Conflict Free Planning
We Are Not Your Normal Financial Planning Company
Our unique process, Conflict Free Planning, is the foundation of everything we do. It means we're committed to providing skilled, professional financial planning services without the conflicts of interest often present in the financial services profession. Here are the three most common:
No Commissions
Commissions that are contingent upon the sale of a financial product frequently misalign a professional's recommendations with your needs as a client. This type of conflict is most common with products like:
Comparing different loans
Comparing different investments
Completing 401(k) and other retirement plan rollovers
Considering different types of insurance or whether to purchase
At Callahan Financial Planning Company, we will never earn a commission or any form of revenue for any of our recommendations. We are only paid by our clients directly, by hourly billing or a fixed rate.
This is intentionally designed to ensure you can trust all the advice you receive. It is also likely to save you money, and can often be a significant amount when compared to other banks, brokerages, financial advisors and insurance companies. To compare the difference, view our analysis titled The Price of "Free Advice".
No Salespeople
"Salespeople in a traditional financial institution hold the role of bringing in customers, without a focus on their most important role: providing true financial planning that accomplishes the very goals you're looking to reach. In most capacities, it also means a salesperson has a conflict of interest, where their objective of selling their products may go against your objective of receiving sound financial advice without bias. "
We firmly support a sales-free culture throughout the company. It means we only hire true financial planners, and not people employed for the sole purpose of distributing financial products.
We embrace a firm culture of equity and trust in having a vested interest in our client's success. We believe treating our clients right and ensuring their goals are monitored to success is a more effective form of marketing.
No Hidden Costs
In addition to sales commissions, there are all sorts of hidden costs in financial products that cost a client money, and often a lot of it. They might include:
Account or maintenance fees for having an account
Revenue sharing and 12(b)-1 fees on investments, including annuities, life insurance and mutual funds
Trading costs for stocks, bonds, mutual funds and exchange traded funds
The net interest margin on your money invested or on deposit (when a financial institution chooses how much to pay you in interest compared to what they can earn)
Our firm philosophy and policies state we will never participate in any of the above, as we believe they cause significant detriment to your financial health. Although they can't always be eliminated when conducting financial transactions, our commitment to you states we will always conduct reasonable due diligence to ensure our financial choices are in your best interest and that we will not earn such compensation.
As a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), we have a rare fiduciary obligation to our clients to ensure your best interests are always served.