who starts at 65 years of age. The approach, how aggressive the investment portfolio is and the current income of the different individuals, are all things to consider. Many options are available for those who wish to invest and plan for a final destination—whether it’s freedom from the work force or for a very comfortable eventual retirement. The success or failure to reach the ultimate destination largely depends on the firm chosen and the performance of their services. Let’s not forget that the political climate, the state of the economy and how dedicated the investor is at staying with the market ups and downs are factors that can impact the lifetime results of your long-term financial strength.
Financial planning can be accomplished in several ways. Signing up with an online do-it-yourself investment company is one way. Another is to hire an actual advisor. Both strategies come with their pros and cons.
An online do-it-yourself firm lets you do it without human advice and usually comes with a lower price or cost to invest. After all, another human is not paid for doing research or making transactions in the investment. The option of hiring a wealth manager or financial planner comes with higher costs, but proven to have more lucrative results. Analysts say you can anticipate 2% to 4% higher results when you have direct involvement of an active financial planner versus going it alone.
What Will That 2% or 4% Cost?
Hiring a financial planner comes with greater returns but at higher costs? At which point is it beneficial? To know that, it’s crucial to understand how your advisor makes money. It will determine how they work to make you money. Which means it is important to understand the various options and payment structures. Here are the most common choices:
Hourly: The investor is charged for time use on his behalf, regardless of assets.
Retainer: A scheduled (usually monthly or annual) fee makes the Financial Advisor available, on-call for the advisory services the retainer covers.
Flat fees: A set price for financial planning and asset management services. The fees have nothing to do with the amount of the investor’s account, big or small. It’s like ordering off a menu of services.
Commission: The financial advisor receives a percentage of the money spent buying high-performing investments, usually charged per transaction.
Asset management: The investor is charged a fee based on how much money is invested and fees usually are paid directly from the investor’s account.
If a financial advisor is less motivated to make you more money—for example, an hourly fee—that advisor is more likely to spend time on another account. They make more money the more investments and assets grow in an Asset Management account. But also be aware that conflicts of interest can arise, depending on the fee structure. For example, advisors in Boston might move money around needlessly if they get a flat fee per transaction. Taking a portion of the growth of the investment (commissions) may encourage more thoughtful transactions.
Financial Responsibility
How do you know an advisor isn’t pushing you into investments that benefit someone else’s interests more than your own? Be sure to ask a financial planner you plan to work with, “Do you have a fiduciary responsibility to my investments?” The question will tell you if he is licensed* or not. If he is, that means the financial planner must invest in your best interest first, even if it doesn’t benefit the financial planner. They are bound by ethics and regulations to do so. If the planner is not operating with a strict sense of fiduciary responsibility, he could lead you down a path that has more risk. But that riskier path can also offer a higher pay off for you, as well as him. Who can say which choice is better? It would be hard to determine. Safer? Or bigger and better results? Like anything else, depending on your unique situation, you may be wise to try it both ways to find which approach is better. The wisest course? Get to know your financial planner and make sure you feel comfortable with the road he or she has planned for you, tailored to the results you desire.
The following are the best financial planners in Boston, MA
Compass Planning Associates
Compass was founded by Jennifer Lane and has an expert team led by women, making it a stand-out in an industry where female financial advisors are historically underrepresented.
Compass Planning Associates is an independent, fee-only top financial advisor that works with all wealth levels. The firm welcomes anyone who needs friendly, expert help with financial goals, no matter the age, career status or bank account size. The firm gives personalized support to people of all economic statuses.
Individuals or families looking to save for retirement, fund a child’s education, or just gain financial security can count on this Compass Planning Associates to help. An advisor at Compass assists both individuals and families with detailed and tailored financial plans. Financial services include investment planning, strategic tax planning, financial planning, and debt, budget, and cash management. The firm also has expertise in generational wealth. Their experts can help families with a plan for transferring wealth to ensure heirs and the family fortune is not decimated with unnecessary taxes.
Compass Planning Associates works with businesses and can develop a portfolio that takes business needs into consideration and helps plan for a secure future. This top-rated firm offers support for businesses in a variety of areas, including employer retirement plans, lowering business costs, and setting up a succession plan.
As one of the best financial advisors in Boston, Compass Planning makes financial education a key focus. Its principals know informed investors make better financial decisions and offers Compass Money Wise Seminars that are purely educational.
Compass Planning is hands-on and stress-free and its team works to create a casual and friendly atmosphere for clients. They work to make the entire process less daunting and more positive. They promote portfolio building that’s completely customized and based on where a client is today and where they want to be tomorrow.
Compass Planning Associates
Three Post Office Square, Suite 602
Boston, MA 02109
Phone: 617-523-4666
compassplanning.com
Concierge Wealth Management
Established in 2004, Concierge Wealth Management is committed to serving the needs of families and individuals seeking independent, objective, comprehensive financial planning advice. It was founded on traditional values; hard work, loyalty, uncompromising quality, and personal services. Most clients have roots in the Boston area and the majority live within 15 miles of the waterfront office. Concierge Wealth Management is an independent financial services firm dedicated to assisting clients with their greatest financial concerns and the utmost goal is to provide customized strategies that grow with clients through the many milestones of life. The firm takes pride in knowing they help young professionals, growing families, and retirees pursue their financial dreams.
The firm is committed to abiding by a standard of ethics and values of the CFP® Board of Standards and the Financial Planning Association. Concierge Wealth Management’s financial advisors manage money and also, what they call True Wealth. True Wealth uncovers what is truly important in their clients’ lives and they are dedicated to taking clients along on this journey.
Financial Planning “done right” includes conversations about feelings about money, as much as it needs to include hard facts about money. Through professional knowledge, integrity and personalized wealth management service, the professionals at Concierge Wealth Management strive to provide “Financial Confidence” for clients about protecting income and preserving a legacy. All are critical elements that need to be woven into the planning conversation.
The firm’s goal is simple – to improve the lives of clients by delivering genuinely personal comprehensive financial planning. They believe there is a huge distinction between “Financial Planning” and “Investment Services.” If a current situation precludes someone from distinguishing the difference, they should consider a free consultation at Concierge Wealth Management.
Services to clients include: Retirement Planning/Analysis/Rollovers, Asset Management and Asset Allocation, Traditional, Rollover and Roth IRA’s, Insurance Planning and Needs Analysis, Portfolio Optimization and Investment Strategies, Estate Planning Strategies, Setting up a Small Business retirement plan, savings plans and education planning strategies. The firm uses the latest interactive video and conference technologies to work with clients and managing their client’s collective wealth is a foundational service provided to existing clients.
Concierge Wealth Management
346 Commercial St
Boston, MA 02109
(617) 600-4676
conciergewm.com
Beacon Wealth Advisors
Beacon Wealth Advisors, LLC was founded by Daniel Wallach and Jonathan Stearns. With over 30 years of experience between them, they joined forces to build a team of professionals dedicated to providing world class financial advice, client service and customized strategies.
Leveraging each of their strengths, the team specializes in creating unique strategies that address the complex wealth management issues, such as minimizing tax implications and effectively controlling the destination and purpose of wealth. The firm anticipates issues proactively, strategizes for best results and, above all, is committed to each client’s success. Clients always come first.
Beacon Wealth Advisors are highly experienced in the Financial Planning field and have a disciplined, proven investment process. They serve as fiduciaries and put client’s interests first. The firm is independently and locally owned and controlled by the Partners.
Beacon Wealth Advisors provide objective advice and do not offer proprietary products. Assets are safely maintained at an independent custodian. The firm’s fee structure is clearly defined and the team members each understand the firm’s purpose and are here to support clients and help them make sound financial decisions.
Beacon Wealth Advisors
1330 Beacon Street, Suite 355A
Brookline, MA 02446
(617) 731-1099
www.BeaconWealthLLC.com
Beyond Your Hammock
Beyond Your Hammock’s Eric Roberge, a CFP®, is the founder and his firm helps high-achieving professionals in their 30s and 40s by providing fee-only, fiduciary advice, investment management, and financial planning. They want to help clients realize their aspirations for a successful life and career and let them love every minute of the ride. Money shouldn’t drive the decisions people make about life but the life someone wants should drive the choices they make about finances. With 20 years in the financial industry, BYH has been through four major economic and market disruptions, as well as the longest bull market in history. But true wealth management is about making better financial choices or investing strategically to grow wealth. BYH shows clients how to leverage financial resources as tools for accomplishing what they actually want to accomplish throughout life.
The purpose at BYH is to support clients in making optimal financial decisions.
Beyond Your Hammock is an innovative, independent wealth management firm that provides fee-only financial planning advice and investment management. BYH‘s wealth management programs, give access to systems and financial planning processes that help create and grow net worth. The goal is to provide with the right strategy to maximize financial potential. The Financially Sound Program is an ongoing comprehensive wealth management system that helps plan, grow assets, and achieve goals – while still enjoying life today. The QuickStart Financial Plan gets clients started with a one-time consultation with an advisor to quickly address the client’s most pressing financial concerns.
Beyond Your Hammock believes in focusing in what you can control. That includes reducing expenses, diversifying portfolios, minimizing taxes, and staying disciplined. They can help!
Beyond Your Hammock
(978) 273-3135
beyondyourhammock.com
Ropes Wealth Advisors, LLC
Ropes Wealth Advisors was formed in 2013 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the global law firm Ropes & Gray LLP. Ropes Wealth Advisors does not have a set account minimum. The firm serves individuals, high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as their related entities like trusts and estates, pensions, profit sharing plans, charitable organizations and businesses. Despite employing several financial advisors, Ropes Wealth Advisors only has one certified financial planner (CFP) on staff.
Ropes Wealth Advisors believes that “each area of your financial life is part of a larger whole” and takes an integrated approach to wealth management, The firm’s financial planning services encompass cash flow and budgeting analysis; retirement planning; advice on corporate benefits programs; insurance analysis and advice; education planning and funding and family and charitable gift planning. The firm also assists with things like mortgage refinancing and long-term care planning. Ropes also coordinates with a client’s legal and tax advisors, as needed. Ropes Wealth Advisors’ takes a three-step approach to investing. The firm talks to clients understand their objectives, values and preferences. This information allows selection of a long-term strategy and asset allocation. A customized investment plan is developed.
Balance and diversification are key to consistent returns. Once the building phase is complete, the firm helps clients select fixed income, equity and alternative investments and then picks investments, based on fundamental analysis.
The final phase is to preserve. Risk management and disciplined long-term investing and strategies to minimize taxes keep investment plans on track, no matter the market conditions. Ropes routinely reviews and rebalances client portfolios to stay aligned with objectives.
Ropes Wealth Advisors, LLC
800 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02199
617 951 7531
www.ropeswealthadvisors.com
Modera Wealth Management
Modera was founded to build a culture where the firm’s professionals were always asking, “How can we do right by our clients and communities?” Guiding principals have been a set of shared values, rooted in transparency, integrity and the commitment to be always learning. The firm wants to make a positive and thoughtful impact. Its principals are culture carriers of the firm’s rigorous financial planning and investment management, technicians and highly responsive individuals who love what they do. They are a dynamic, diverse group of professionals that lead by example and find joy in guiding and inspiring others.
Modera believes that quality advice should be front and center in the financial advisory profession and that’s their goal. They want to be an alternative to the large banks and brokerage firms. They want to primarily focus on the needs of clients. Adopting a true fiduciary standard of care provides the best financial advice. Modera treats clients the way they would want to be treated. Transparency and truthfulness is the focus while helping each client develop and implement an attainable long-term plan that is supported by a durable investment portfolio. The firm takes an evidence-based approach to investing and won’t risk clients hard-earned wealth by chasing investment fads or predictions.
Modera is committed to hiring, retaining and promoting the best talent to produce a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. That creates a richer experience for all. The people of Modera are highly trained financial professionals with a wide breadth of industry experience and depth of expertise. A team approach makes certain that someone who understands a client’s needs is consistently available to them. Proactive guidance–with an aim to anticipate problems– develops responses before the problems, such as unforeseen life transitions, including divorce and widowhood, arise.
Our staff has earned some of the most reputable designations in the industry (CFP®, CFA®, CPA, PFS, JD, EA, CDFA®, CSNC) and the firm is 100% employee owned and operated. All owners are also advisors. They invest time and energy in forging deep, personal relationships and have a strong sense of personal accountability to clients.
Clients at Modera will enjoy a collaborative relationship with a team of financial specialists who are ready to address any needs, guide them around pitfalls and help clients live their best financial life.
Modera Wealth Management
535 Boylston St., Suite 300
Boston, MA 02116
415 723 5913
www.moderawealth.com
Levatus
LEVATUS is an innovative, female founded Wealth Services company whose mission is to unleash the power to flourish for each unique client. LEVATUS takes a holistic approach to wealth counsel and investment management and offers a suite of Signature LEVATUS Wealth Services.
Truly extraordinary outcomes require thinking big. Every LEVATUS process is designed to create clarity and connect financial strategy to quality of life in specific, direct and tangible ways. Ask more of your wealth.
The LEVATUS investment approach is straightforward, clear and process driven. Tangible connections between priorities, mission and strategy are the threads that bring purpose into the fabric of decision making for each client. Strategy meets quality of life at LEVATUS.
The team at LEVATUS is like a family. They stand for honesty, clarity, personal responsibility, curiosity, kindness, community and joyful rigor. They aspire to change lives. Deep and diverse experiences have given team members the tools needed to create an approach that asks more of wealth. Our strategy is Simplicity, Purpose, Meaningful Connections, Control and Living Fully. Extraordinary outcomes make the connection between wealth and wellbeing. The two are not automatic and do not happen by accident.
Levatus
129 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
617 505 4710
www.levatuswealth.com
Archer Bay Capital
Archer Bay Capital was established in 2018 to provide investment management services and to promote financial literacy. After more than twenty-five years managing portfolios for pensions, banks and a large insurance company, Terry C., the founder, started the firm to offer personalized financial planning and institutional-quality money management to individuals in a cost effective way.
Informed investors have the best chance of meeting financial goals. Archer Bay Capital has designed a program to provide clients with a financial framework tailored to their specific situation. The mission is to take the mystery out of investing and to help individuals learn what they need to know to become financially independent. Archer Bay Capital offers a choice of a flat fee financial plan with guidance on how to self-manage the portfolio, or full-service investment management for a quarterly fee.
Choosing Archer Bay Capital as an Investment Advisor means reviewing financial needs, then working together to meet short term and long term goals; opening an investment account or sometimes several accounts if different retirement and taxable accounts are appropriate.
Then Archer Bay Capital works with the client to create a unique, personalized investment plan. The firm’s financial planning services will specify the investment guidelines that are used for the portfolio.
Ongoing monitoring and regular reviews will answer questions and monitor progress or problems.
A well-designed plan should be stable and the firm strives to keep trading to a minimum to keep expenses as low as possible. Transparency in all: the planning process, the execution and the portfolio performance.
Archer Bay Capital
55 Commercial Wharf
Boston, MA 02110
(617) 453-8789
archerbaycapital.com
Solari Financial Planning
Michael Solari founded Solari Financial Planning in 2013 after working with an independent firm focused on high net worth individuals for a long time. He carved a niche working with physicians and engineers and realized it was time to strike out on his own. He established Solari Financial Planning, a fee-only financial planning firm from scratch.
Solari Financial Planning offers customized services on wealth accumulation and preservation and the company helps individuals and families build comprehensive plans for their economic future. Solari believes in fee-only planning because he feels the focus should always be on the client and what’s in their best financial interest. It’s fun to strategize together on the best ways to pay down debt, plan for retirement, or save on taxes. Seeing different opportunities open up for clients is always exciting as it sets them up for their brightest financial future.
Solari Financial Planning believes clients must be proactive to capture opportunities. But navigating a financial plan can be overwhelming. The firm guides clients through tough decisions and stays ahead of changes, as one decision impacts others. They help create a plan that is cohesive to each client’s life.
The firm’s process is straightforward. An Initial Financial Plan with 2-3 initial meetings that work on the client’s short and long-term savings, investments, taxes, insurance, company benefits, college planning, student loans, and estate plan. A Semi-Annual Review checks to ensure things are moving in the right direction. As Needed Meetings take care of unscheduled or unexpected life events, such as getting married or switching jobs? Solari Financial Planning meets with clients as things change quickly or just to answer questions. This is the firm’s proactive approach.
The firm also has a special focus on Gen X and Z, wanting to assist in getting them off on a good start. They belong to XY Planning Network, which is the leading organization of fee-only financial advisors who focus on working with X and Y clients.
Solari Financial Planning
10 Post Office Square, 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02109
(603) 471-3088
solarifinancial.com
Eaton Vance Investment Counsel
Eaton Vance Investment Counsel was formed in 2004 and is the successor of the investment counsel business of Eaton Vance Management–which has given investment advice since 1924. Eaton Vance Investment Counsel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp, which is a publicly owned corporation.
The firm is a fee-only wealth management firm offering personalized solutions and advanced investing, grounded in nearly a century of experience in Financial planning, Estate planning, Trustee services, Tax-efficient investment strategies, Active management, Systematic/Passive strategies, Responsible investing.
Eaton Vance offers both the “personalized high-touch service of a smaller firm” and the “resources of a financially sound, well-established corporation.” Eaton Vance Investment Counsel offers clients customized advice through a range of investment strategies and recommends specific investment strategies only after an investment counselor talks to a client about their investment growth objectives and financial situation.
Eaton Vance primarily relies on in-depth fundamental analysis to make investment decisions to build and preserve wealth, minimize taxes and meet individual client objectives. Eaton Vance Investment Counsel charges a percentage of a client’s portfolio income in addition to a percentage of assets under management and fixed fees. Investors could end up paying more in fees at Eaton Vance than at other firms on this list. But the firm’s clients include business owners, corporate executives, private foundations and very successful families who must consider higher fees worth the investment. Account minimums vary, depending on the investment strategy. Eaton Vance has a handful of chartered financial analysts (CFAs), certified financial planners (CFPs) and chartered investment counselors (CICs) on staff.
Eaton Vance Investment Counsel
2 International Place
Boston, MA 02110
866-331-6472
www.evwateroak.com
The team providing this Top Ten list believes smart people make smart decisions because they educate themselves on the choices they are preparing to make. We hope we’ve helped you become smarter about choosing a financial advisor that meets your unique and specific needs. We try to provide readers with up-to-date information that will help make those good decisions. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the information we’ve provided and learning about some of the choices for Financial Advisors in the Boston, MA area.
No content is intended to constitute professional advice. This content is not responsible or liable for any consequences relating directly or indirectly to any action you take or fail to take based on the information provided. It is very important to do your own analysis, based on your own personal circumstances, before making any investment. Consult with your own investment, financial, tax and legal advisers. Readers agree to indemnify and hold harmless the providers of this information, from and against any and all liability, losses, claims, demands, disputes, damages or costs of any kind.
Searching For A Business Broker?
Peterson Acquisition is rated #1 among all business brokers in the nation!
If you have any questions on our top 10 lists, please contact Chad Peterson to discuss partnership opportunities.