Why Are We Doing This?
Kastler Financial Planning was born because of what I was experiencing in the financial services sector…Years ago, I was looking for unbiased financial advice. I couldn’t find it. Questions went unanswered. Over the last 20 years, in both an informal and professional capacity, I found that many others were in the same situation. Maybe you have similar questions or concerns:
- What’s in my investment portfolio (and why)?
- How long will my portfolio last? What’s the best withdrawal strategy?
- What is in my company’s Retirement Plan and what is the ideal pension option?
- What happens with my Stock Plan or executive compensation?
- How do I turn my asset base into a retirement income strategy?
- When should I turn on Medicare and Social Security?
- Exactly what advisory fees am I paying (and why)?
These real-life retirement questions and concerns that turned into a stirring, a passion, and then a ‘calling’ that eventually became Kastler Financial Planning in 2015. Our founder (see meet Mike Kastler) prepared for years before launching his vision to help people with their retirement planning needs.
Kastler Financial Planning is on a Mission!
Unique to our firm, we have developed the following “5 T’s” of foundational principles:
- Transparency in our fees and contracts
- To be Timely in our responses to you
- Teach with the heart of a teacher
- To be Thoughtful with every Plan creation, as though it was our own
- Being Thankful for the opportunity to serve you
We strive for all this with every client, while providing safe and secure Client Experience and Finishing well in all we do.
Our Value Proposition to You
We Help you Visualize your Retirement Possibilities with an in-depth analysis of your current financial situation. Using our software and your goals, we provide retirement projections for multiple scenarios in our “live review” sessions. We make observations, recommendations and provide a written summary of your Plan. Optionally, we can assist with the implementation and monitoring.
Additionally, you will have 24/7 access to your financial dashboard from the convenience of your home. Here you can view all your accounts aggregated in a single dashboard, always knowing how your accounts are performing. Optionally, you can set up your retirement budget and track spending.
We provide all of this as a fiduciary, fee-only, and advice-only financial planning services firm with a transparent fee-for-service contract. No commissions or AUM fees.
How Kastler Financial Planning is Different
A key differentiator is that transferring your assets to us is not required. We provide an unbiased financial planning and retirement planning advice regardless of where you hold your money, even if you already have a financial advisor.
Secondly, as a fiduciary, we provide Advice-Only financial services on a fee-only basis. We are legally bound and financially incented to put your best interest before our own. That means that you, the client, are our only source of revenue. There are no commissionable products or services that we provide.
Additionally, as Advice-Only, we do not perform investment management with the traditional “Assets Under Management” (AUM) fee. See our Investment Management webpage.
Finally, we only handle a small number of select clients. We do this to provide a very personalized and professional client experience. Our aim is to be as thorough as possible in learning about you, your current financial situation, and your life aspirations.
I believe everyone should have access to reasonably priced financial advice without the bias of product sales or commissions
If you’ve been fortunate to accumalate a large asset pool, you shouldn’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars PER YEAR to have someone manage it.
Our “7 C’s” Business Model
Importantly, we have introduced our “7 C’s” in how we conduct our business differently…
Christ-centered
We are Christ-centered in all that we do and treat everyone with respect, regardless of your faith or other beliefs.
Consultancy
First and foremost we are a Financial Planning consultancy and not a sales organization. As a consultancy, we have built a strong foundation on education, meaningful industry designations, alliance with professional organizations, and use 3rd party providers when needed.
One of our key differentiators as a consultancy is that we bill you for the services received, either on a project basis, an hourly rate, or a set fee for investment management. We work with you to determine the best fee model for you, based on your needs.
Collaboration
Collaborative Financial Planning is at the forefront of everything we do. Collaborative, meaning “to work together in a joint intellectual effort.” We collaborate with you throughout the entire planning process:
- Discovery – Getting to know you and your financial situation before we begin any analytical work
- Analysis work – The software is very powerful and lets you visualize various scenarios during our “live review” sessions. There are several 1-2 minute videos showing our Financial Planning Software capabilities here.
- Live Review meetings will help open your eyes to your ideal retirement scenario!
- Written Plan – Once we jointly agree on the best financial scenario for your situation, we deliver a written Financial Plan or Retirement Plan that you can build on for years to come.
Client Principles at Kastler Financial Planning
In every client engagement, we follow the 7 Principles of Financial Planning established by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.’s Code of Ethics. These principles include:
- Integrity
- Objectivity
- Competence
- Fairness
- Confidentiality
- Professionalism
- Diligence
Continuing Service
This business is all about you and we want a continuing relationship with you! We do not want to just develop your Initial Plan and then throw you back to the “asset gatherers” in the financial services industry.
We strongly encourage a Continuing service relationship with On-Going Financial Planning services to keep your Plan fresh and on-target with your goals. Things change quickly in the financial world and life events can significantly alter the projections in your Initial Plan. A quarterly check-point and detailed annual review are appropriate to ensure you are on track.
Even if you execute and monitor your Plan as a do-it-yourselfer, it’s critical to perform regular check-ups, as you do with your doctor, dentist, tax preparer, or auto mechanic.
Community of Referrals
We are the first to admit that we don’t have all the answers. But between us and our Community of Referrals, we can help you put all the financial pieces together.
Work we do not perform, but have a community referral system with other services providers such as:
- CPA’s
- Estate Planning Attorneys
- Medicare Agents
- Real Estate Agents
The idea behind the Community of Referrals is to provide you with as much personal financial resources as possible, utilizing the best skills possible. As a fiduciary, we are not allowed to take referral fees. There is no financial incentive on our end, other than making you a satisfied client for years to come.
If you need one of the above types of service, we provide you a list of 3 providers that you can interview on your own. Alternatively, we can work with your existing finance professionals.
Custodial Philosophy
You do not need to move your assets to our control for us to create a Financial Plan! As a consultancy, our business model does not rely on assets under management. We only offer it for clients that want or need it.
If you choose to do Investment Management through us or one of our money managers, we do not physically hold your assets; We use TD Ameritrade, one of the largest custodians in the industry.
Read more about our Investment Management Services
Kastler Financial Planning in our Local Community
Helping individuals is a primary passion but giving back to the community by volunteering has its many rewards too! Some community give-back activities, spanning over many years, have included helping with Habitat for Humanity, serving ice cream at community concert, retirement workshops at a local library, and teaching high schoolers on careers:
Kastler Financial Planning is also pleased to be a sponsor of the new Business Center at the Clarkston Independence District Library in Clarkston, MI. We frequently hold educational workshops, seminars and events there as well as private client meetings.
Some Key Links:
Sign up for our eNewsletter here: Newsletter
Read our Insight articles here: Insight Articles (blog)
Learn more about the Financial Services Sector
In the Industry…
Businesses must change rapidly to keep up with technology and clients’ ever-increasing expectations. We strive to be ahead of the curve through on-going education, client feedback surveys, and as members of the leading fiduciary networks such as the Fee-Only Network and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA).
