FAQ

Choosing a financial advisor is a big commitment and it’s natural to have questions about Guidant Planning, the financial planning process, how financial planning works and what’s involved. We’ve listed the answers to questions that potential clients frequently ask. This Q&A is in addition to the information provided on the United Planners Form ADV Part II, a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) document. The SEC, a federal agency that regulates the investment industry, requires that we provide each client with a copy of the ADV Part II prior to beginning a financial planning relationship.

At Guidant Planning Inc., we operate a financial planning and investment consulting practice. Our founder, Allen Yee, incorporated the firm in 1998. We moved into our offices in South Pasadena in 2005. Guidant Planning’s Department of Corporations file number is 923 4067.

Our team provides holistic financial planning advice regarding all aspects of your financial life, including retirement, taxes, investments, insurance, estate planning, pensions and general financial matters.

We have a varied client base that includes individuals, corporations, small businesses, pension and profit sharing plans and estates and trusts.

If you’ve got a financial, tax or investment problem, or want to plan prudently for your financial future, you can benefit from our services. Furthermore, if you want to ramp up your financial or investment planning to a higher level than you’re able to achieve with your current advisor, you may find our services appealing. If you’re about to retire or are retired or own a small business or are a physician, our services are particularly suitable for you.

The minimum dollar amount depends each client’s situation. We realize that people with a relatively modest amount of assets have financial problems and needs as well as those with more financial resources. However, our services are geared towards those individuals and families with at least $100,000 in investments, and are retired or preparing to retire.

You can give us a call at 1-800-332-8552 or 1-626-396-1650 in the San Gabriel Valley. You can also fill out our online contact form here. We’ll schedule an initial, complimentary Financial Physical consultation to discuss your needs and how Guidant Planning can help you. During the initial consultation, we’ll talk with you about where you are financially, what your goals are and triage your needs from there.

A financial plan includes an overall review of your financial situation, which takes into account your goals and objectives. It also focuses on areas such as income tax planning, asset management, estate planning, risk management, educational planning and retirement. A Guidant Financial plan analyzes and recommends ways for you to address your financial objectives. Depending on your specific desires and needs, some or all of these areas will be addressed by the plan, which may be presented orally or in writing.

Specific implementation depends on the recommendations in your plan. It’s up to you to decide exactly how to proceed with the recommendations in the plan, although most clients decide to accept the recommendations included in the plan.

Once we have completed our assessment and completed our interviews, it generally takes 5-7 business days. Assessment can be three to five meeting process how willing people are with their information the ability aggregate everything and put the plan together once we have done the meetings submit come and meet with them step process here is the process one step at a time what is more important. Picks a piece here are all the things you can benefit from and where do you want to start.

In all cases it is customary for the Advisor to meet periodically with a client, and typically no less than annually, to review the client’s investments, needs and objectives.

The cost depends on the specific services provided by your Advisor. Generally, you pay some combination of commissions and fees for planning and investment management services. In some cases, compensation could include a fixed-fee or hourly rate, agreed upon in advance between you, the client, and the Advisor.

Yes, we provide a wide variety of products so that we are in the best position to craft and implement a financial plan suited to your situation. You can purchase most of the financial products we recommend through associates affiliated with Guidant Planning, Inc. All advisors at Guidant Planning Inc., are registered representatives of United Planners, which is a member of FINRA/SIPC. All securities and related products are offered through United Planners. 

Not at all. In most cases, however, if a client agrees with our planning recommendations, they usually work with us to implement it.

We provide a full range of financial planning services that includes advice on taxes, budgeting, estate, retirement, insurance and business planning. We do not provide legal or accounting services. We are associated with many other affiliates who provide related services. Amy Baltimore, Enrolled Agent, provides tax preparation services to many of our clients. She is licensed to represent taxpayers in front of the IRS. However, Amy Baltimore is not endorsed by, nor affiliated with, United Planners.

We offer a wide variety of securities, including bank deposits, U.S. Government bonds, corporate bonds, commercial paper, municipal securities, exchange traded funds (ETFs), stock, mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life, limited partnerships, real estate investment trusts, and options, and alternative investments.

On the macro-level, we closely examine trends in demography, economics, and politics in the United States and Overseas. We employ various Technical Analysis tools to help understand the supply and demand forces in the current market. Further, these technical tools are used to determine whether these trends (both increasing and decreasing) are sustainable. These tools are an important aspect of risk management in our portfolio construction. Next, we consider the tax implications of our investment to ensure it makes sense. We also consider the tax implications of an investment to ensure it makes sense for each individual client. Our overall goal is to create a portfolio of investment that works to meet your unique financial planning and investment goals.

No. It’s impossible to know what the markets will do in the future or how a given set of investments will perform. It would be misleading to promise any particular level of investment performance.

We rely on many different source of information to help in the financial planning and investment management process. These include investment company research reports, independent research reports and timing services as well as general interest and financial planning-related newspapers, magazines, bulletins, books and other publications.