How your investments are managed will depend on a few factors. 

If we manage account(s) on your behalf at Fidelity or Charles Schwab, we will generally follow a process that matches your investment time horizon, tolerance for risk, and need for income or growth with a portfolio of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). We’ll create an investment policy statement for you that we’ll offer to review annually. We’ll strategically rebalance your account(s) on a quarterly basis.

We also have a sub-advisor agreement with Betterment. If you use Betterment, Betterment can tell you all about the process. In general, Betterment’s use of low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focuses on the things you can control — like the amount of risk you take — and aligns with our firm-wide investment philosophy. Our advisor agreement with Betterment affords our clients a discounted fee of 0.15% when using Betterment.

We will work with you to evaluate your available plan options and help you invest your account(s) consistent with your investment policy statement. Because plans vary from employer to employer, we have three options to help with your workplace account(s).

1. Some plans at Fidelity or Schwab will permit us to become the advisor of record on your account. In that case, we will manage the account in the same way and for the same fee that we manage any other account.
2. We can use a third-party service called Pontera to directly manage your workplace account just like any other account we manage for you. Pontera charges you a fee of 0.25% for this service.
3. Alternatively, we can provide you with a specific investment allocation that’s aligned with the target allocation in your investment policy statement. We’ll walk you through updating/rebalancing your account once a year.

In all cases, we will do what we can to make sure that your investment portfolio is consistent with your needs across all of your accounts.

Individual income tax preparation is included for all ongoing comprehensive services clients at no additional charge. We do not outsource our income tax preparation services, so you can be confident in the process and your results.

If you work with another tax professional, we’re happy to collaborate with them. Depending on your situation, this may create more or less complexity. In either case, we’ll work hard to provide you with an exceptional experience.

Yes. We'll work with you to properly plan your cash flow. We start by adding your information to our cash-flow planning worksheet. Our team will then analyze and develop recommendations for your unique situation. Our priority is to assist you as you implement your cash-flow plan in alignment with your overall financial plan to help you meet your financial goals.

The clients we work with at FPFoCo seek comprehensive financial planning, tax-optimized solutions, investment management, and implementation support. While we appreciate that certain financial challenges exist, we don’t offer solutions to those facing major consumer debt, those with international cross-border financial concerns, or individuals seeking answers to specific questions without the need for a comprehensive financial plan, our full suite of services, or implementation support.  

The team at FPFoCo is focused on providing comprehensive planning and support services to clients for a fee. To maintain our quality standards and provide the high levels of strategy and implementation support that align our clients' assets with their aspirations, we do not offer consultation services outside of our financial planning engagements. If you’d like to discuss your financial situation and arrange for and initial financial plan and/or ongoing support, you can schedule your free intro call today!

The development of your initial financial planning strategy is a three-meeting process. As an ongoing implementation support client, you will have access to unlimited meeting and consultation time, so the answer to the titular question can vary. We will proactively invite you to planning-topic-focused consultations as needed and an annual financial plan refresh each year. We’ll also prompt you for additional opportunities to get together when you need more assistance and join you at other meetings important to your finances. Scheduling is easy — just find a time that works for you.

In most cases, we charge a flat fee of $3,000 for an initial financial plan. For ongoing implementation support, we will follow our standard fee schedule. In cases with truly unique or extraordinary complexity, we will carefully consider how the specific complexities impact our service model and provide a custom services proposal that will transparently disclose our fee before beginning a working relationship.

Our flat fee for ongoing implementation support includes the management of up to $1,000,000 at Fidelity or Charles Schwab at no additional charge. For clients who request that we manage their investment portfolios in excess of $1,000,000, we charge an additional fee on a competitive schedule.

Optionally, clients can also use Betterment. Betterment will charge a discounted annual fee of 0.15% in addition to our fee.

If you use Pontera to allow us to directly manage your workplace plan account, Pontera will charge an annual fee of 0.25% of the amount you have invested on its platform in addition to our fee.

Yes. We will accept credit card payments or electronic funds transfers for the fees we bill to you. For ongoing implementation support, this includes the debiting of accounts at Fidelity, Schwab, Betterment, or another qualified custodian where we are permitted and you authorize us to do so.

Half (50%) of your initial financial planning fee is due when you sign your client services agreement. The other half (50%) is due when we deliver your initial financial planning analysis and recommendations. For ongoing implementation support, fees are billed monthly or quarterly. Generally, clients paying from their cash flow will pay monthly while clients paying from their investment account(s) will pay quarterly.

Our client agreements require no term commitment. You can cancel at any time without a penalty.

• If you cancel in the middle of a billing period and you pay your fee in advance, you will receive a refund based on the number of days remaining in the billing period. If you pay your fee in arrears, you will have a balance due.
• If you cancel, your investment accounts with Betterment, Fidelity, and/or Charles Schwab will be seamlessly migrated to the Betterment, Fidelity, and/or Charles Schwab retail platforms, respectively (at then-current retail pricing). We will no longer have access to or provide advice concerning any of your investment accounts.
• If you cancel, you will no longer be eligible to have your tax return prepared by Financial Planning Fort Collins, LLC, and we will no longer provide you audit and/or correspondence examination representation.
• If you cancel, you will lose access to our client dashboard and our financial planning app.
• If you cancel, you will no longer receive our annual fintech/implementation credit.

We need your information because we’re required by our regulators to know who you are. We also need to have at least a general idea about your finances as a starting point. Of course, we will let you know what’s new with us and send you our latest blog articles, but we will never sell your data to a third party or use it in any way that’s inconsistent with our privacy policy. Betterment, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity each maintain separate privacy policies that you will need to agree to if you invest with them.

We maintain a data security program and policy that we’re very serious about. We always use encrypted means to transmit and store your data. In addition to vetting our vendors for adherence to industry-leading data security practices, we also carefully implement our user access, including procedures for employee and contractor background checks, the use of multi-factor authentication, and need to know standards for data access.