Frequently Asked Questions

We work with individuals and families that are looking to delegate the navigation of their financial lives to a team of professionals. We typically work with those who have experienced or are planning to experience inflection points in their lives, such as retirement, inheritance, divorce, sale of a business, death of a parent, etc. We also work with many non-profit organizations, endowments, and corporations and serve clients both locally and across the country. Our goal is to be your resource for any question that begins with a dollar sign.

Yes, we are fiduciaries and it is therefore our duty to act in your best interest with all of the advice we provide and the actions we take on your behalf.

This depends on a number of factors. We would encourage you to have a complimentary conversation with one of our Wealth Advisors to explore your current financial situation and we can provide you with some direction from there. Visit our Contact page to schedule a call.

An advisor is your one-stop-shop for any questions that begin with a dollar sign! Financial planning, retirement planning, investment management, tax planning, estate planning, charitable giving, and much more. All of our Wealth Advisors are Certified Financial Planners, each with various areas of specific expertise. To learn more about what an advisor does and why our approach is different, take a look at this article from the CFP Board.

From the CFP Board:

Most people think all financial planners are “certified,” but this isn’t true. Just about anyone can use the title “financial planner.” CFP Board benefits the public by independently certifying financial planners. Although CFP Board does not guarantee their work, CFP® professionals have met rigorous qualifications for financial planning. Only those who have fulfilled CFP Board’s rigorous requirements can call themselves a CFP® professional.

As part of their certification, CFP® professionals commit to high ethical standards. What’s more, a CFP® professional must acquire several years of experience related to delivering financial planning services to clients and pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam before they can call themselves a CFP® professional.

For more information on what a CFP® is, visit the CFP Board's "Why Choose A CFP Professional" page.

They are not the same; however, they are closely related. A CFP® professional is a fiduciary, which means they are committed to acting in your best interest as it related to all advice and decisions around your financial matters. For more information on what a CFP® is, visit the CFP Board's "Why Choose A CFP Professional" page.

We do not have a minimum asset level to work with us; however, we do have a minimum quarterly fee of $1,250 which equates to the cost associated with a $500,000 investment portfolio. We do have some clients who find significant value from our financial planning and other services who choose to pay the minimum fee while they accumulate assets to the $500,000 level.

We are fee‐only advisors with a fiduciary responsibility to you. This means we are legally required to act in your best interest and, therefore, we do not accept any fees or compensation based on product sales. Our fee is calculated based on a percentage of assets under management, which tiers down as your total assets increase. We do not have a minimum account size, although we do have a $1,250 per quarter minimum fee. To learn more about how we charge our fees, please refer to our latest Form CRS filing linked at the bottom of this page.

We offer an array of comprehensive wealth management services including financial planning, investment management, tax planning, retirement planning, charitable giving, and sustainable investing. To learn more, visit our Services page.

Our philosophy is to design and manage portfolios utilizing a disciplined long-term strategy based on sound fundamentals proven to influence investment success. The foundation of our investment management philosophy is based on rigorous academic research and financial science, which shows that a properly diversified selection of uncorrelated asset classes, managed with a disciplined rebalancing methodology, is the best approach to provide investors the highest probability of attaining their financial goals. Learn more about our investment approach.

Our approach is team-based, providing you comfort knowing that your financial planning, investment management, money movement, and other needs are not concentrated with just one individual. You will work directly with a single Wealth Advisor (the quarterback of your relationship) who will be your primary point of contact for all of your financial planning needs. You will also have a Client Service Associate assigned who works closely with both you and your advisor to facilitate paperwork, money movement, and other on-going service needs. Behind them, we have a deep operations and trading team that handles all of the trading and other behind-the-scenes functions of our relationship with you. You can learn more about our entire team on our Team page.

Absolutely! We work with many families and individuals across the country and even a few abroad. We are happy to meet and collaborate with you via phone or video conferencing software.

We would love to have a conversation with you to learn about your financial situation and share more about Willow Creek. Please visit our Contact page to schedule a complimentary call with a Wealth Advisor.

It’s easy! Referrals are the ultimate compliment and we would appreciate an introduction to anyone in your life who you feel may benefit from a conversation with one of our Wealth Advisors. You can either introduce them to us via an email (preferred), or direct them to our Contact page to schedule a complimentary call. We are happy to speak with anyone and provide them with some direction in their financial life.