Financial advisors charge fees proportional to the amount of assets that they are managing. This is called an Assets Under Management (AUM) fee. The 0.50% AUM fee refers to an annual fee. However, we charge monthly in-arrears. Since investment accounts fluctuate in value each day, the monthly fee is based on the average daily account balance throughout the month and a monthly rate proportional to the number of days in the month (i.e. a month with 28 days would charge less than a month with 31 days). You can see our fee schedule on our Pricing page to learn more about our pricing. (https://www.silverstone.financial/pricing) For example: Say, your fee is 0.50% and you have an average account balance of $100,000 for the month of January. On February 1st, January's monthly fee of $42.47 will automatically be withdrawn from the account, based on this calculation: Your daily rate would be: 0.50% / 365 days = 0.00137% Your monthly rate would be: 0.00137% x 31 days = 0.042% Your monthly fee would be: $100,000 x 0.042% = $42.47

No. Silverstone Financial does not have any hidden fees. However, some of our partners may charge supplemental fees. For example: Our broker-dealer custodian partners (Altruist, Interactive brokers) may charge additional fees for uncommon services like wire transfers and paper check requests. Our tax partners may charge additional hourly or complexity fees for unique tax situations. LLiS Insurance (Silverstone Financial is not affiliated) may have additional underwriting or processing fees. Trust & Will (Silverstone Financial is not affiliated) may charge additional attorney or complexity fees for unique estate situations. Silverstone Financial has carefully chosen partners that do not charge superfluous fees and does not expect its average client will encounter many miscellaneous fees from its partners. Silverstone Financial will occasionally cover / reimburse some of the fees charged by its partners, but is not required to, unless specifically stated in Silverstone Financial's client agreement.

No. Our one-time project-based financial plans, ongoing subscription financial planning, ongoing investment management service, and ongoing wealth management service do not bill hourly on top of the quoted fee. Labor cost has already been factored into the price for those services. Clients have access to our support as needed without worrying about incurring additional charges.

Yes. We provide an investment management service with no account minimums. We will determine your risk tolerance and find investment solutions to meet your investment objectives. We will invest, monitor, and rebalance your investments for you. Our lead financial advisor is an Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor™ and has many years of investment management experience.

No. We have no required minimum account balance to open a managed investment account with our firm. We like to work with diligent savers and investors. It doesn't matter where you are on your investing journey. If you have $10 million or $100, we can help you. Everyone has to start somewhere! You can open an account with as little as $100, as long as you plan to contribute to and grow the account in the future. We also offer financial planning services with no managed investment accounts required.

Yes! Flat-fee financial planning is best for those who would benefit from working with a financial professional but wish to continue to manage their own investments. Our flat monthly subscription fee for financial planning includes the initial financial plan construction and then two ongoing one-on-one annual meetings to keep you on track to meet your financial goals. Additional one-on-one meetings are available as needed at no additional cost. Tax return prep and investment management can also be added on, if interested. We also offer a one-time project-based financial planning service for those who do not want an ongoing professional relationship. Please see our Pricing page on our website for more information. (https://www.silverstone.financial/pricing)

No. Clients who choose our flat-fee financial planning monthly subscription are charged a one-time onboarding fee and then an ongoing monthly subscription payment. You can cancel your subscription anytime with no fees or penalties. Alternatively, we offer one-time financial plans for those not interested in an ongoing relationship.

Yes. We provide comprehensive retirement planning and can help you retire with confidence. Our lead financial advisor is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ and has helped many families plan for retirement.

Yes. We do estate planning for our financial planning clients; however, we are financial advisors, not estate lawyers. We are knowledgeable about inheritance law and estate planning but are not licensed to practice law or give legal advice. In collaboration with your attorney, we can help you create a comprehensive tax-efficient estate plan based on your values and wishes that is right for you and your family.

No. We do not draft legal documents for our clients. We offer discounted estate document preparation services for our clients in partnership with Trust & Will. For those interested, you will be able to independently draft your own estate documents on Trust & Will with our oversight. Additionally, you will be able to review your drafted documents one-on-one with a licensed estate attorney through Trust & Will, if you wish. This service is available as an optional add-on to any other service we offer. Estate document drafting costs between $150 and $850.

Yes. We are financial advisors, not accountants. We are knowledgeable about the tax code and offer some tax planning, but we are not licensed to give tax advice. All of our financial plans consider the tax implications of our recommendations. Our financial planning includes many tax-optimization strategies like investment tax loss harvesting, tax bracket optimization (Roth Conversion strategies), and minimizing estate taxes. If you wish to go deeper on tax planning or preparation, we are partnered with a licensed tax professional to provide tax advice and full-service tax return preparation at $300 per hour. This service is included for free for clients with over $1,000,000 of investable assets at Silverstone Financial.

Yes. If you are interested in tax preparation and filing, we are partnered with a licensed tax professional to provide this service in-house in conjunction with your financial planning team. Pricing is $300 per hour (2 hour minimum) and a typical tax return costs between $600 and $1,200. This service is included for free for clients with over $1,000,000 of investable assets at Silverstone Financial. (Tax prep is an optional service; you can continue to file with your current CPA if you prefer.)

No. We are fee-only financial advisors and are not licensed to sell insurance or annuities. However, proper insurance coverage is an important part of many financial plans. We recommend insurance and annuity products when appropriate. As fee-only fiduciary advisors, we cannot earn commissions for recommending specific investment or insurance strategies. All of our recommendations will always be in YOUR best interest. We are partnered with LLiS Insurance to provide low-load insurance services to our clients. We do not receive any compensation for recommending insurance products and services sold by LLiS. LLiS is a vetted insurance provider that we trust to provide you with the best products and services at the best prices; however, all of our clients have the option to execute our insurance recommendations with any insurance provider of their choosing.

A Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) is a firm registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or state securities administrators to be able to advise clients on securities investments and manage their investment portfolios. Investment Advisor Representatives (IARs) are the actual financial advisors that represent the firm. RIAs are very different than broker-dealers: RIAs do not actually hold or "custody" your assets. At Silverstone Financial, your assets are held at a broker-dealer custodian partner and are managed and traded by us. We advise on a variety of personal financial matters beyond investments, including tax planning and estate planning. Broker-dealers tend to be more narrowly focused on investing. Most importantly, RIAs are expected to act in a fiduciary capacity, while broker-dealers are only required to satisfy the suitability standard. RIA clients can be assured that their advisors always and unconditionally put their best interests first. Clients of broker-dealers need to be aware that the broker-dealer is permitted to dispense advice that is merely “suitable” for their client's investment portfolios and earn commissions.

Yes! Please see our home page to learn why it is important to work with a fee-only advisor. (https://www.silverstone.financial/)

Yes! Please see our home page to learn why it is important to work with a fiduciary advisor. (https://www.silverstone.financial/)

No. We are financial advisors, not accountants. Although we are knowledgeable about the tax code and offer some tax planning, we are not licensed to give tax advice. However, if you wish to go deeper on tax planning or tax preparation, we are partnered with a licensed tax professional to provide tax advice and full-service tax return preparation.

Silverstone Financial is currently a solo-practice (1 financial advisor). We hope in the future to grow the firm and bring on additional amazing associate advisors and staff members.

Silverstone Financial was incorporated on Aug 12th, 2021 and became a fully registered investment advisor in our first state (MD) on Nov 7th, 2021.

We are registered in Maryland. However, Silverstone Financial can serve anyone in the United States.

Yes! We have a fully virtual service model and can work with you from anywhere in the world. We use Zoom to host virtual meetings, e-sign documents online, and communicate primarily through email. If you are local to Maryland, our financial advisors can also meet you in person and offer house-call meetings.

Altruist is our primary Broker-Dealer Custodian. Altruist allows our financial advisors to efficiently manage our clients' investments. Our clients can log into Altruist's beautiful and easy-to-use website and mobile app to see their investment accounts. Altruist is a FINRA member broker-dealer and SEC registered investment advisor. All accounts are SIPC insured, with additional insurance on top of SIPC coverage has been arranged by Altruist.* *Keep in mind, this coverage does not include market losses. Securities in your account protected up to $500,000. For details, please see sipc.org Altruist: https://altruist.com/

Right Capital is our financial planning software. Right Capital powers our financial advisors to provide interactive retirement planning, tax-efficient distributions, net worth and budget tracking, and more. Clients can log into their website or mobile app to see their holistic financial picture and track their progress. Right Capital: https://www.rightcapital.com/

Riskalyze (a.k.a. Nitrogen) is our investment and risk analysis software. Determining how fast you’re comfortable traveling on your investment journey is the first step in developing an investment strategy that’s right for you. We use Riskalyze to determine the right level of risk to ensure our client's portfolios align with their values and goals. You can determine your own Risk Number here: Am I Taking Too Much Risk? Riskalyze / Nitrogen: https://www.riskalyze.com/

Guideline is our 401(k) partner. Guideline allows our advisors to create and manage modern customized 401(k) plans for our business owner clients. Guideline: https://www.guideline.com/

LLiS is an insurance and annuities provider. Proper insurance coverage is an important part of many financial plans. We recommend insurance and annuity products when appropriate. We are partnered with LLiS to provide low-load insurance services to our clients. As fee-only fiduciary advisors, we cannot and do not receive any compensation for recommending insurance products and services sold by LLiS. LLiS is a vetted insurance provider that we trust to provide you with the best products and services at the best prices; however, all of our clients have the option to execute our insurance recommendations with any insurance provider of their choosing. LLiS: https://llis.com/

Trust & Will is an estate document preparation company that we recommend for you to use to draft your estate documents. This service is available as an optional add-on to any other service we offer. Estate document prep costs between $150 and $850.

Yes! Silverstone Financial and its service providers use bank-level encrypted platforms to manage, transfer, and store your financial information.