Frequently Asked Questions
The following questions are those most often posed to us at Holcombe & McGrath. Don't see your question answered here? Use our Contact Us form to ask us directly.
- Is there a difference between a financial planner and a stockbroker or investment counselor?
- What are the different ways financial planners charge for their services?
- How do you operate?
- How do you hold the money and securities you manage?
- How long have you been operating?
- Do you offer Socially Responsible or Values-Based Investing?
1. Is there a difference between a financial planner and a stockbroker or investment counselor?
As financial planners, we take a whole picture approach to a client’s financial situation. This means examining aspects of their lives and goals, including their budgeting, the kind of insurance they have, current savings for specific life goals, as well as managing their investments for them.
A stockbroker or investment counselor, on the other hand, usually focuses on a client’s assets strictly for investing purposes.
2. What are the different ways financial planners charge for their services?
As fee-only planners, we charge for our services based on a percentage of total assets that we manage for clients. Frequently, however, a person just needs a little guidance or advice making an important financial decision, and for that we charge an hourly fee.
There are also commission and fee-based planners:
- A commission planner usually sells one or more different investment products (such as mutual funds or annuities) from a brokerage house or insurance company. This type of planner then receives a commission from that brokerage house or insurance company for placing clients’ money with them.
- A fee-based planner charges clients based on the percentage of assets they manage, so in that respect they’re similar to the fee-only way Holcombe & McGrath operates — but — they also earn additional commissions from various financial products they sell their clients.
3. How do you operate?
- We are independent, fee-only financial advisers and investment managers. That means we are not employees of, or responsible to, any business, brokerage house, bank, mutual fund company or insurance company.
- Our reason for choosing to be independent and fee-only is to ensure that we operate totally in the interests of our clients. That is, we wish to have no other party influencing our decisions and actions, which permits us to be absolutely focused on the welfare of our clients.
- We use either of two discount brokerage houses — Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and TD Ameritrade (formerly TD Waterhouse) — as intermediaries for accounts. These companies also provide services at low cost, and they are large enough to be reliable and very responsive to requests.
4. How do you hold the money and securities you manage?
- We have operating agreements with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and TD Ameritrade (formerly TD Waterhouse) which permit us to hold our accounts with them. Those companies recognize us as having limited power of attorney over accounts, and this permits us to receive information on the accounts and to execute trades.
- These two companies provide both the client and us with statements, computer access via the Internet, bookkeeping services, trading services, research information and software for management of our accounts.
- In all cases our “limited power of attorney” agreement can be instantly terminated by the client. The client always has a direct connection to their account via the Internet, phone or by mail — and can themselves exercise trades, withdraw money and/or close the account(s).
5. How long have you been operating?
Harold Holcombe started the company in 1985 (see Firm Overview) after gaining financial knowledge and experience as a real estate and insurance agent. He earned his certification as a financial planner, determined to focus on client interests rather than commissions. (See Our Philosophy)
Susan McGrath joined the company in 1998 and became a partner in 2002 (see Susan’s profile in About Us). In 2008, when Harold decided to step away from the day-to-day business operations, Susan became owner of Holcombe & McGrath.
6. Do you offer Socially Responsible or Values-Based Investing?
Yes, we do. For some clients, this type of investing is an important factor in their financial decision-making. Bob Baschnagel began researching and investing in Socially Responsible and Values-Based options in the early 1990s, and specializes in these products. He would be happy to explore the myriad of options available and develop a plan that is right for you.