Firm Description
HFH PLANNING INC. (“we”, “us”, “our”) was founded in 1993.
We provide personalized confidential financial planning and investment
management to individuals. Advice is provided through consultation with the
client and may include determination of financial objectives, identification of
financial problems, cash flow management, tax planning, insurance review,
investment management, education funding, retirement planning, and estate
planning.
We are strictly a fee-only financial planning and investment management firm.
The firm does not sell annuities, insurance, stocks, bonds, mutual funds,
limited partnerships, or other commissioned products. The firm is not affiliated
with entities that sell financial products or securities. No commissions in any
form are accepted. No finder’s fees are accepted.
Investment advice is provided, with the client making the final decision on
investment selection. HFH PLANNING INC. does not act as a custodian of
client assets. The client always maintains asset control. HFH PLANNING
INC. places trades for clients under a limited power of attorney.
A written evaluation of each client's initial situation is provided to the client, in
the form of a comprehensive financial plan that addresses any of the areas
described above. Periodic reviews are also communicated to provide
reminders of the specific courses of action that need to be taken.
Other professionals (e.g., lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, etc.) are
engaged directly by the client on an as-needed basis. Conflicts of interest will
be disclosed to the client in the unlikely event they should occur.
The initial meeting, which may be by telephone or in person and usually last
between 20 minutes to one-half hour, is free of charge and is considered an
exploratory interview to determine the extent to which financial planning and
investment management may be beneficial to the client.
Principal Owners
George Martin Poole CFP® is a 51% owner. Peter May CFP® is 49% owner.
Types of Advisory Services
HFH PLANNING INC. provides investment supervisory services, also known
as asset management services, and furnishes investment advice through
consultations.
On more than an occasional basis, HFH PLANNING INC. furnishes advice to
clients on matters not involving securities, such as financial planning matters,
tax planning, and trust services that often include estate planning.
As of December 31, 2021, HFH PLANNING INC. manages approximately
$169 million in discretionary assets. HFH PLANNING INC. also has
$77million in assets under advisement.
Tailored Relationships
The goals and objectives for each client are documented for each client. A
target asset allocation that reflects the stated goals and objectives is
established for each client. Clients may have more than one target asset
allocation based on the nature of their goals and objectives. Clients may
impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of securities.
Agreements may not be assigned without the client’s consent.
Types of Agreements
The following agreements define the typical client relationships.
Financial Plan Development Agreement
A financial plan is designed to help the client with all aspects of financial
planning without any services provided once the financial plan is completed.
The financial plan may include, but is not limited to: a net worth statement; a
cash flow statement; a review of investment accounts, including reviewing
asset allocation and providing repositioning recommendations that are based
on the assessment of the client’s risk tolerance and their goals and
objectives; strategic tax planning; a review of retirement accounts and plans
including recommendations; a review of insurance policies and
recommendations for changes, if necessary; one or more retirement
scenarios; estate planning review and recommendations; and education
planning with funding recommendations.
A target asset allocation is developed from an assessment of the client’s risk
tolerance and risk capacity. Specific recommendations relating to other
aspects are provided as a part of the financial plan. Implementation of the
recommendations is at the discretion of the client.
The fee for a financial plan is predicated upon the facts known at the start of
the engagement. The minimum fee is $1,080 and is negotiable and
represents an initial payment for three hours of our services. Since financial
planning is a discovery process, situations occur wherein the client is
unaware of certain financial exposures or predicaments.
In most cases the discovery process and plan preparation are more extensive
than the three hours mentioned above. Clients are advised of this probability
at the initial interview. Each hour is charged, in 15-minute increments, at the
$360 rate.
After delivery of a financial plan, future meetings may be scheduled as
necessary to refine the plan or make any additional recommendations
requested by the client. Follow-on implementation work is billed monthly in
arrears at the rate of $360 per hour or the client may establish an Ongoing
Planning and Advisory Services Agreement detailed below.
Ongoing Planning and Advisory Services Agreement
Just as important as having a completed Financial Plan is implementing,
monitoring and maintaining all aspects of the Plan going forward. After
completion of the financial plan, most clients then choose to have us assist
with implementation of the plan, manage their assets and provide ongoing in-
depth financial planning advice. Detailed investment advice and specific
recommendations are provided to implement the target asset allocation
developed in the financial plan. On an ongoing basis, if life events cause
clients to change their goals and objectives, we will recommend and
implement modifications to the plan.
The annual fee for this service, billed monthly or quarterly, is based on a
client’s combined net worth and will include any cash balances in the
calculation and gross income, according to the following table:
Net Worth + Gross Income: Annual Fee %
$0 to $1,000,000 0.60%
Next $1,000,000 0.50%
Thereafter 0.30%
This covers investments, manager selection, monitoring all holdings, quarterly
reporting and rebalancing and as detailed below in the Investment Advisory
Services section; as well as ongoing insurance planning, tax planning,
retirement planning, college planning and estate planning. The minimum
annual fee is $4,800, and fees are negotiable and clients with a similar
amount of assets to invest may incur different fees because of the use of net
worth and gross income in the calculation. By using net worth and gross
income to calculate fees, the intent of the Ongoing Planning and Advisory
Service is to be truly objective, fair, transparent and aligned with the client’s
goals always. As part of the ongoing review and modification of the plan, we
generally meet with the client between two and four times per year.
The duration of this agreement is at the client’s discretion. We will use the
goals, objectives, and assessment of risk tolerance documented in the client’s
financial plan in providing recommendations related to the management of the
client’s investment portfolio. The client must inform us that there has been a
change in their goals, objectives and/or risk tolerances. The client or HFH
PLANNING INC. may terminate an Agreement at any time by written notice to
the other party. At termination, fees will be billed on service provided prior to
termination.
Investment Advisory Services
The client can engage HFH PLANNING INC. to provide non-discretionary
investment advisory services on a fee-only basis. HFH PLANNING INC.’s
annual investment advisory fee is based upon a percentage (%) of the market
value of the assets and will include any cash balances in the calculation
placed under our management. Before engaging us to provide investment
advisory services, clients are required to enter into an Investment Advisory
Services Agreement with HFH PLANNING INC., setting forth the terms and
conditions of the engagement (including termination), describing the scope of
the services to be provided, and the fee that is due from the client.
Market Value of Assets: Annual Fee %
$0 to $500,000 1.00%
Next $500,000 0.90%
Thereafter 0.65%
HFH PLANNING INC.’s annual investment advisory fee shall include
investment advisory services. If the client requires extraordinary planning or
consultation services (to be determined in the sole discretion of HFH
PLANNING INC., we may determine to charge for such additional services
pursuant to a stand-alone Financial Plan Development (see above).
We provide investment advisory services specific to the needs of each client.
Before providing investment advisory services, we will ascertain each client’s
investment objectives. Then, we will allocate and/or recommend that the
client allocate investment assets consistent with the designated investment
objectives. We generally allocate or recommend that clients allocate
investment assets among no-load mutual fund shares and exchange traded
funds (“ETFs”). In addition, we may use model portfolios if the portfolio meets
the investment objectives of the client. However, we may also accommodate
clients and purchase other securities on a client’s behalf upon an unsolicited
request. Such purchases have historically been fixed-income securities, and
individual equity securities. Once allocated, we provide ongoing monitoring
and review of account performance, asset allocation and client investment
objectives.
Tax Preparation Agreement
Tax preparation work is performed separately and billed separately. Minimum
fee for tax preparation is $400. Eligible federal and applicable state returns
are filed electronically without an additional fee.
Hourly Planning Engagements
We provide hourly planning services for clients who need advice on a limited
scope of work. The hourly rate for limited scope engagements is $360.
Asset Management
Assets are invested primarily in no-load or fee waived mutual funds and
exchange-traded funds, usually through discount brokers or fund companies.
Fund companies charge each fund shareholder an investment management
fee that is disclosed in the fund prospectus. Discount brokerages may charge
a transaction fee for the purchase of some funds.
Stocks and bonds may be purchased or sold through a brokerage account
when appropriate. The brokerage firm charges a fee for stock and bond
trades. We do not receive any compensation, in any form, from fund
companies or brokerages.
Investments may also include: equities (stocks), exchange traded funds
(ETFs), corporate debt securities, commercial paper, certificates of deposit,
cash balances, municipal securities, investment company securities (variable
annuities and mutual funds shares), U.S. government securities, options
contracts, futures contracts, and interests in partnerships.
Initial public offerings (IPOs) are not available through HFH PLANNING INC.
Termination of Agreement
A Client may terminate any of the aforementioned agreements at any time by
notifying HFH PLANNING INC. in writing and paying the rate for the time
spent prior to notification of termination or the prorated annual fee for those
clients whose fees are based on their net worth and gross income. If the client
made an advance payment, we will refund any unearned portion of the
advance payment.
HFH PLANNING INC. may terminate any of the aforementioned agreements
at any time by notifying the client in writing. If the client made an advance
payment, we will refund any unearned portion of the advance payment.