Prospective Clients
Planning for retirement does not need to feel overwhelming.
Our #1 goal at Scholar Financial, LLC is to reduce your stress, as you plan for a future retirement, or as you are in retirement.
Dr. Rhoades brings his level of expertise to two types of clients, primarily: (1) Individuals and couples who are within 12 months of retirement, or who are already in retirement, and who possess $1,000,000 or greater in financial assets; (2) Corporate executives with ongoing planning needs, from career and life planning, to executive compensation and equity ownership issues, who possess $1,000,000 or greater in financial assets.
Dr. Rhoades enjoys the challenges posed by the greater financial planning and portfolio management issues faced by retirees and executives.
scholar financial, llc
Our Mission
A Focus on YOU – Your Personal Lifetime Goals, and Exploring the “Why.”
Fee-Only, Fiduciary
Scholar Financial, LLC is a fee-only, fiduciary investment advisory and financial planning firm.
Scholar Financial, LLC does not sell any investment nor insurance products.
Instead, Dr. Rhoades provides investment advice, portfolio management, and financial planning advice as a true professional, for reasonable compensation paid directly to us by our clients.
In other words, Scholar Financial, LLC seeks to avoid the many conflicts of interest that so often impair the ability of broker-dealer firms (and their registered representatives), as well as insurance companies (and their brokers and agents), from providing truly objective advice.
Simplified, Fee-Only Structure
We only receive fees directly from our clients. We don’t sell any investment or insurance products. This avoids conflicts of interest that are so commonly possessed by those who work for broker-dealer firms or as agents for insurance companies. Being “fee-only” is, in our view, the best method for adhering to a strict duty of loyalty to our clients.
Scholar Financial, LLC’s fees are far below industry averages. It is part of our commitment to adhere to our obligation, as professionals, at all times. Please refer to our “Firm Brochure” (Form ADV, Part 2A – Items 4 and 5) for our services and fees.
An annualized fee of 0.5% of the financial assets under management or under advisement for up to $2,000,000 of assets, and 0.15% for assets over $2,000,000. This covers all of the financial and investment advice provided.
Example: For example, if you have $500,000 joint account, $100,000 Roth IRA accounts, and $400,000 in 401(k) accounts = $1,000,000 total x 0.5% = $5,000 annual fee (0.50% equivalent). Billed quarterly ($1,250 per quarter), based upon value of financial assets at the end of the quarter. This better aligns our interests with yours.
Additional fees and costs result from mutual funds, ETFs, custodians of financial assets (i.e., brokerage firms and banks), and other providers. Dr. Rhoades undertakes extensive due diligence on investment solutions in order to ensure your total fees and costs remain quite low. Because total fees and costs matter.
What Makes Scholar Financial Different
A focus on YOU and Your WHY
Because wealth is not an ends, but a means, to accomplish great things in life. We help you define your goals, update and revise them, and then we plan for the accomplishment of your goals. We enjoy getting to know our clients, and assisting them with their journeys. It’s all about caring and safeguarding our clients’ interest, for that is our noble purpose.
Extensive Knowledge and Experience
Dr. Ron A. Rhoades is a professor, trusted industry advisor and speaker, frequently quoted in the national media, and author. He currently serves as a volunteer member on the Standards Resource Commission of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., and he chairs its Practice Standards subcommittee. He has testified on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. Department of Labor on standards of conduct for financial and investment advisers, and is known as a national expert on fiduciary law as applied to the delivery of financial advice.
Prudent Investor Rule PLUS Tax-Efficient Portfolio Management
Unlike most other investment advisory firms, we adhere to the tough “prudent investor rule” for our duty of care in designing and managing investment portfolios – rather than the “reasonable basis” required by law of investment advisers. We also pledge to manage investment portfolios tax-efficiently for the long term … because it’s not what you make, but what you keep (after fees, costs, and taxes) that matters.
Advice Provided on Held-Away Accounts
Some investment advisers and most brokers don’t provide advice on accounts held at other custodians – such as 401(k), 403(b), 457, ESOP, and other accounts. We integrate these accounts into the total portfolio upon which we provide advice, and monitor. It takes time to scrutinize retirement plan accounts and their investment options, but choosing among the best options available in those plans, while integrating with your other investment assets, can serve to create a more optimal portfolio. This can also often lead to more tax-efficient portfolios.
Independent Due Diligence
By severing ties with product providers, we maintain our independence. We undertake extensive due diligence to select the most appropriate investment strategies and investment products (mainly low-cost mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, municipal bonds, CDs) for our clients.
I’m interested
Becoming a Client
Please first e-mail Cathy Rhoades at: advisorinfo@scholarfinancial.com, and state: “Please provide us with your questionnaire.” Cathy will provide you with a link to this online, secure questionnaire, so that we may learn about you.
Then, after your completion of the questionnaire, and Ron’s review of same, Cathy will reach out to you to schedule an introductory Zoom or conference call (as you prefer). This is the opportunity to get to know each other better, and for each of us to ask and answer questions. This call usually lasts 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Ron typically provides an overview of financial, retirement and investment planning issues he has identified during this call. There is no charge for this conference. The purpose of the call is for both you, and us, to determine if we are a good match, and to ensure that we will add value. While this does not occur often, if Ron believes that you need different services from what we offer, he will gladly refer you to another fee-only Certified Financial Planner(tm) and investment adviser. At all times our primary concern is what is best for you.
After our initial Zoom or conference call, we encourage you to take several days (or longer) to make a decision about becoming a client. There is no stress, and no pressure.
Once a Client … The Next Steps
If you become our client, we then meet to confer about which areas of financial planning are most pressing. In our view, holistic financial and investment planning is a process (and not a multi-page report).
We then schedule a series of meetings to address each area – such as investment portfolio design and implementation, retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning, and/or reviewing your various types of insurance policies. (Again, we don’t sell any insurance, but do provide advice on insurance needs, and having the right coverage – not too much, and not too little.)
You are free to call or email us at any time, with any question concerning your finances, as well as career and other “life planning” decisions.
Cathy and Ron like to meet with all of our clients in-person, once a year. This typically occurs during the summer months, as Cathy and Ron travel around the country. When circumstances exist which deter meeting in-person, Zoom calls are held, instead.
Still have questions? No problem.
Following is much more extensive information about our firm. And, a guide to how you should be undertaking your own extensive due diligence when undertaking the important decision of choosing a financial / investment adviser.
While the process of becoming a client of Scholar Financial, LLC is straightforward, we encourage you to exercise due diligence with the very important decision of establishing a relationship with a financial advisor. Hence, we suggest that you undertake several steps when choosing any financial advisor.
The documents below will assist you in learning more about us.