Winstone Wealth Partners

Wealth Management in Houston, TX

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Are all financial planners the same?

Most people think that all financial planners are “certified” but this isn’t true. Anyone can call himself or herself a “financial planner.” Only those who have fulfilled the certification and renewal requirements of CFP Board can display the CFP® certification marks.

Individuals certified by CFP Board have taken the extra step to demonstrate their professionalism by voluntarily submitting to the rigorous CFP® certification process that includes demanding education, examination, experience and ethical requirements. These standards are called “the four E’s,” and they are four important reasons why the financial planning practitioner you select should display the CFP® certification marks.

When selecting a financial planner, you need to feel confident that the person you choose to help you plan for your future is competent and ethical. The CFP® certification can help to provide that sense of security by allowing only those who meet the following requirements the right to use the CFP® certification marks.

What is a CFP®?

In life, it’s important to find a financial planner you trust to provide sound, unbiased advice and professional services. Being CFP® certified means that particular advisor has voluntarily taken the extra steps needed to provide the highest possible standard of financial planning to those they serve.

To become a Certified Financial Planner™ one must pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam, have a minimum of three years’ professional experience in financial planning process and must be approved by the CFP Board, which involves an extensive background check – including an ethics, character and criminal check. To maintain certification, CFP® license holders must complete 30 hours of continuing education accepted by the CFP Board every two years.

How does working with a CFP® certified advisor benefit you?

Certified Financial Planner™ professionals are held to the utmost standards of ethics and professional responsibility, which prepares them for a career-long commitment to provide truly personalized services to meet your needs; all while maintaining high levels of financial planning and professionalism.

CFP® professionals maintain their professional edge through ongoing education and training in addition to the rigorous requirements to represent a high level of integrity, objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism and diligence when working with you.

Introductory Call

We make sure we’re a good fit for you.

Think of this introductory call as a get-to-know-you conversation between you and the Winstone team. It's an opportunity for both of us to explore whether we’re a good match to work together.

We will ask questions to learn about your financial goals and concerns which will help lay the groundwork for our advisors to tailor our expertise to your specific needs. We will share insights into our holistic approach and discuss how our tailored strategies can support your vision for the future.

Ultimately, this call is the first step in empowering you to make an informed decision about whether partnering with Winstone is the right next step for you in your financial life – and we hope it will be.

Discovery Meeting

We get to know you better.

You are more than just a number to us; we are genuinely interested in getting to know you on a more personal level so that we continue to tailor our recommendations for you throughout our partnership together. Not only will that help us develop a more tailored strategy for you, but getting to know the clients whom we hope to serve for decades to come makes our job more meaningful and fun, too.

With that in mind, we spend this 60-minute Discovery Meeting learning more about you, your values and your goals through an interactive Mind Map exercise.

Mind Mapping a visual technique that helps us explore and organize your entire life, encompassing both financial and non-financial aspects, in a way that is easy to understand. This collaborative process fosters open communication, ensuring that both you and our team are on the same page regarding your lifestyle, goals, interests, values, important relationships, and financial aspirations.

Of course, this is also an in-depth opportunity for you to decide if we’re the right match for you. We’ll be happy to share more about our proprietary financial planning strategies and investment tactics and explain how they would apply to your unique financial situation.

Whether or not you decide to continue on with us, you will walk away from this Discovery Session with your own custom Mind Map that can help you see how various elements of your entire life – such as investments, savings, insurance, retirement planning, lifestyle goals and personal values – are interconnected in a clear and concise manner.

Information Gathering

We’ll work together to gather key information.

Next, we will start putting together your Financial Plan. Equipped with a deeper understanding of who you are, what’s important to you and your financial situation, we’ll begin to gather the documents and information we need to review in order to develop your comprehensive Financial Plan.

This is pretty much the only time we’ll ask you to do any heavy-lifting – we promise!

We will provide you with clear, easy-to-follow instructions to help us gather the information we need to get to work on your Plan. And you will have a dedicated Relationship Manager and Client Concierge to help support you as much or as little as you would like as you collect the information we request.

Financial Plan & Investment Meeting

We’ll present our financial assessment and recommendations to you.

The next step for us will be to sit down for your Financial Plan & Investment Meeting. During this 60-minute meeting, our primary objective is to ensure that your financial goals and dreams have not only been understood, but also translated into a comprehensive financial plan tailored to you. Lauren Smith, our CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional and Managing Partner here at Winstone Wealth Partners will oversee the intricacies of your personalized Financial Plan, clarifying any questions you may have along the way.

This meeting also serves as the right time for us to delve into our Investment Philosophy so we can share the principles and strategies that underpin our recommendations for your portfolio. We believe in fostering a transparent and collaborative environment, empowering you to make informed decisions about your financial future. Our aim is not just to offer guidance but to instill confidence in the path we chart together, ensuring that your investments align seamlessly with your overarching objectives.

Through this meeting, we aspire to not only provide clarity and direction but also cultivate a lasting partnership built on trust and shared success.

Mutual Commitment

We’ll decide how to move forward.

Following our comprehensive get-to-know-you and planning stages, the next step in our process is Mutual Commitment. This phase marks the moment when we eagerly await your decision to embark on this journey with us. For many clients, it happens during the Financial Plan & Investment Meeting. Although for some, they prefer to deliberate more. Either way is perfectly fine with us. We remain readily available to address any lingering concerns or queries you may have, ensuring that you feel fully informed and confident in your decision.

This decision symbolizes the beginning of a collaborative journey towards achieving your financial objectives. If you choose to move forward, we're excited to combine our expertise with your aspirations, crafting a financial roadmap you can feel confident in.

Implementation Meeting(s)

We’ll present a more advanced financial plan and tailored investment strategies.

Once we've received your commitment to proceed, the focus shifts from listening and planning to action during our Implementation Meetings. This is when we really roll up our sleeves and begin the process of turning plans into reality. Whether it's one meeting or a series of meetings, our objective remains constant: to fine-tune your Financial Plan and deliver a robust Investment Strategy that aligns seamlessly with your goals.

During these meetings, we'll delve into the intricate details of your Financial Plan, refining it further to reflect any changes or insights that have emerged since our initial discussions. Our aim is to ensure that every aspect of your plan is meticulously crafted to suit your unique circumstances and aspirations.

Moreover, this is where we share your customized Investment Plan and strategy, meticulously designed to optimize your portfolio's performance while aligning with your risk tolerance and investment preferences. We'll walk you through our recommendations, explaining the rationale behind each decision and addressing any questions or concerns you may have along the way.

Monitoring & Regular Check Ins

We’ll monitor your progress.

Financial planning isn’t a one-time event; it’s a continuous journey. And we’re in this for the long haul.

Your financial advisors will regularly review your strategy to ensure we are still on track to achieve your goals. If there have been changes in your life or within the market that we need to respond to, we will give you a call or schedule a meeting to discuss our recommendations.

We’ll also schedule regular check-in calls or meetings and give you a call from time to time to see what’s going on in your life. And of course, we will always keep you up to date on happenings within the market and our office with our timely resources like our blogs, newsletters and videos. We are also happy to share our network of trusted professionals like estate planners, attorneys, CPAs, insurance professionals – and even a car buying concierge! – to support you in other aspects of your life.

The goal is that throughout our client’s experience, they truly begin to feel like members of the Winstone family so that we’re able to provide solutions beyond just dollars and cents.

Certified Financial Planning

At Winstone Wealth Partners, one of the reasons our clients value working with us is our unwavering commitment to excellence in financial planning. All of our financial plans undergo the meticulous scrutiny of Lauren Smith, our Managing Partner and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional. If you’re not familiar with what this means, don’t worry – we’ll explain it below.

Are all financial
planners the same?

What is a CFP®?

How does working with a CFP® certified advisor benefit you?

CFP® Certification Requirements: The Four E’s

Education

CFP® professionals must develop their theoretical and practical financial planning knowledge by completing a comprehensive course of study at a college or university offering a financial planning curriculum approved by CFP Board. Other options for satisfying the education component include submitting a transcript review or previous financial planning-related coursework to CFP Board for review and credit or showing the attainment of certain professional designations or academic degrees.

Examination

CFP® practitioners must pass a comprehensive six-hour CFP® Certification Examination that tests their ability to apply financial planning knowledge in an integrated format. Based on regular research of what planners do, the exam covers the financial planning process, tax planning, employee benefits and retirement planning, estate planning, investment management and insurance.

Experience

CFP® professionals must have three years’ minimum experience in the financial planning process prior to earning the right to use the CFP® certification marks. As a result, CFP® practitioners possess financial counseling skills in addition to financial planning knowledge.

Ethics

As a final step to certification, CFP® practitioners agree to abide by a strict code of professional conduct, known as CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, which sets forth their ethical responsibilities to the public, clients and employers. CFP Board also performs a background check during this process, and each individual must disclose any investigations or legal proceedings related to their professional or business conduct.

We understand that you have many options when it comes to who you trust with your family’s finances, but we hope that explaining how Certified Financial Planning can benefit you and your family helps you feel more comfortable that with Winstone Wealth Partners, you are getting the highest standards of ethics, education and expertise.

The most rewarding part of my job is making a real difference in my clients’ lives, especially during times of uncertainty. Whether they’re transitioning into retirement or navigating a major life change like losing a spouse or divorce, I find it really fulfilling to help bring them clarity and a calm confidence about their financial future.

Lauren Smith, MBA, CFP®

Managing Partner, Winstone Wealth Partners,
Financial Advisor, RJFS

Isn’t it time you had a financial
partner who puts you first?

You deserve a dedicated team who brings clarity, care, and strategy to every aspect of your financial life.

Schedule My Consultation