Winstone Wealth Partners

Wealth Management in Houston, TX

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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.

Meet Lauren

Back To Team Page

Lauren Smith, MBA, CFP®

Lauren Smith , MBA, CFP®

COO, Winstone Wealth Partners
Financial Advisor, RJFS

“Financial planning isn’t one-size-fits-all—it’s deeply personal. I’m here to simplify clients’ decisions and create a clear path, so they can embrace whatever comes next with confidence.”

Schedule a Call with Lauren

  • Professional Background

  • Lauren's “Why”

  • Advising Focus Areas

  • Education & Designations

  • Personal Life

Lauren Smith likes making money—especially for other people.

As a Financial Advisor and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® at Winstone Wealth Partners, Lauren focuses on advanced financial and retirement planning, helping clients make informed decisions about their futures. She serves as a sounding board for her clients, helping them make strategic decisions about their wealth, whether that means developing a retirement plan, advising on strategic timing of Social Security withdrawals, establishing an optimal cash-flow plan, or supporting them through unexpected financial situations.

Lauren’s approach to financial planning is deeply personal. The daughter of a doctor and a small-business owner, Lauren has vivid memories of seeing her parents work hard and make sacrifices to ensure their family’s long-term well-being and happiness. Inspired by their diligence, Lauren helps other families make important, sometimes complicated, financial decisions about their lives. To her, the most rewarding part of her job is being able to make a real, lasting impact on her clients’ futures.

Lauren is particularly passionate about empowering women to provide for their own futures. She is dedicated to supporting widowed, divorced, and head-of-household women through life’s transitions, helping them set themselves up for financial independence. To learn more about her women-specific work, visit www.laurensmithfa.com.

Lauren graduated with honors from the University of Georgia with a degree in finance. Competitive by nature, Lauren has always worked hard to excel, and she decided to hone her business skills by attending graduate school at the University of Houston. There, she earned a dual MBA at the Bauer College of Business and an MS in hospitality management at the Conrad Hilton School.

She also holds the AAMS (Accredited Asset Management Specialist) designation from the College of Financial Planning, her FINRA Series 7 and 66 licenses, and the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification.

Prior to joining Winstone, Lauren spent two years in New York, where she worked for a Raymond James branch in Manhattan. Originally from Beaumont, Texas, she was happy to return to the Lone Star State. A devout Bulldog, you can find Lauren in Athens, Georgia, every fall in the stands of UGA football games (Go Dawgs!). She also loves traveling with friends and spending time with her cat Pippa and dog Mamba.

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.

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