Your investment accounts are not a chemistry lab. They’re your tools to support you in building a full and independent life.

Let’s protect what took a lifetime to build.

These 6 simple, transparent principles inform everything we do:

1. Cash is king.

We believe the key to success in any long-term investment plan is to have a robust reserve of cash. Each of us has a number in our minds that helps us sleep better at night. Knowing we have money in the bank, ready and available, should anything come up in our daily lives, allows us to stay invested in our long term portfolios even in the most difficult of times. Day-to-day living expenses are covered for the imaginable future. Knowing this allows you to keep a long-term investment plan in place so when a recovery happens, you’re ready to benefit.

2. Diversify.

When your money is spread out amongst different types of investments, you are reducing the impact of the whims of the market. In the industry, we call this asset allocation.

3. Invest in what you understand.

If an investment sounds too complicated, too good to be true, or too difficult for you to repeat it back to someone else, it’s probably worth avoiding. Also, ignore the headlines. The news media does many things well. Long-term investing is not one of them.

4. Stick to your plan.

Have confidence in yourself and in the Certified Financial Planner® that you’ve hired. Once the plan is in place, stick to it. We believe it will work if you let it, but you need to let it work over a long period of time.

5. Trust your gut.

The best investment advice is also the best advice for life. If something doesn’t sit well with you, it really is okay to say, “No, thank you.”

6. Make simple, low-cost, transparent, liquid investments.

We believe in this common-sense principle of investing. If we have learned anything over the past few years, more complicated and sophisticated does not mean better.