Our goal is for clients to feel confident in their financial decisions and to know they have the North Berkeley team alongside them as a guide and collaborative partner.

Financial planning is a dynamic process, and is tailored to each client and their specific circumstances.  Our fundamental approach to financial planning includes three key elements:

1. Collaborative Process
2. Managing Life Changes
3. Actionable Guidance

At its core, financial planning is about answering the questions that are most important to our clients.  Sometimes these questions are clear from the outset of the relationship, or more often they arise from our discovery process or based on life changes.  We listen closely and provide a framework for decision-making.

We may be financial experts, but our clients are the experts on their own lives.  For this reason, we emphasize collaboration with our clients as we manage all facets of the financial planning process.

Working With Other Professionals

Part of our collaborative process is that we work closely with your other professionals to address all aspects of your financial needs. We can also provide personal recommendations as needed to professionals in our network, including tax professionals, estate attorneys, insurance professionals, and others.

There are certain events, both joyous and traumatic, that trigger a need for financial planning. We help our clients navigate significant events, from welcoming a new baby to saying goodbye to a loved one.

We help our clients understand what needs to happen in moments of significant change.  Often we try to slow down the process, so that we and the client can focus on the most important elements together.  We also use specialized tools to model how a particular change may impact their long-term flexibility and financial resiliency.

Some of the major changes that we help clients navigate are:

• Retirement planning
• Caring for a loved one
• Divorce planning
• Selling a business
• Changing careers
• Buying a home
• Getting married
• Inheritance
• Starting a family
• Sending a child to college

We believe financial advice is most helpful when it is grounded in your personal story and can be put into action.

Too often a ‘financial plan’ is a document that sits on the shelf and gathers dust.  We want our planning to be bite-sized and focused on the highest priority topics each time we meet.

We then help our clients track their progress, and adapt the plan based life changes and what is working for them. The best plan is the one that gets put into action and helps our clients feel calm and confident as they move forward.

With each client relationship, we explore the major areas of financial planning analysis, with emphasis on areas of importance to the client. We cover a wide variety of elements, from estate planning to insurance assessment, and deliver long-term, holistic planning that protects and preserves their life’s work. 

Learn more about our Financial Planning Approach and Services >

We host gatherings covering particular investment and planning topics and provide access to ongoing educational content. We also have quarterly open house get-togethers, art exhibits, and community-building events for our clients and local community members.

Our fees are based on assets under management and include comprehensive investment management and financial planning.