Frequently Asked Questions

We offer in-person, phone, and online meetings. We work with clients from multiple states, where in-person meetings are not an option, so we are very comfortable with the virtual meeting format.

Financial health and physical health are very similar in that you can’t start too early. Early-in-life retirement planning often just looks like saving a portion of your income toward a retirement account. Later on, things like social security, health insurance, and cash flow from the portfolio become part of the conversation. It’s never too early or too late to get help in creating a financial plan.

If you do not have an advisor, then you are managing your own wealth already. An advisor’s job is to provide an outside perspective and professional insight on complex topics that are not part of everyday life.

Yes – we offer a one-hour consultation free of charge. From there, if you choose to move forward, we will discuss the appropriate service and the associated cost.

We do not offer direct estate planning (i.e. draft documents), but we do provide guidance on how to approach passing on your wealth and what kind of documents you should have in place. We refer our clients to local estate planning attorneys for drafting and delivery of estate planning documents, and then work to implement the estate plan together with the client and attorney as appropriate.

There are many ways to reduce taxation on investments. The most powerful way is to utilize tax-efficient accounts, like a Roth IRA or an HSA. Other methods are to utilize qualified charitable distributions, perform tax-loss harvesting, and structure payouts from accounts in a way that reduces lifetime taxation. Each individual will use a different combination of methods.

At Milestone Wealth Management, we see ourselves as stewards of our clients’ assets. We minimize conflicts of interest. We are truly independent – with no proprietary products or pressure from our broker-dealer to sell certain products. We put your interest where it belongs – first.

We have two main services: planning and investments. The planning service starts at $2000 and goes up from there, depending on complexity. Investment services come in brokerage (transaction fees) and Advisory (account management fee as a percentage of the account balance). Transaction fees vary by product. The starting, asset-based fee is 1.50% plus any product based fees.

Wealth management is the process of using your financial resources to improve your life. There are multiple facets to the process. These include investments, insurance, tax planning, estate planning, and cash flow planning. In each area, we work on making the best possible decisions to move you toward your goals.

We have three offices in Michigan: St. Joseph, Portage, and Saranac. Please see our “about us” page for details.