What makes you a good financial advisor?
Physicians and healthcare professionals have specific financial planning needs, ranging from managing high student loan debt, a late start saving for retirement, and the critically important need for asset protection. I intuitively understand the complex and specific needs health care professionals face and can create a financial plan addressing your unique requirements.
More than that, I care deeply about my medical and nursing colleagues. I understand the intense training process, the job’s daily stressors, and the sacrifices you make to care for your patients. Though the rewards are many, these come at a high cost.
Nothing makes me more excited than educating and helping healthcare professionals become financially free. Medicine needs bright, intelligent, and caring professionals, now more than ever. I genuinely believe that a financially secure physician is a happier and better clinician.
What’s the benefit of you being an anesthesiologist and attorney?
It wasn’t all that long ago I was in your shoes. Recently finished with training and excited to begin the next phase of my career, but also thinking, “Is this it?” My goal is to create financially sound physicians and healthcare professionals. To give my colleagues the ability to practice medicine on their terms and at their highest capabilities. To show you the freedom in knowing what enough feels like.
I want you to be successful so that our profession thrives and our patients receive the best care. I want your families to be cared for and protected, for you to achieve your personal goals instead of putting them off for a tomorrow that never comes.
You deserve a financial advisor that understands the challenges of crushing student loan debt, the stressors of your daily medical practice, and the unique financial needs of healthcare professionals. You deserve an advisor that protects your financial health with the same level of care and trust you treat your patients.
As a physician, I understand your clinical burdens and stressors. But more than that, I know and understand your specific financial planning needs. My legal training furthered my understanding of the complicated tax code and how that impacts how you save and protect your hard-earned assets.
If you could help each of your clients do one thing, what would it be?
Help you define what financial security means to you and your family, and align your finances with your values and priorities.
Our goals during school and training were well defined: to get across the finish line! Studying intensely through medical or nursing school, learning and training during residency, and finally landing a great job. We’ve spent so much time getting to the finish line we’re often unsure what to do when we cross it!
So, we do what we do best: optimize our patients’ health and our communities’ well-being. Of course we consider our finances, though “financial security” remains a somewhat nebulous term. Our high salaries give us a feeling of wealth, but this is flawed thinking! Let’s work together to define what financial security means – and looks like – for you and your family.
Who is a good fit for Greeley Wealth Management?
This is a great question. At Greeley Wealth Management, our goal is to develop long-term client relationships. Greeley Wealth Management focuses on early and mid-career physicians, dentists, and advanced practice nursing professionals. Healthcare professionals have specific financial planning needs that I keenly understand.
You would be a good fit for Greeley Wealth Management if:
- You are saving for the long term, not looking to pick the next hot stock you heard about in the physician’s lounge.
- You’re interested in a long-term partnership with a proactive advisor dedicated to helping you organize your financial life and keep it that way.
- Your primary focus is not just on investing but also on creating a holistic plan to save, protect, and design your ideal lifestyle.
- You have high student loan debt and want to accelerate your repayment plan.
What are the typical goals of a Greeley Wealth Management client?
- Paying off student loan debt
- Saving for retirement while also planning for buying a home, saving for a child’s higher education, or a job transition
- Managing a high tax burden
- Developing a strong asset protection strategy
- Living a full and fulfilled life!
What is your investment philosophy?
At Greeley Wealth, we believe in an evidence-based investing approach incorporating years of rigorously peer-reviewed research. We believe in well-diversified, low-cost, and tax-efficient asset class investing.
We achieve this by practicing passive investment management through low-cost index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. We tailor your investments based on long-term goals and an assessment of your risk tolerance.
We focus on passive investment management for four main reasons:
- Study after study highlights the success of passive investing over active management
- Low portfolio expenses (fees mutual funds charge to manage them)
- Minimal trading costs (due to less trading activity)
- Tax efficiency (low turnover of funds, less taxable events)
What is a fiduciary?
A fiduciary is a person or organization that owes another the duties of trust and good faith. Acting as a fiduciary is the highest standard within the financial services industry. This means your advisor is legally obligated to work in your best interests when managing your financial affairs. As a fiduciary, I serve solely you, the client, and no one else.
Every day, as a physician or healthcare professional, you act as a fiduciary when making treatment decisions and caring for your patients! You deserve someone treating your finances with that same standard of excellence.
In addition to strict legal requirements, a fiduciary has the highest ethical obligation to put your interests ahead of their compensation and any other conflicts of interest.
At Greeley Wealth Management, I am a fiduciary and firmly believe your financial advisor should meet this standard and am proud to do so.
Are you a Certified Financial Planner?
I am a Certified Financial Planner Candidate, currently completing my coursework as outlined here. A CFP is the highest standard certification in financial planning, awarded to less than 25% of financial planners.
What are your fees? How do you get paid?
In setting our fee schedule, I wanted to make financial planning available to new physicians and advanced practice nursing colleagues who may not meet AUM minimums. We bill our financial planning services on a monthly or quarterly basis. Our fees are shown on this schedule.
Do I need to live in Oregon or meet you in person to work with you?
Only if you want to! You are always welcome to meet in person in Bend, OR. After our official meeting is complete, I’d love to spend the day with you riding our fantastic mountain bike trails, skiing the great terrain at Mt. Bachelor, or fishing our world-famous rivers.
Greeley Wealth is a modern practice designed so that meetings can be virtual, whether through videoconferencing or phone calls. Additionally, understanding the busy clinical schedule for so many of our clients, we have flexible scheduling, including evenings and weekends.
Is there a fee for our initial meeting?
No! The initial meeting is complimentary. Our goal for the initial meeting is to connect and determine if our firm is a good fit for your financial needs. We want to learn more about you, your current situation, and your goals.
What should I expect from an introductory meeting?
The initial meeting lasts about an hour. It’s our chance to explain the financial planning process and set expectations. It’s also an opportunity to understand your specific needs and get questions answered about our firm and how our planning process works. Our introductory meeting is an opportunity for you to discover if Greeley Wealth Management is the right fit to help you achieve your financial goals.
