We offer fee-only financial planning, fee-only asset management, and objective second opinions about your current financial and investment plans.
We believe a good financial advisor is like an experienced wilderness guide…
“The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.”
Warren Buffet
…leading select clients through challenging and frequently unfamiliar terrain, where conditions are prone to change, and the weather can turn in an instant. Solid preparation—including making sure you have the right equipment, clearly defined objectives, realistic expectations, and a resilient attitude—is crucial.
We have the expertise and experience to help you blaze a trail that’s well-suited for your own unique journey—based on your individual circumstances, your objectives, and your personal tolerance for risk and ambiguity. We focus on making sure you’re prepared. We pay careful attention to lots of important details. And we coach you to act with composure and discipline in both high-excitement and high-stress situations.
Your long-range success is directly tied to your behavior, the quality of the decisions you make, and your ability to focus your attention on things you, and we, can control.
That includes your level of preparedness, your confidence in your abilities, your capacity to anticipate and prepare for the changes we know are going to happen, and your level of discipline and poise under pressure when circumstances beyond anyone’s control inevitably occur.
Fee-only financial planning
Mapping out your unique path
When you roll out the map of your life, there are three things we need to determine pretty quickly: Where are you now? How did you get there? And where are you trying to go?
It’s different for everyone.
To find the answers, we get to know you—your needs, your wants, your wishes, and your experiences. We’ll also provide you with a detailed checklist of financial information we need so we can review and discuss it with you thoroughly.
Rest assured, we’ll treat your personal financial information with the utmost care and privacy. We’ll explore long-range, tax-aware strategies that would be most beneficial for you, and craft an individualized approach based on time-proven strategies.
Client Testimonial –
“LSG has handled my investments for over twenty-five years, during which I’ve gone through numerous changes, both personal and professional. They’ve made each stage easier by providing great peace of mind. Knowing that my investments are being wisely cared for means I can focus on my priorities.
And that is where Chris Vasquez has been a godsend. Chris not only knows financial planning inside out, but since he’s also a terrific listener, he knows what matters to me—and what doesn’t.
Because of Chris Vasquez and LSG, I not only have a secure financial future; I have a life which reflects what I most value: being able to care for the people I love, and do things I’d never dreamed possible.”
Amy
Disclosure –
Amy has been a client of LSG since 2001. Her experience may not reflect the experience of other clients, nor does it guarantee future success or performance. Amy did not receive any compensation, whether direct or indirect, for sharing her experience with LSG and does not have any conflict of interest with our current clients.
No crystal ball, rather a crystal-clear method.
Consistency in forecasting the economy or timing the market is impossible. What is possible is to follow a disciplined planning process, and then to craft a well-diversified portfolio and a disciplined investment process that has a broad historical likelihood of getting you where you want to go with as little anxiety and worry as possible.
We adhere to the process that is recommended by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards:
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We will clearly explain the services we provide and define both our responsibilities and yours. We will explain fully how we are paid. We will discuss and agree upon the scope and anticipated length of our professional relationship.
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We start by determining where you are. We’ll help you gather information about your financial situation. You can start by downloading and completing our financial planning forms and returning them to us before our first meeting.
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We will analyze the information you provide to us to help you assess your current situation, and determine ways you can meet your goals. Depending on what services we have agreed upon, this could include analyzing your cash flow, assets and liabilities, investments, insurance coverage, and tax situation.
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After thorough analysis and discussion, we’ll then create a specific, personalized strategy for your situation.
We’ll include recommendations for areas such as spending, saving, liquid assets, insurance coverage, and portfolio allocation. We will help you understand our recommendations and discuss alternatives based on your preferences and concerns. We may also have suggestions to review with your attorney or accountant.
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After we agree on our strategy, we’ll help you concentrate on three critical areas:
1 ) focusing on what you can control,
2 ) effectively implementing the strategy and
3 ) remaining accountable.
Some strategies may require the assistance of an attorney, accountant, or another professional, and we’ll refer you to those with whom we have worked, or happily work with your own trusted advisors.
If you choose to utilize our asset management services, we will handle all the details of account set-up, asset transfers, investment policy design, and portfolio allocations. As your fiduciary, we will serve your interests, and do everything in our power to maximize your sense of trust and comfort.
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The only constant in life is change. Everyone needs a sounding board when facing important life decisions or a major transition. Marriage, divorce, children and grandchildren, career changes, retirement, and death are all areas that can impact your financial needs and choices.
Solid, caring financial advice can make anticipating and adjusting to these transitions much easier. Through ongoing review and periodic adjustments, we provide the expertise to help plan for these transitions even before you need it, and we provide the comfort and peace of mind throughout that no matter what lies ahead, you have a competent team of experts guiding your decisions.
Fee-Only Asset Management
Our individualized approach to addressing your needs.
Everywhere you turn in the world of asset management, you’re constantly being prompted to compare yourself to someone else, to measure your “performance” against some index, and to feel envy and discomfort at what you’ve supposedly gotten wrong. It’s disturbing—by design.
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
Sun Tzu
But achieving your most treasured long-range investment objectives is not a competition with someone else, and it’s not a race. Every single one of us is on our own unique journey in life, and our paths are constantly unfolding and evolving as we change and grow.
You should have confidence that your investments are continuously aligned with your needs, your abilities, your personal plan, and your level of comfort with ambiguity and change. That demands on-going, personal attention from someone you trust, along with disciplined oversight of important details.
As a fee-only fiduciary, we’re obligated to serve your needs. Period.
We combine our knowledge and understanding of your most treasured objectives with ongoing research and analysis of financial markets worldwide, tax-smart investment strategies, and timely communication concerning legal and legislative changes. We have ready access to a deep pool of specialized money management options so we can match your unique objectives with the most effective resources available.
Most of all, we’re here for you every step of the way. We’re sticklers for details. We’ll handle setting up your accounts, transferring assets, your investment policy design, and your portfolio allocations. And we’ll be here throughout as the world changes and as you change with it.
Our aim is to do everything in our power to minimize your financial worries, and to maximize your sense of confidence and trust.
Second Opinion
If you do not have total comfort with your current financial situation, why not seek a second opinion?
The advisors at Lucien, Stirling and Gray Advisory Group provide hourly fee planning and second opinions, not driven by commissions or product sales. We can help you to discover what your money is for. We can also help you gain confidence in your financial situation by addressing the questions that cause you anxiety.
It starts with an initial consultation that is free of charge.