Frequently Asked Questions

–          Our team of like-minded professionals help a diverse blend of clients to plan, grow, and protect their financial resources over time.  We help clients achieve their financial goals by working together in partnership and proactively adjusting a client’s plan as circumstances change.  Our multi-discipline credentials and many years of expertise are key to guiding our clients to their goals.

–          We typically serve individuals, multi-generational families, and business owners.  Our clients work in a wide range of industries, and represent ages throughout all generations.

–          Investment and wealth management, Life and Disability insurance, Retirement planning, Asset Allocation, Multi-generational family planning, Long-Term Care planning, Education savings, Holistic financial planning, Sustainable investing, Special Needs planning, Private markets investments, Income planning, Budgeting, Debt reduction strategies, Direct Indexing, and Estate planning. You can view our full list of services by visiting our Services page.

–          Our founding principal was, and still is, to do the right thing.  That applies to our clients, team members, and partners.  We’re a fully independent firm with no proprietary products, and our partners support us in our quest to deliver the best and most appropriate solutions for each individual client.  We don’t put our interests before our clients, but rather work to be in alignment with them so we are all on the same page.

–          It depends on what services and solutions are involved in a given client’s planning.  We try to offer more than one way for fees & costs to be paid.  Some solutions charge fees based on a percentage of assets managed, while other solutions charge a built-in sales charge.  There are also instances where we will charge a one-time fee for a specific financial planning engagement.  Not all fees are the same, and some will occur monthly or quarterly, and some may only be one-time fees as needed.  Your advisor will discuss this in the initial consultation.

–          Contact us to set up an initial conversation by visiting our Contact Us page on our website.  It shouldn’t take all that long to determine if it makes sense for us to work together, and what our initial focus should be.  We generally recommend that a prospective client gather account statements, loan documents, or any other materials that are relevant to their individual financial situation prior to an initial meeting.  That will help us be more efficient and respectful of your time.

–          No, not at HighPoint Advisors, LLC.

–          In our first meeting, we want to get to know you and your financial situation.  We need a good picture of where you are now and how you got here, and then we can focus on your needs and future goals.  We’ll ask questions, review your documents, and also answer questions that you bring to the meeting.  At the end of the meeting, we should have a mutual feeling of whether it makes sense to move forward working together.

–          Gather any account statements and other documentation that is relevant to your financial needs.  This could include retirement plan and investment account statements, bank statements, mortgage or other loan document, insurance policies, trusts or other legal documents, credit card statements, Health Savings Account statement, 529 College Savings account info, etc.  It’s also helpful if you have a written budget or any other financial tracking worksheets that you keep updated.  The more information you provide, the more accurate you overall financial plan can be.

–          We help our clients plan for many goals, through many stages of life, and across many economic cycles.  Whether it’s simple budgeting, optimizing saving strategies for retirement, or maybe funding future education goals, our team is qualified and prepared to help.  All clients are different, so contact us to start a conversation about your situation. 

–          Definitely.  Our advisors can, and do, serve clients wherever they are.  We work with clients across the country, and even some foreign countries.  

–          Yes, any time.

–          When in doubt, call the office at 315-627-0474 and ask to speak to your advisor.  Some advisors may also prefer email or text in certain circumstances, and they will communicate that to you.  You can also visit your advisor’s page on our team page of our website.

–          That depends on a client’s goals, needs, and complexity of planning.  We request that all clients meet with us at least annually, but some require more frequent interactions.  Also, it’s important to note that not all meetings are full-blown in-person lengthy planning meetings – some are virtual review meetings or quick phone calls, for example.

–          Yes, of course.  Meetings with multiple family members can be logistically complex.  We discuss with the client the best way to make this happen, and work to facilitate a meeting in the most effective way possible. 

–          Yes and no.  While we don’t have a specific account minimum at our firm, there are specific account size minimums to be eligible for different investment platforms.  We’re proud to be able to say that we have good solutions for all account sizes.

–          Yes.  The specific site or app will depend on which company you are invested with.  We’ve created a dedicated Account Access page on our website that has links to various portals to access your accounts online.  If you need help accessing your account(s) then just reach out to us and we can assist.