Can you sit down and have a face-to-face conversation about your retirement goals?

Imagine yourself in a position where you need to make an important decision about your retirement plan that could greatly impact your future, but your only option is to speak to your advisor on the phone because their corporate office is located in another state. The benefits of selecting a financial advisor who lives in your hometown provides you the opportunity to have face-to-face conversations that result in a mutual understanding and ensure nothing gets lost in translation.

J. Biance Financial is an investment advisory firm that specializes in retirement planning for families and individuals living in Asheville or Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Are you confident that your advisor is looking out for your best interests?

If you are looking for an advisor who will provide the type of service appropriate for retirees, you should also be looking for a fiduciary. A fiduciary is someone who, by law, must put your interest above his own. Attorneys have similar legal requirements as fiduciary advisors. If an attorney fails the attorney-client relationship (which is a breach of fiduciary duty), they could be disbarred. Is the same true for a financial advisor? There are some financial advisors who are fiduciaries, and there are some who are not. Advisors who are subject to a suitability standard are also called brokers and work for a broker/dealer. Advisors who are subject to a fiduciary standard are called investment advisor representatives and work for a registered investment advisor.

As a fiduciary, J. Biance Financial is bound both legally and ethically to meet the standards of that status.

What is the difference between a captive and independent advisory firm?

Perhaps you are familiar with this scripture passage: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” I have found that these words apply to several areas of my life, and one of those is my work with retirees. Financial advisors are either “captive,” which generally means they work for a publicly traded company (ex. Edward Jones, Ameriprise, Merrill Lynch) or they work for an independent firm. If I worked for Ameriprise, I would essentially have two bosses: you as my client and my boss at Ameriprise. But what if producing for a boss conflicts with my client’s interests? As an independent advisor, I do not have a boss on Wall Street dictating to me how many clients I should acquire or what products I should sell.

In addition to upholding the fiduciary standard, J. Biance Financial is independent, focused solely on their clients’ needs.

Are you the only boss of your own retirement plan?

If you are working with an advisor specializing in distribution strategies who is accountable by law to put your interest first (fiduciary) and does not have a boss on Wall Street (independent), you are poised to have an orderly estate.

We encourage you to watch the video below to get to know more about the J. Biance Financial team and our standards of practice. If you are interested in talking more about your financial and retirement options, please email retirement@jbiance.com.