Franklin Madison Advisors: Our COVID-19 Response
We stand at the precipice of what could be one of the worst economic recessions in a century. This downturn is, in part, a result of measures to address the COVID-19 outbreak. That’s why we’re here to help. We believe that the coming months are going to be financially challenging for many families and business owners in the Pittsburgh area and indeed across the nation. To be sure, we anticipate the fallout from the coronavirus containment efforts to have a broad and deep effect, impacting businesses in all sectors of the economy.
At Franklin Madison Advisors, our goal during these trying times is to help empower people with practical financial strategies they can use to take care of themselves, their families and their businesses. What’s more, we want to do everything within reason to help people avoid financial traps during the downturn and to be prepared to bounce back financially once the coronavirus threat has passed and the economy is once again on the mend. That’s why we’re offering some of our services free of charge.
Click here to learn more about how we’re doing our part to help people financially navigate this period of uncertainty.
Franklin Madison Advisors: We help people get ahead in life financially.
Franklin Madison Advisors is a fee-only fiduciary financial planning and investment management firm based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We exist to serve a generation that has been underwhelmed by traditional paths to financial security and independence.
It has arguably become increasingly difficult for households to get ahead, financially, over the past few decades.
To be sure, the data show that many households are struggling to thrive as they contend with financial issues like:
- Stagnant wage growth…
- The rising cost of home ownership…
- Caring for multiple generations under one roof…
- Rising levels of overall household debt…
- Reported angst around retirement security…
It used to be that to get ahead in life financially, one could simply follow a traditional financial playbook that laid out finding a well-paying job, getting married, buying a house and steadily saving money to pay for future expenses like college or retirement.
getting ahead
/getɪŋ əˈhed/
to make progress with something or advance in something, especially a career, income, or quality of life
But times have seemingly changed and more often than not life happens in unexpected ways, dashing even the best laid plans when:
- The economy slumps…
- Jobs are lost…
- Marriages fail…
- Illnesses strike…
- We lose those closest to us…
A solid plan can help
Even so, studies have shown that households are more likely to feel financially secure when they have a plan for their money. What’s more, some findings even suggest that following a process of tracking, evaluating and periodically adjusting a financial plan to account for changing life circumstances can increase the likelihood of a household achieving its financial goals.
A structured process and a little help can make it happen
At Franklin Madison Advisors, our mission is to help people get ahead financially by providing comprehensive financial planning, investment management and ongoing financial advising services tailored to our clients’ ever-changing needs.
We do this by guiding our clients through a proprietary, structured process that includes plainly and clearly articulating an envisioned use for their savings, developing financial strategies to accumulate needed financial resources and applying best practices to help achieve long-term financial goals.
Franklin Madison Advisors can help you define a financial vision and purpose for your money
We believe that getting ahead financially means letting go of the notion of a traditional financial playbook, rules-of-thumb and other one-size-fits-all money solutions. Taking an active role in creating a personal financial playbook tailored to allow for flexibility and adaptability can, over time, help you reduce money-related stresses, provide greater peace of mind and most importantly increase the likelihood of achieving life goals.
vi-sion
/ˈviZHən/
the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.
Why vision is important
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a professor at Harvard Business School says that a vision is effectively a call on our lives to become something more than what we are today. In this context, a statement of financial purpose effectively helps to define the role that money will play in your life. More specifically, it articulates a clear “why” to your money habits and lays the foundation for developing strategies that help you acquire, save and spend financial resources prudently.
Formation of a financial purpose statement begins with a vision for how events would ideally unfold throughout the course of your life, beginning with your final moments and working your way back toward the present. One way to go about this is to answer questions like, “how do I want to be remembered by those closest to me?” or “what sort of legacy would I like to leave behind.” There are no easy answers to these questions by any means, yet the visualization process used to answer these and other similar questions can help crystalize the role that money will play in helping you navigate important life transitions.
Vision helps set financial priorities
Moreover, the process of vision clarification helps to prioritize financial outcomes and identifies the types of opportunities, strategies and tactics for use in achieving your financial goals. Taking the time today to develop a well-defined financial purpose statement has other long-term benefits as well, like creating a sense of financial stability by anchoring expectations during times of increasing economic and financial market uncertainty. Indeed, a quick reference of your financial purpose statement during a time of financial instability or market volatility can help to calm nerves and potentially alleviate a desire to tap long-term savings at inopportunely.
Ultimately, we believe that understanding what our client’s want out of their life vision is critical to the planning process because it sets the stage for connecting the dots between concrete life goals and the appropriate financial strategies to get there.
At Franklin Madison Advisors, our priority is to understand where you’re coming from
As a client of Franklin Madison Advisors, you can expect our planning relationship to be rooted in our desire for a thorough understanding of what’s important to you and your ideal life outcomes. To gain this understanding, we use quantitative tools such as our Financial Dimensions Questionnaire, to help us understand your financial inclinations and preferences. We then set aside time to have an in-depth discussion to learn more about your life and financial goals, meeting at a time and place (in-person, online or over the phone) that is convenient for you.
We make your financial well-being a priority
After gathering all the necessary information from you, we then develop strategies that help to establish a solid financial base, to give you a sense of well-being; addressing cash flow planning, emergency savings, and risk management needs.
We develop strategies for growing and transferring your wealth
After gathering all the necessary information from you, we then, through our fee-only financial planning process, develop strategies that help you establish a solid financial base with the intent of giving you a sense of well-being by addressing cash flow planning, emergency savings, and risk management needs.
We actively help you achieve your financial goals
Finally, one of our most valuable offerings is our ongoing financial advising services. This is because life has a way of upsetting even the best financial plans. Our monthly meetings monitor your progress toward defined milestones, evaluating and adapting financial strategies as life circumstances change thereby increasing the chances that you achieve your intended financial goals.
How we’re paid
Franklin Madison Advisors is a fee-only registered investment advisor. This means that we are not compensated for selling investment or insurance products. The only compensation we receive is from you, our client.
We typically charge fees three different ways:
- a one-time financial planning fee;
- a monthly fee for Ongoing Financial Advising Services; and
- fees for a-la-carte investment management services
FINANCIAL PLANNING & ONGOING MONTHLY ADVISING SERVICES FEES
Tier 1 - Financial stability plan: $2,500
Tier 2 - Financial growth plan: $4,500
Tier 3 - Financial transitions plan: $6,500
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FEES
Franklin Madison Advisors provides investment management services as part of our Tier 2 and Tier 3 Ongoing Financial Advising Services plans.
If chosen separately from the Ongoing Financial Advising Services program, the fees we charge for investment management services include 1) an initial setup fee of $2,500 which includes risk tolerance and investment objective surveys, portfolio analysis, asset allocation strategies, and investment selection and 2) ongoing flat-rate investment management fee of $450 per month.
What’s important to note is that our fees for service differ from typical asset under management (AUM) models in its transparency and that our fee remains fixed even as your savings grow.
INFOGRAPHIC: 9 things that set us apart (click to enlarge)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who do you work with?
We work with people who feel like they’ve been doing all the right things, but feel stuck financially. If this is you, worry no more. We’ll take a look at your financial situation and develop actionable strategies that help you move your financial situation to the next level.
What makes you different?
As a fee-only advisor we are compensated directly by our clients in exchange for financial planning and investment management services we provide. Franklin Madison Advisors does not sell securities or insurance products and we do not get paid for buying or selling securities in our clients’ brokerage accounts. This allows us to stay focused on providing objective financial advice. Further, as a Registered Investment Advisor we are held to a fiduciary standard, just like an accountant, doctor or attorney which means that we have a legal responsibility to always act in our clients’ best interest.
Who is Franklin Madison Advisors?
Franklin Madison Advisors is a licensed fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) whose principal office is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We provide comprehensive financial planning, ongoing financial advising and investment management services for individuals and families. We believe that we live in an increasingly complex financial environment. Our mission is to develop strategies that help people get ahead in life financially.
Where are you located?
While our principal office is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, extensive utilization of technological resources allows us to be a truly virtual firm. Our utilization of video conferencing and virtual scheduling services allows us to serve our clients on days, times and places that are most convenient for them.
What type of services does Franklin Madison Advisors offer?
Franklin Madison Advisors develops strategies that help people get ahead in life financially. We do this by providing fee-only financial planning, investment management and ongoing financial advising support services to our clients.
What sort of products will you sell me?
Franklin Madison Advisors is an independent firm and not affiliated with a broker-dealer or insurance company; therefore, we do not sell securities or insurance products. As a Registered Investment Advisor and a fiduciary, we provide financial services for and are compensated by our clients.
What are your typical fees?
We believe that transparency in pricing helps build trust which is why we share our fees from the get-go. We typically charge fees separately for our financial planning, ongoing financial advising and investment management services.
Our financial planning fees range from $2,500 to $6,500 depending on the tier of service you select. This fee includes your financial vision and purpose meeting, the cost to prepare your comprehensive financial plan and a follow up strategy meeting.
Ongoing financial advising service fees range from $175 to $600 per month and augment a comprehensive financial plan. This includes structured monthly meetings with our financial strategist to help move you toward your financial goals. Higher tier plans include the cost of discretionary investment management services.
We also offer a-la-carte discretionary investment management services for an initial setup fee of $2,500 and ongoing investment management charge of $450 per month. The setup fee includes the cost of your risk tolerance questionnaire, investment policy statement, asset allocation framework and investment product selection.
What is your account minimum for investment management services?
We do not have account minimums for investment management services; however, given the costs associated with our one-time setup fee and ongoing monthly service charge we recommend this service for account sizes over $250,000. That said, we can still provide guidance and advice for self-directed accounts below this amount.
Please see our services and fees pages for more details.
Are you regulated?
Franklin Madison Advisors is Registered Investment Advisor registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and regulated by the state Department of Banking and Securities.
GET STARTED TODAY
Give us a call or if you prefer, fill out the contact form here to allow one of our financial strategists to give you a call today.
