Services
Services & Fees Overview
Getting Started: To properly advise you and manage your investments, it's important to start with a plan. It can be simple or more involved. It's your choice. Our goal is to build a longer-term relationship with you based on trust, service, and performance. However, if you prefer, we can also develop a financial plan that you manage yourself.
We offer two main tiers of service so that you can make a choice that best fits your needs.
Full Service
Includes investments for retirement, education, general, and other purposes. Includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and individual stocks. Also includes cash flow and debt management assistance, tax & estate planning, and evaluation of insurance needs. The full service tier is split into separate planning & management components:
Initial Investment Plan - A full individualized plan includes two comprehensive meetings and provides specific investment and financial recommendations.
Ongoing Investment Management & Financial Planning - This includes implementation of your initial investment plan and managing your investments for you. It also includes quarterly portfolio reviews, concise quarterly summary statements & newsletters, annual account rebalancing, and annual review meetings with you.
Retirement Investment Services
Retirement Investment Services is a great "starter" option if you only need or want assistance with retirement investments. This service includes the development and implementation of a retirement investment plan, along with ongoing management of your retirement investments. Like the Full Service tier, above, Retirement Investment Services includes quarterly portfolio reviews, summary statements & newsletters along with annual account rebalancing and annual review meetings. However, investments are limited to mutual funds only. Fees are lower than the Full Service tier and you can always upgrade to the Full Service tier in the future, if you wish.
Hourly (a la carte)
A third option is to receive advisory assistance on an hourly basis. If you find that you want independent and unbiased help answering specific questions or completing limited tasks, this might be a good option for you. While not as cost-efficient over time as our other services, everything is fully-customized to fit your needs and fees are very predictable.
Fees
Our fee structure is clear, fair, and allows your investments to flourish without unneeded extra costs. We have lower fees than most other companies because our overhead is extremely low and we don't have hefty management, administrative, or marketing fees. Yet, we provide personal, expert, and trustworthy service--a great value for you!
We are a fee-only (not a fee-based) advisor, so are not compensated based on sales or commissions. This is a very important distinction and can profoundly affect the quality of service you receive and the costs you incur. Please click the link for an explanation of the difference between fee-only and fee-based advisors.
Our fees differ in structure depending on the service(s) you want:
A full service initial investment plan has a flat fixed fee.
Ongoing investment management (whether full service or retirement) is charged quarterly based on the total size of your investment accounts (i.e. assets under management). The fees increase as your account increases, which means our incentive is to help your account grow--a very good thing! However, as your account grows, our fees, as a percentage of your account balance, actually decrease. You benefit from the efficiencies of your larger investment account.
Hourly services are, of course, charged at an hourly rate.
Services & Fees in Detail
Full Service - Initial Consultation & Development of Investment Plan
Typical Fee: $950 (We are a fee-only, not fee-based advisory firm.)
If you are interested in considering beginning a relationship with Silver Maple Financial, we would be happy to discuss this with you. The first step is a brief conversation or two and/or some exchange of email communications, after which, if you are interested in proceeding further, we get to know you better and gather more information about your goals.
A more extensive sit-down meeting is scheduled, at which the details of your goals, finances, and investments are discussed along with ideas and potential plans. During approximately the next 3 to 6 weeks, we develop and refine a plan to best suit you and your goals and needs. A second sit-down meeting is scheduled at which the plan is presented, explained, and discussed. Unless further refinement is necessary, this ends the initial planning portion.
What can you expect from the plan that is developed for you?
Your plan will include specific account type and securities recommendations and may consist of one or more of the following primary areas:
Investment review, and general investment planning
Retirement investment planning
Education funding planning
Your plan may also consist of one or more of the following secondary areas:
Cash flow & debt management
Tax planning
Estate planning
Evaluation of insurance needs
If extensive needs exist in the secondary areas, in addition to our recommendations, we may also refer you to an appropriate professional such as an accountant, estate-planning attorney, or insurance professional.
Full Service - Ongoing Investment Management & Financial Planning
Fees as low as $150/quarter ($50/month) (We are a fee-only, not fee-based advisory firm.)
After the initial investment plan is complete, we would be pleased to assist you with implementing the plan, managing your investments, assisting you as your needs dictate, and sitting down with you for annual "financial physicals" or "check-ups".
These advisory services form a complete package that includes:
Implementation of your initial investment plan (developed using a previous Initial Investment Plan advisory service).
Ongoing management of your investments & investment plan.
What can I expect?
We implement the initial investment plan, which may involve establishing new accounts and/or account transfers, setting-up contribution or withdrawal schedules from these accounts.
We manage your investments on an ongoing basis, including:
Quarterly investment portfolio reviews, investment summary statements & newsletters
Ongoing occasional consultation as your needs dictate
Annual rebalancing of investment accounts
Annual reviews
What would an annual review be like?
An annual review is typically a sit-down meeting, but it can be held remotely if this is more convenient for you. During the annual review, adjustments are made to your investment plan as your life changes, and as your life circumstances dictate. Your investments are also rebalanced annually (at a minimum) to keep them on-track with your plan.
Updating your plan may consist of modifications regarding one or more of the following primary areas:
Investment review, and general investment planning
Retirement investment planning
Education funding planning
Updating your plan during the annual review may also consist of modifications regarding one or more of the following secondary areas:
Cash flow & debt management
Tax planning
Estate planning
Evaluation of insurance needs
If extensive needs exist in the secondary areas, in addition to our recommendations, we may also refer you to an appropriate professional such as an accountant, estate-planning attorney, or insurance professional.
What would these services cost?
All of these services are covered according to the fee schedule below. Fees are assessed on a quarterly basis (every 3 months).
Fee Schedule:
Silver Maple Financial is a fee-only (not fee-based) financial advisor. The advisory fee is based on your total account value. For accounts with assets that total less than $25,000, the quarterly fee is $150. As assets increase, the fee increases at a gradually decreasing rate as shown:
Assets Under Management Quarterly Fee Increase
Up to $500,000.............................................. $25 for every $25,000 in assets (0.40%)
$500,000 to $2 million................................ $25 for every $50,000 in assets (0.20%)
Above $2 million............................................ $25 for every $100,000 in assets (0.10%)
Fee Discussion/Rationale
The amount of investment management fees paid is based on the assets under management. A smaller account typically has less overall complexity and requires fewer options in order to be managed well. A larger account is typically more complex and also has more options that may be prudent to consider in order to manage it well.
However, while the amount of fees is higher for larger accounts, the effective fees, as a percentage of assets, are actually smaller. This represents efficiencies of working with larger accounts. These efficiencies increase as the amount under management increases. We feel it is therefore prudent, fair, and in your best interest, that the fees as a percent of assets be smaller for larger accounts.
Even with larger accounts, many other advisors cannot compete with the low effective percentage that Silver Maple Financial’s fees represent as a percent of assets. Bottom-line, we offer you expert management and customer service at a price that gives you a superior value, and most-importantly, is consistent with your best interests.
Retirement Investment Services
Fees as low as $75/quarter ($25/month) (We are a fee-only, not fee-based advisory firm.)
If you are interested in getting help with your retirement investments, we would be pleased to work with you.
Retirement Investment Advisory Services form a complete package that includes:
Development of a retirement investment plan
Implementation of your plan
Ongoing management of your retirement investments
What can I expect?
A sit-down meeting is scheduled, at which the details of your retirement investments are discussed along with ideas and potential plans. We develop and refine a retirement plan to best suit you.
Next, we implement the plan, which may involve establishing new accounts and/or account transfers, setting-up contribution or withdrawal schedules involving these accounts.
Ongoing management of your retirement investments, including:
Ongoing occasional consultation as your needs dictate
Quarterly investment portfolio reviews and generation of investment summary statements & newsletters for you
Annual sit-down reviews & rebalancing of your investments.
What would these services cost?
All of these services are covered according to the fee schedule below. Fees are assessed on a quarterly basis (every 3 months).
Fee Schedule:
Silver Maple Financial is a fee-only (not fee-based) financial advisor. The advisory fee is based on your total account value. For accounts with assets that total less than $25,000, the quarterly fee is $75. As assets increase, the fee increases at a gradually decreasing rate as shown:
Assets Under Management Quarterly Fee Increase
Up to $500,000.............................................. $25 for every $25,000 in assets (0.40%)
$500,000 to $2 million................................ $25 for every $50,000 in assets (0.20%)
Above $2 million............................................ $25 for every $100,000 in assets (0.10%)
Fee Discussion/Rationale
The amount of investment management fees paid is based on the assets under management. A smaller account typically has less overall complexity and requires fewer options in order to be managed well. A larger account is typically more complex and also has more options that may be prudent to consider in order to manage it well.
However, while the amount of fees is higher for larger accounts, the effective fees, as a percentage of assets, are actually smaller. This represents efficiencies of working with larger accounts. These efficiencies increase as the amount under management increases. We feel it is therefore prudent, fair, and in your best interest, that the fees as a percent of assets be smaller for larger accounts.
Even with larger accounts, many other advisors cannot compete with the low effective percentage that Silver Maple Financial’s fees represent as a percent of assets. Bottom-line, we offer you expert management and customer service at a price that gives you a superior value, and most-importantly, is consistent with your best interests.
Quick Reference Fee Table
Click here for a 1-page snapshot of SMF fees: SMF Table of Fees for Services