Balliett Financial Services, Inc.
If you don't know about personal finances, let's hope someone who does is looking after you.
If you cannot support yourself, let's hope someone else is supporting you.
If you cannot learn to live within your income, you will become increasingly poor unless someone else comes to your rescue.
If you live long enough to be too old to earn your own living, you will discover that Social Security provides too little income to support even a meager lifestyle. Also, you will discover that Medicaid and food stamps are not enough to keep you warm, dry, healthy, and happy.
If you hope to leave someone else better off than they are, you're expecting way too much.
If you think financial matters are beneath your dignity, your arrogance will fail you.
If you fail to show appreciation for the financial support given to you by another person, you risk seeing it withdrawn.
If you just haven't a clue, here's the first bit of information you need: Money is a tool that solves problems. It puts food on the table and a roof over your head. It opens the door to education. It brings the Internet into your world. It obtains the services of hospitals, physicians, and dentists. It provides the ability to help others.
If you are a parent or a teacher, learn how to make your kids money-wise and self-sufficient.
If you are a very rich parent, give them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes, to learn by doing, and to discover the joy of achievement.
Begin by recognizing that we can help. It's what we do at Balliett Financial. For example, here are our answers to some familiar questions:
Make money, pay your bills. There's more? Lots more. Some never guess there's anything special to know about personal finances. Yet, full-time planners have trouble learning enough to get started and then to keep up with what's new.
For yourself (and your loved ones), you should know the answers to these questions and many more (and we can ease the task):
What's the beginning point, the essential insight? The quality of information and advice varies greatly in the advisory services, just as it does in architecture, construction, and business management.
Going in, what else should I know? What's most important is the quality and scope of the information and advice, dispensed objectively and with your best interests in mind.
What's the best way to become an excellent DIY financial advisor? Study. Learn as much as a good financial advisor knows. Opportunities to learn are in bewildering abundance in classrooms, bookstores, magazines, and on the Web. The only item in short supply is motivation.
While you're learning, new and better information, insights, and tools will appear.
As a determined DIY (do-it-yourself) advisor, you risk being overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of information, issues, and new developments.
You can save time and energy with good direction and tutoring. Ease your burden by retaining a financial advisor who is willing to help you learn. That would be us.
What to look for when selecting a lawyer? Find one who puts your best interests ahead of his own. And:
Has special knowledge of asset protection, estate planning, real estate, taxes, or whatever else belongs on your agenda.
Among the warning signs is a lawyer who:
What to look for when selecting an insurance agent? Find one who can compare the policy he's recommending with at least two relatively good competitive policies sold by competing insurers. And:
Helps you shop online for competitive prices by highly rated insurers. And:
Doesn't pretend to be your new best friend.
Among the warning signs are an insurance broker or agent who:
What to look for when selecting a financial advisor? Find one who isn't selling insurance or investment products by posing as an objective advisor. That's Trojan Horse marketing, and your own best interests may not head the agenda. Also:
Find one who can and does explain the terrible shortcomings of all cash-value life insurance and most mutual funds.
Listens when you speak.
Isn't full of himself.
Exhibits common sense.
These are some warning signs:
What's a wealth manager? A planning firm that provides a team approach, likes to work with entire families, and offers a wider-than-usual range of services.
Are you a stockbroker? No. A stockbroker is a salesperson, and his loyalty is to his employer, not to his customers. Balliett Financial is a registered investment advisor and a portfolio manager. We make the decisions on what to buy and to sell, and we place our orders through a discount broker that deals only with registered investment advisors.
Also, we are advisors on personal finances and certain business matters. Unlike stockbrokers, we are fiduciaries. That means we are liable for our mistakes and compensated by no one but our clients. We dispense the same information and advice to our clients that we dispense to our parents, children, and siblings.
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Balliett Financial Services, Inc.
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