Description of the Firm
Wisdom Wealth Strategies, LLC is a Colorado domiciled limited liability company originally formed in
December of 2009. We operate under the business name Wisdom Wealth Strategies. We are not a
subsidiary of, nor do we control, another financial services industry entity.
Our original registration as an investment adviser occurred in 2014 with the State of Colorado and has since
changed to an SEC registration during 2021. Our firm and its associates may register, become licensed or
meet certain exemptions to registration and/or licensing in other jurisdictions in which we conduct
investment advisory business.
Andrea L. Blackwelder, CFP®, ChFC® and Joseph D. Clemens, CFP®, EA, AIF® are the firm’s Managing
Members and shareholders. Ms. Blackwelder also serves as our Chief Compliance Officer (supervisor).
Additional information about Ms. Blackwelder and Mr. Clemens and their professional experience may be
found in their respective Form ADV Part 2B brochure supplements.
Description of Advisory Services
If you choose to engage Wisdom Wealth Strategies for its services, you must first complete our client
agreement. Thereafter, discussion and analysis will be conducted to determine your financial needs, goals,
holdings, etc. Depending on the scope of the engagement, you may be asked to provide copies of the
following documents early in the process:
• Wills, codicils, and trusts
• Insurance policies
• Mortgage information
• Tax returns
• Current financial specifics including W-2s or 1099s
• Information on current retirement plans and benefits provided by your employer
• Statements reflecting current investments in retirement and non-retirement accounts
• Employment or other business agreements you may have in place
• Completed risk profile questionnaires or other forms provided by our firm
It is important that the information and/or financial statements you provide are accurate. Our firm is not
obligated to verify the information you have provided which will then be used in the advisory process.
Financial Planning
For those interested in areas such as: cash flow and budgeting, education funding, retirement planning, risk
management, estate planning, as well as periodic investment advice, we offer our financial planning
services. Your financial plan is customized for your situation. The incorporation of most or all the above
subjects allows not only a thorough analysis but also a tailored plan that is focused on your unique
requirements so that we are able to assist you in reaching your goals.
A range of variables can affect the development of a financial plan, such as the quality of your own records,
complexity and number of current investments, diversity of insurance products and employee benefits you
currently hold, size of the potential estate, and special needs of the client or their dependents, among
others. At your request, we may concentrate on reviewing only a specific area, such as an employer
retirement plan allocation, funding an education, etc. When our planning services focus only on certain
areas of your interest, your overall situation may not be fully addressed due to limitations you may have
established. In all instances involving our financial planning engagements, our clients retain full discretion
over all implementation decisions and are free to accept or reject any recommendation we make.
Portfolio Management
Our firm is able to implement investment strategies that we have recommended to you. Depending on your
risk profile, goals and needs, among other considerations, your portfolio will involve the employment of one
of our investment strategies as well as either a broad range or more narrowly focused choice of investment
vehicles which are further discussed in Item 8 of this brochure, and our fee rates are noted in Item 5. Where
appropriate, we will prepare investment guidelines reflecting your objectives, time horizon, tolerance for
risk, as well as any account constraints you may have for the portfolio. For example, you have the right to
exclude certain securities from your portfolio (e.g., no options or foreign stocks). Investment guidelines are
designed to be specific enough to provide future guidance while allowing flexibility to work with changing
market conditions. We do not
sponsor or serve as portfolio manager of a wrap fee investment program.
Investment Supervisory Services
Through our investment supervisory services offering we develop a customized portfolio for you based on
your unique situation, investment goals and tolerance for risk. We serve as your portfolio manager under a
discretionary or non-discretionary agreement (refer to Item 16), and the engagement includes:
• Determination of risk tolerance
• Investment strategy
• Investment guideline development
• Asset allocation
• Asset selection
• Regular monitoring
• Periodic rebalancing
Tax Return Preparation
Qualified firm personnel are available to provide our clients assistance in the preparation of federal and
state income tax returns. Combining personal and/or small business income tax return preparation with
financial planning may assist clients with a thorough, coordinated understanding of their finances. Clients
are not obligated to use our firm for multiple services.
Retirement Plan Services
Our firm is available to assist retirement plan sponsors in understanding the scope of their duties and
responsibilities, assist them with their investment options, and provide general advice and support during
retirement plan group enrollment. We provide our plan services per § 3(21) of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). We do not serve as plan adviser pursuant to ERISA § 3(38), investment
manager or plan administrator. Investment selection and rebalancing will be accomplished by plan
participants on a self-directed basis.
Retirement Plan Advice and Rollovers
As a registered investment adviser, our firm is a fiduciary to every client, meaning that we are obligated to
act in our clients’ best interests at all times. In addition to our fiduciary status as an investment adviser firm,
when our firm provides advice to retirement investors, such as advice on an employer-sponsored retirement
plan, Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or other qualified retirement plan, we may also be considered by
the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service to be acting as a fiduciary under Title I of ERISA
and the Internal Revenue Code. These fiduciary obligations include requirements that we disclose our
services and fees, conflicts of interest, and the reasons our recommendations are in the client’s best
interests.
After an analysis of the client’s situation and plan documents, we will consider relevant factors including but
not limited to the following:
Alternatives to rolling the employer plan to an IRA, including leaving the money in an employer’s
retirement plan (if permitted); rolling the money to a new employer plan if available; or cashing out;
The fees and expenses associated with both the employer’s plan and the rollover IRA (or other
alternatives such as noted above) and whether the employer current pays for some or all of the plan’s
expenses;
The different levels of services and investments available under the employer plan and the rollover
IRA, and other alternatives;
Evidence that a rollover is the most appropriate choice in light of any additional costs and the
resultant decrease in the client’s returns;
How withdrawals are treated under each alternative (e.g., penalties up to age 55 vs. 59-1/2);
Protection from creditors and legal judgments (unlimited vs. bankruptcy only; federal- and state-
specific);
Required minimum distributions;
Tax implications of rolling shares of employer stock;
The impact of economically significant investment features such as surrender schedules and index
annuity cap and participation rates (such as in an employer-sponsored 403(b) plan account);
Any other relevant variables particular to the client’s situation.
The client will be made aware of conflicts of interest including but not limited to whether our firm will profit
from a recommendation through financial planning and/or investment management fees, and whether
services we offer are already provided by or available through the current plan, potentially at no additional
cost.
As of December 31, 2022, our firm had over $108.2 million of reportable client assets under its management
via discretionary engagement agreements.1
1 The term “assets under management” and rounding to the nearest $100,000 per the SEC’s Instructions for Part 2 of Form ADV.