It’s not enough to have money in the bank these days. You need a financial ally and accountability partner who can lead your decision-making processes in order to maximize your efforts to build wealth. The more assets you have to manage, the more complex life can seem.
We are here to provide highly valuable support to alleviate any stress and do the heavy lifting for you and your family.
From estate planning and investment management to cost saving strategies for business owners and retirement planning, wealth management in the Washington D.C. area is best supported by those with experience, knowledge, and a passion to succeed. You should feel safe knowing that your chosen financial advisory team is there for you on the drop of a dime.
As an established, independent wealth management firm, our team of financial advisors in the D.C. area at Brown | Miller can coordinate all aspects of your finances and connect you with other professionals who have expertise in specific areas, like legal advice, accounting, or tax preparation.
Understanding wealth management
Understanding the core methodology of wealth management is helpful when hiring a wealth manager of your own. Why? Because the basic understanding of what your financial advisor provides and decides on your behalf is crucial for long-term success.
Your client-advisor relationship should be based on trust and open communication.
A holistic approach to personal finance: Wealth management encompasses more than just investing—it also includes retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, education planning, and insurance coverage. This holistic approach means that all aspects of your financial life work together to ensure that you’re on track toward achieving your goals.
Do you need wealth management?
Your financial life may feel more complex as your wealth grows and assets accumulate, which makes sense because it is. If you fall into this category, you will find that wealth management becomes a necessity, eventually.
What determines your need for a wealth management firm in the Washington D.C. area is a matter of when: life-changing events often lead to investors reaching out for assistance.
You do not want to look back and regret pulling out of the market when the economy takes a drastic downturn.
If you reacted in panic and sold, you may now be wanting to learn how to develop financial discipline. Use these eight tips!
Managing market volatility is a must, as you have seen over the years. Developing a well-thought-out financial plan with an experienced wealth management firm is how to prepare for any market condition.
How to choose a wealth manager
When doing your due diligence and researching your options, your main goal as an investor is to choose a wealth manager who has:
- The right credentials
- Experience in working with clients like you
- Great listening skills
- A clear pricing structure that you understand
- The desire to understand your long-term investment goals
Your wealth management firm should be the foundation of your financial life.
Serving as the guiding light in your financial decisions, your trusted team of advisors should ask plenty of questions and provide honest answers. They should be available as needed to support your immediate needs. Your relationship should be built on trust, transparency, and open communication.
Your best interests should be a top priority to your financial advisors in the D.C. area. As fiduciaries, that is our oath as professionals. At the end of the day, you want to pick a firm with expertise and breadth like Brown | Miller, with over nine decades in wealth management.
Look for a firm that will coordinate all your finances
If you’re looking for a wealth management firm in the Washington, D.C. area, ask about how they help clients develop the discipline to save money and invest. Ask about their investment strategies to help grow your nest egg over time. The right advisor can provide advice on how to best plan for college savings or other major purchases such as a home or vehicle.
You can even be so bold as to ask why they have lost clients in the past. See how candid they can be upfront. Have they ever learned the hard way, on the job?
Bottomline: the right wealth management firm knows the market cycles, understands what events follow certain economic trends, and can help you avoid the financial pitfalls that many investors make who go it alone.
Pick a wealth management firm that offers comprehensive financial planning
What’s the difference between wealth management and comprehensive financial planning?
Wealth management focuses on managing the complex pieces of your investments. This usually includes service provided to higher income households and business owners.
Comprehensive financial planning takes into account all aspects of your life—from earning enough money to pay for college tuition for your children to paying off debt or saving for retirement. These ongoing efforts can help you build an investment portfolio based on your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.
Comprehensive financial planning might also include insurance coverage or other services, like life insurance, that are important to have in place before any emergencies arise. By creating a road map (and sticking with it!) for reaching your goals in the short-term and long-term, you’ll feel more confident about managing money at every stage in life, not just now but also down the line when things change again.
A wealth management firm should help educate you about your financial choices
It can be to your highest advantage to look for a firm that has a mission and philosophy that matches yours. Read about our principles and core values. You can count on the right wealth management firm that will:
- Keep you informed at all times about your investment portfolio performance
- Provide regular check-ins for open communication
- Connect you to a vast range of additional services and expertise as needed
- Not guarantee future results
- Not tell you to try to time the market
- Not go dark with the market declines
Conclusion
It’s essential to seek professionals who understand how money works and can help you make the most of yours. Tending to all aspects of your financial life so that you can focus on other aspects of your life—like enjoying it—is our job!
At Brown | Miller Wealth Management, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM will use a 3D approach to holistic wealth management: Discover, Design, Deliver. Before we can design an investment portfolio for you, getting to know you and your goals is a top priority. Contact us to connect with a team member today.
