At Hornstein Financial, we advise individuals and families in transition; retiring, moving from one generation to the next, marrying or divorcing. We’ve developed and refined a process integrating estate planning, tax planning and investing.
At our initial meeting, the goal is for you to get to know us and for us to get to know you. We want to be sure there is a good match between what you want and what we can provide. We want your expectations and our expectations to be in synch.
We start by asking open-ended questions as to why you came to see us. We want to understand your current financial condition; what is working and what is not working. We will ask about a wide variety of areas -- insurance, taxes, employee benefits, pension (401K), retirement planning (IRAs and annuities), other savings and investments, estate planning and so on. Then, what are your financial goals, time horizon (saving for retirement or now in retirement), and investing experience. It is a time for you to talk and for us to listen.
We also want to learn what is important to you, such as family, friends, or a special charity. This is more of a friendly conversation, than a professional interview. Nonetheless, it is a very important part of the meeting.
We then tell you about our office and ourselves. Steve is a 5K Marathon runner. Evan is a retired U.S. Diplomat. We discuss our investment beliefs and philosophy, and the variety of services that our office provides. We finish with a review of our fees.
Finally, if there is a match and you want to work with us, we complete a Risk Questionnaire, which often leads to a deeper discussion of your investing experience, expectations and risk tolerance, and schedule a second meeting to present a Personal Plan of Action for your approval.