How do you choose your investments? Are you just looking for the highest return? Or the lowest expense?

Talk about the importance of having experience in your corner! 

Historically trying to pick the next stock “winner” does not pay off in the long run, and index-based mutual funds typically outperform actively managed funds over longer periods of time. For those reasons, we invest primarily in Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) mutual funds/EFTs. These funds/ETF are based on years of academic research and provide low-cost and tax-efficient global diversification.

We also utilize some investments funds offered by Charles Schwab & Co., as well as Vanguard funds.

It is a common misconception that, once investments are chosen, they can “drive themselves.” While this is possible, it often leads to overexposure to risk or missed opportunities during market fluctuations.

That’s where we come in…

We actively maintain your portfolio by rebalancing with market fluctuations. By buying stocks to take advantage of lower prices when markets significantly decline and selling stocks to trim profits as market rise, we keep your portfolio in line with your target stock/bond allocation.

The best part? We act as your fiduciary, so you don’t even have to think about the market fluctuations. You can focus on living your best life, and we can sweat the small stuff for you!

Our goal is to prioritize tax-efficiency in every aspect of financial planning and portfolio management. 

As detailed above, we utilize tax-efficient and low-cost investment funds. Further, we employ the following strategies, among others:

• Allocating fastest growing investments to Roth accounts to maximize tax-free growth, and allocating more of your bond allocation to traditional IRAs subject to the highest tax rate.
• Avoiding the sale of stocks in taxable accounts until a one-year holding period is reached to take advantage of lower tax rates. If you own an investment with a very low cost basis, we won’t force the sale of that investment to fit within our allocation, but rather can gradually trim the position or use it to fulfill any philanthropic goals that you have.
• Harvesting capital losses during market downturns by switching investment funds in an effort to reduce taxes.
• Detailing accumulation strategies while employed to maximize Roth funding.
• Exploring decumulation strategies while retired to utilize the lowest possible tax brackets throughout retirement with the goal of lowering your cumulative tax liability over time.

Our advisors have access to detailed tax planning software and are willing to provide scenario analysis and loss harvesting strategies to our investment management clients. We can also proactively work with your accountant to make sure that your team of financial professionals is on the same page.

While our job is to sweat the small stuff for you so that you can live “in the now,” we also want to keep an open line of communication with you so that you are always on board with our process.

In our regular meetings, we can provide performance and allocation charts, as well as market performance and strategy updates, giving you confidence that we’re doing our job the way you want us to. 

As mentioned above, we act as a fiduciary, which means we are responsible to act in your best interest in all aspects of investment management. We take our responsibility very seriously.

EFP is strictly a fee-only investment firm. We are compensated directly and only by our clients for ongoing investment management or financial advice. We never receive compensation in any form for investment product recommendations or professional referrals. This allows us to keep your best interests at heart and offer you unbiased advice.

What makes us different?

At EFP, we are transparent with what we charge. We provide quarterly statements that include the fees you were charged for the quarter, as well as the total you have paid over the life of your investment management relationship with us. 

Here is a link to access our Form ADV and Client Relationship Summary.

Our Fee Schedule 

EFP investment management fee is a tiered schedule as follows*:

* Clients with investments of less than $500,000 may be subject to a minimum annual investment management fee of $3,250.  This fee may be waived in certain circumstances, such as anticipated future deposits, financial planning fees paid, or a decline in AUM due to market conditions.  Investment management fees may be higher when out of state travel is involved, may be waived or discounted at EFP’s sole discretion, and are not charged on EFP employee accounts. The fee schedule for clients prior to 2019 may differ from above as outlined in their Investment Advisory Agreement.