Our Process
PLANNING YOUR FINANCIAL JOURNEY
As with any journey in life, to financially plan a retirement requires careful considerations- a clear vision of where you want to go and how you want to get there. Such planning can make all the difference when it comes to being able to enjoy this phase of life, confident that you have the income and long-term resources you will need.
Since 1985, MEA Wealth Advisors has been partnering with clients to help guide and support them on their journey toward retirement and beyond. We can act as your guide in helping you understand the complicated, ever-changing landscape of retirement planning and investment options. We can advise you on alternatives as you face important crossroads or unanticipated detours.
THE VALUE OF INDEPENDENT, OBJECTIVE GUIDANCE
At MEA Wealth Advisors, we are independent and objective. We have no vested interest in promoting a particular service or investment vehicle. We use securities, insurance and bank investments, and our only interest is that your portfolio meets your financial objectives. You’re always assured of objective recommendations and advice. Looking after your financial well-being is an important task that requires personal attention of dedicated advisors. Our relationships will always be based on trust, integrity and respect.
PUTTING YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE
No matter where you are in your financial journey, we recognize that your situation is unique. That’s why our relationship with you starts with us listening.
We sit down with you to discuss your long-range goals , and your vision of your retirement. We will take a candid look at your financial situation, including your current investment portfolio, contribution levels long-term savings strategy and where you want to go. Then we will give you an honest assessment of where you are. Together we will map out a plan customized to help meet those goals.
At MEA we are truly independent financial advisors, we don’t rely on cookie cutter plans or any particular companies vehicles. REMEMBER we don’t work for a large corporation, we work for you. We provide clients the broadest array of solutions and services to help meet your individual needs.
CHARTING A GOAL FOR RETIREMENT
What do you need to do to retire? And what are you not doing that you should be doing?
Whether you are deciding how to invest your company sponsored retirement funds, your personal investments, or reevaluating your long-term investing strategy, we can help you every step of the way. As part of this process, we help you:
- Evaluate you current retirement plan, as well as your existing savings and choices of employee-sponsored pension or retirement accounts.
- Structure your investments to meet those long-range goals, time horizon and tolerance for risk.
PROVIDING A DISCIPLINED INVESTMENT PROCESS
The hallmark for our investment management process is personalization. Your portfolio is carefully designed to meet your objectives.
We employ our investment experience and industry contacts to research and identify the best investment vehicles to suit your needs. We help to select qualified investment managers, and then track their performance and investment discipline over time to ensure the integrity of your portfolio. We provide regular and detailed reporting, helping you evaluate your investment returns and progress.
This process includes:
Assessment of goals, objectives and your risk tolerance
Creation and ongoing review of your Investment Policy Statement
Provide: on-going guidance for correct Asset allocation and portfolio structuring
Ongoing risk management, attribution and performance reporting
We work with you to develop appropriate, diversified asset allocation strategies to minimize risk and maximize return, with an emphasis on capital preservation, growth and tax efficiencies. We monitor the investments in your portfolio so you never have to worry about being aligned with your investment objectives. And we rebalance your portfolio on a regular basis, ensuring it stays in alignment with your stated investment goals.
AT THE CROSSROADS
By age 50-60, retirement for most people lies just over the horizon. This is a critical crossroad, requiring that you make significant decisions, including how you will handle distributions from your retirement accounts. Most employer-sponsored plans give you many choices which means many complicated decisions. One choice may be the decision of whether to decide receiving either a lump-sum payout or regular disbursements. This decision may be one of the most important choices you make, given the potential tax and wealth implications.
As your financial advisors, we want to help you prepare for these decisions, offering a candid and concise discussion of the benefits and risks associated with these various routes. We can work with you to help you decide which option makes sense for you, help you structure and invest your retirement assets in a way that helps to protect your hard-earned savings from taxes and short-term market volatility.
As retirement draws near, we can work with you to:
Design the optimal strategy for converting your savings into retirement income, while ensuring that you don’t outlive your resources.
Consolidate your retirement savings and simplify your distributions.
Structure and invest your retirement assets in a way that provides maximum income and best protects you from any unnecessary taxes or market volatility.
CURRENT CLIENT FORMS
Please find a list of commonly used forms below.
General Use Forms:
*please note that additional paperwork may be requested upon submittal of these forms if necessary
- Client Information Sheet
- Account Authorization Form
- Beneficiary Update Form
- Change of Address Form
Cetera Advisors LLC Forms:
- Cetera Online Access Form
- Bank Instruction Form
Our Client Service Department has one purpose, to help you, our client. Please feel free to call us (866.322.4200)
Our Values
MEA Wealth Advisors is built on a foundation of uncompromising, client-centered values that we believe sets us apart.
FIDUCIARY PARTNERS
As an independent financial advisory firm, we place our clients’ interests above all else. Every decision we make, and each piece of advice we provide, is based on a simple question: What’s best for the client? Every other consideration, including our compensation, is secondary.
EDUCATION-FOCUSED
We arm our clients with the knowledge to make confident decisions. In recommending investments, for example, we clearly explain the options and empower clients to make the best decisions.
SERVICE-ORIENTED
Great service is non-negotiable. We pride ourselves on communication, responsiveness and problem-solving that are second to none.
TRANSPARENT
Trust is essential to great client relationships. Whether it’s the fees they’re paying, what’s in their portfolios, or how their investments are performing, our clients are fully informed.
EVIDENCE-BASED
Clients’ financial futures are too important for gut-based decisions. Our entire financial planning and asset management approach is underpinned by clear evidence and statistical analysis.
At MEA Wealth Advisors, we don’t succeed in spite of our client-centered approach. We succeed because of it.