What To Do If You Hate Apple Trees

So clearly we are in the business of providing wealth management and financial planning services to clients.

And we also know that most of you have at least some basic business sense.

Assuming both of these assumptions are correct, why would we write a blog post applauding our competition, and giving you other options to choose from?

Isn’t that just horrible business?

The truth is that no matter how great our business is, or how hard wee may try, Apple Tree Wealth Management cannot be, and will not be, everything to everyone.

And that’s okay.

Some of you may be DIY investors, some of you may not need the full extent of the services we provide, and some of you may just not like us.

Whatever the case, that does not mean that you should be left un-helped or under-served.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other resources that you can look to. While they may not provide the same level of service we do, they may be more appropriate for what you are looking for.

1. LearnVest

   LearnVest is a web-based financial planning firm that provides entry level financial planning services to its clients. Services start from just $69, which includes creating a budget, having a phone consultation with a LearnVest representative, and e-mail support for three months.

   For someone just out of school with limited financial resources, this would be a great option to get put on the right track.

   They also offer slightly more advanced services that cost upwards of $350, but provide a slightly more comprehensive plan, e-mail support for a year, and three phone check-ins.

   While their comprehensive plan is not what most financial planners would really consider comprehensive, it does provide a good groundwork to build off of. They will look at your financial situation as it stands today, as well as provide you with a few options you can implement on your own to achieve certain financial goals.

2. Mint.com

   Mint.com provides users with the ability to see their entire financial picture in one place. What this means is that you can view your checking, savings, investment, and 401(k) accounts, in addition to others, online, in real-time (updated daily), for free.

   In addition, Mint.com allows you to create budgets and track expenses categorically, so you can track how and where you are spending your money, how much is left over to save, and how your investments are performing (to an extent).

   This is a great way to take the first steps to putting your finances in order.

   Apple Tree Wealth Management provides its clients with access to a similar, but more comprehensive service as Mint.com.

   The one major advantage of the service we use versus Mint.com is that we are able to provide more comprehensive performance reporting on the quarterly reports we send to our clients, which helps them better understand their total portfolio performance, and allows us to better understand how our recommendations are performing relative to our expectations.

   However, when working on your own, Mint.com provides a service that is enough to meet the needs of the average individual.

3. Vanguard

   Now, most of you know my feelings towards Vanguard, so it may seem odd that I am recommending them as a service provider.

   However, for the DIY investor with limited time to conduct research on the multitude of investments available, Vanguard does provide a good one-stop-shop to manage your finances.
   

   Will you receive some financial advice? Maybe, depending on the amount of assets you have invested. But as my previously referenced post suggests, they are only the most basic of services.

   Vanguard funds, while not great, are not terrible either. They have a solid suite of mutual fund and ETF (exchange-traded fund) investments that usually have low expenses.

   Particularly for DIY investors, Vanguard is a great place to keep your money.

   However, I remain firm, that if you have the time to thoroughly research your investments yourself, or if you choose to work with a professional advisor, you will be better served investing in other fund families in addition to Vanguard.

Again, while we do what we can to serve our clients to the best of our ability, there are always going to be times where you have unique needs that may be better served elsewhere.

I hope that this article was helpful in showing you where some of those places might be, and how they may be able to help.

And for those who still feel that a full-service firm like Apple Tree Wealth Management is most appropriate, don’t hesitate to contact us today to discuss more about how we may be able to help!