Fee Only Financial Planner in Central Michigan & The Thumb
Holistic Approach
As one of the premier fee only financial planners in the Central Michigan & Thumb areas, Recker Financial prides itself on its holistic approach to the planning process. This unique approach allows our advisors and clients to be more engaged in the process, with access to the most up to date information via our cloud based financial planning portal.
Whether you need to start saving for college, deciding what health plan to pick or shopping for auto insurance, we can help you make the best decision based on your current financial situation and future goals. At Recker Financial, we look at the big picture, not just individual aspects of your finances. Taking everything into consideration allows us to serve you better and provide you with the most comprehensive financial plan.
Another thing that separates our fee only financial planners from other advisors is the fact that we make ourselves available to our clients in numerous ways. In addition to the typical phone calls and email, we offer our clients the ability to meet via Google Hangouts and Go To Meeting, two popular web-based communication platforms. We also encourage our clients to send text messages if they have a question or concern and just need a quick response from one of our planners.
So it’s a combination of our holistic approach, advanced technology and attentive client service that makes Recker Financial stand out from the crowd.
What is a fee only financial planner?
In a nutshell, a fee only financial planner is an advisor who does not receive any compensation for product recommendations. As such there are fewer conflicts of interest and you tend to get more unbiased financial advice as a result. You can read more about the differences between fee only, fee based and commission based financial planning here.
Financial Planning Process
Here are the six components of our fee only financial planning process:
1.Establish and define the relationship
Recker Financial informs prospective clients about the financial planning process, the services we offer, and our competencies and experience. Together we determine whether the services offered by us and competencies meet your needs as a client. We consider our skills, knowledge and experience in providing the services requested or likely to be required by you. We determine if we have any conflict(s) of interest and disclose them properly. We then agree on the services that will be provided. Recker Financial describes, in writing, the scope of the engagement before any financial planning is provided, including details about: the responsibilities of each party (including third parties); the terms of the engagement; and compensation and conflict(s) of interest. The scope of the engagement is set out in writing in a formal document signed by both parties or formally accepted by clients and includes a process for terminating the engagement.​
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2. Collect your information
Recker Financial and you identify your personal and financial objectives, needs and priorities. We then collect sufficient quantitative and qualitative information and documents relevant to the scope of the engagement before making and/or implementing any recommendations to you.
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3. Analyze and assess your financial status
Recker Financial analyzes your information, subject to the scope of the engagement, to gain an understanding of the your financial situation. We then assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the your current financial situation and compare them to your objectives, needs and priorities.
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4. Develop the financial planning recommendations and present them to our clients
Recker Financial considers one or more strategies relevant to your current situation that could reasonably meet (remove the) your objectives, needs and priorities; develops the financial planning recommendations based on the selected strategies to reasonably meet your confirmed objectives, needs and priorities; and presents the financial planning recommendations and the supporting rationale in a way that allows you to make an informed decision.
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5. Implement the financial planning recommendations
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Recker Financial and you agree on implementation responsibilities that are consistent with the scope of the engagement, your acceptance of the financial planning recommendations, and the financial planning professional’s ability to implement the financial planning recommendations. Based on the scope of the engagement, we identify and present appropriate product(s) and service(s) that are consistent with the financial planning recommendations accepted by you.
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6. Review your situation
Recker Financial and you mutually define and agree on terms for reviewing and reevaluating your situation, including goals, risk profile, lifestyle and other relevant changes. If conducting a review, Recker Financial and you will review your situation to assess progress toward achievement of the objectives of the financial planning recommendations, determine if the recommendations are still appropriate, and confirm any revisions mutually considered necessary.