Columbus Street Financial Planning is founded on the belief that the best financial and investment planning is delivered by a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ who provides objective and transparent advice as a fiduciary. Columbus Street’s open architecture service model creates an opportunity for all individuals and families with varying levels of complexity to work with us.
Columbus Street Financial Planning, a Registered Investment Advisor, is independent. This means we do not answer to a bank, brokerage firm, or insurance company. We only answer to the clients we serve, and our compensation is derived exclusively from a fee-only arrangement with our clients. We do not accept or receive product commissions of any kind!
Columbus Street Financial Planning’s process is solely focused on our clients’ planning goals and ensuring they have the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions in their best interest. Columbus Street will guide you through a seven-step process to assess your current situation, determine your goals, and create a path forward to give you and your loved ones the best chance for your desired outcome.
Working with Columbus Street is easy. We don’t require a minimum investment asset level or income to work with us; nor do we require clients to maintain a relationship with our firm. Our comprehensive planning services include an hourly based structure for Financial Planning, a Financial Partnership retainer model for those who want a deeper relationship and access beyond their financial plan, College Planning for college-bound families who want to make a smart college buying decision, and Investment Management for clients who seek global diversification and professional portfolio management.
Whether you are simply seeking a “look over the shoulder” to ensure you’re on track to meet your long-term planning goals, need help saving on the cost of college, or would like a long-term relationship with us, we are designed to meet your planning needs.
Investment Management
One of the goals in founding Columbus Street is to make available some of the brightest investment minds in the industry without nose-bleed fees. We have partnered with Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) to provide low-cost mutual fund portfolios that align with investors’ long-term planning goals. DFA also assists Columbus Street and its clients in designing portfolios that address key social and environmental issues throughout the world. To meet these environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations, DFA offers investors’ Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) & Environmental Social Governance (ESG) options that align with their personal values.
Columbus Street Financial Planning has partnered with TD Ameritrade Institutional to custody accounts for those clients that want us to monitor and review their portfolio on a quarterly basis. Columbus Street’s low-cost portfolio management begins at .85% on the first one million of assets and reduces from there. Other local and national firms charge fees as high as 1.5% for investment management only! Columbus Street believes the amount of your portfolio should not dictate the level of planning advice you receive. That’s why we clearly delineate these two offerings to ensure all of our clients receive the best planning advice irrespective of the size of their portfolio.
Columbus Street Financial Planning begins and ends with our clients’ best interests in mind. As a fiduciary 100% of the time, Columbus Street does not sell financial or insurance products, thus a conflict-free environment is maintained at all stages of our client relationships. Would you want to do business with an advisor and firm that doesn’t put you first?
Columbus Street Financial Planning provides comprehensive counsel in the following areas:
CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT
COLLEGE PLANNING
INSURANCE PLANNING
INVESTMENTS
TAX PLANNING
RETIREMENT PLANNING
SMALL BUSINESS PLANNING
ESTATE & TRUST PLANNING
For more information about Columbus Street Financial Planning and how we may be able to assist you, please visit our website at columbusstreetfin.com or schedule a Discovery Call at a time convenient for you.
Shawn Ballinger, CFP®
Founder & Wealth Manager
shawn@columbusstreetfin.com
Important Disclosure: All Content is information of a general nature and does not address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. This Content is for informational purposes only; you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice as a specific recommendation or specific endorsement by Columbus Street. The information in this document is provided in good faith without any warranty and is intended for the recipient’s background information only. Columbus Street accepts no responsibility for loss arising from the use of the information contained herein. In exchange for using this Content, you agree not to hold Columbus Street liable for any possible claim for damages arising from any decision you make based on information or other Content made available to you. You alone assume the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with using any information or other Content provided by Columbus Street before making any decisions based on such information or other Content. You should consult with your tax advisor and financial professional before making any determination as to the appropriateness of any planning strategy indicated herein.