By John Halterman

You have big goals for your future, and you know you need expert financial guidance to help you achieve them. But you want to make sure you’re partnering with a wealth manager who works to gain a deep understanding of your goals and circumstances, has the vast technical knowledge needed to help you create advanced strategies, and treats you like a valued family member.

Beacon Wealth Management is a wealth strategist firm that provides those services and more. We thrive on building deep relationships with our clients and their families to help them achieve success in the most important cornerstones of wealth. Below, we describe our client engagement process to demonstrate how we offer so much value to our clients.

1. Listening Session

Our relationship will be built on trust, so it’s important that we get to know each other before committing to work together. In our initial discovery session, we’ll discuss your family dynamics and values, what you would like us to help you accomplish as well as your current financial situation. 

For now, we’ll keep our conversation more general and focus on the big-picture view of your finances. To make sure we learn everything we need to know about you and communicate the most important information about us, we use an acronym to guide this initial session:

• Family Story
• Occupation
• Recreation
• Money Goals
• Asset Summary
• Team of Professionals

Although this conversation will mostly revolve around you, we also use this session to explain how our firm works and what you can expect from us. This is a chance for you to ask all your questions and make sure we’ll be a good fit.

2. Deconstruction Analysis

After we mutually agree to work together, we dive deeper into your financial situation. The purpose of the deconstruction analysis is to identify your unique financial strengths and diagnose the roadblocks and missed opportunities stopping you from optimizing your wealth.  We include the following four elements to complete this analysis:

• Our sensitivity and responsiveness to the human element of personal finances
• A Wealth Strategy Confidence Checklist
• Our state-of-the-art technical expertise in financial and legal strategies
• Sophisticated wealth planning software

We know that technical expertise and state-of-the-art software are important to developing sound strategies, but we also know that personal finances are deeply emotional and embedded in long-held beliefs. At Beacon Wealth, we like to say that we’ve also mastered the “financial bedside manner” our clients need to truly engage with their Wealth Strategy.

3. Wealth Strategy Recommendations

After we’ve performed the Deconstruction Analysis, we can engage in the fun part: your custom Wealth Strategy recommendations. We are fiduciaries and, as such, are committed to your best interest first and foremost. We don’t sell financial products on commission, so our success is directly tied to your success. When you win, we win. When you lose, we lose. 

During this phase, we will provide recommendations that are based on four wealth cornerstones:

• Retirement and investment advisory for sustainable income and a successful lifestyle in retirement
• Tax mitigation planning to help you avoid paying excessive taxes
• Family protection so you and your loved ones are prepared to deal with unplanned, catastrophic events
• Family legacy and estate planning so your heirs can experience an efficient and tax-advantageous transfer of wealth

All the advice we deliver is actionable. We focus on the wealth cornerstones that are most important to you and your family before moving on to other areas.

4. Client Onboarding & Implementation

At this point, we will establish your wealth strategy portal to keep all affairs coordinated and organized. You can expect one of our Relationship Coordinators will reach out to set up your account and wealth portal. You will need to provide relevant documents and information that are pertinent to your wealth strategy.

We will also begin implementing the wealth strategy recommendations you’ve received. As we begin implementing your strategies, we may engage with your attorney, CPA, and other professionals who are integral to these important parts of your life. 

5. Strategy Update and Progress Session

Our relationship is ongoing and will ideally last for years to come. Changing events and goals often cause your needs to evolve, so your Wealth Strategy should be updated as often as needed to reflect those changes. We are committed to always communicating with you proactively so we can maintain a current understanding of your family dynamics. 

We will also constantly review your strategy’s progress in accordance with your objectives. We know that as markets and economic conditions change, we may need to update your strategy periodically. We are committed to adjusting as needed. And we provide 24/7 access to your financial information and documents with our Wealth Strategy Portal, which you can learn more about here.

Schedule a Discovery Session to Learn More

At Beacon Wealth Management, we understand that a simplified, yet comprehensive approach to wealth management is the key to worrying less about your finances. As such, our Wealth Strategy Portal streamlines your wealth strategy so you don’t get overwhelmed. If you’re tired of muddling through important wealth strategy issues on your own, call (304) 626-3900 or email me at jhalterman@bwmwv.com to get our help!

About John

John Halterman, best-selling author and nationally published blogger has been featured as a financial guest expert on the TV shows of self-help gurus Brian Tracy and Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul. He has appeared on ABC, FOX, BRAVO, NBC, CBS, and A&E.  John is the expert host of the weekly WDTV News 5 segment, “Solutions 4 Financial Independence.”

As an authority on wealth management, he has been invited by hundreds of institutions such as universities, federal agencies, professional associations, and large energy and utility corporations to be a guest speaker and educational event host. Event topics include maximizing your retirement, managing down market investment risk, how to reduce your tax burden, and transferring your family wealth in the most tax advantageous way.

John is the founder and owner of Beacon Wealth Management, specializing in helping entrepreneurs, professional practitioners, and retirees overcome the 4 major challenges facing successful families. He is a warm communicator with a passion for helping people transform their financial futures. John understands the multifaceted set of financial worries people face as they become more successful and enter the retirement red zone. He empathizes personally with each client and delivers a collaborative client experience that empowers people to reach their life goals.

With more than two decades of experience, John’s professional credentials include:

• Certified Wealth Strategist (CWS)
• Accredited Investment Fiduciary^® (AIF^®)
• Certified Estate Planner™ (CEP®)
• Chartered Federal Employee Benefits Consultant℠ (ChFEBC℠)
• Professional Plan Consultant® (PPC®)
• Registered Financial Consultant (RFC)
• Past member of Ed Slott’s Master Elite IRA Study Group

A native of Weston, West Virginia, John served in the United States Air Force prior to becoming a Wealth Advisor. Today, he resides with his family in Bridgeport, West Virginia. He and his wife, Lisa, have been married since 2005 and have three amazing children. A family-loving man, he enjoys giving back to his community, coaching youth sports, landscaping and architectural design, WV Athletics, and is an outdoor and racquetball-playing enthusiast.