We offer a concierge service for our clients who are already financially independent or who are on track to be in a position where work is an option for them. We find those in this position have unique desires, needs and circumstances.

Financially Independent means having enough sustainable income (which could be from various sources such as investments, rental properties, passive businesses, social security, etc.) that will cover normal living expenses without the need to engage in regular employment. You are independent and can rely on your own financial resources indefinitely.

This question is asked a lot! It can be scary to give up a regular paycheck and not know for sure if you have enough income to last. We can help you with those calculations and projections. We find people sometimes are already financially independent and ready for a “work-optional” lifestyle, but they don’t realize it.

Simply put, not everyone wants to retire once they are financially independent. Some people prefer to have the option to work or not. Instead of retiring completely, people may choose to pursue a different career or job that may be more enjoyable or less stressful once they are financially independent. Others may choose to work part-time or just a few months out of the year. The key is knowing you have options to do what makes you happy.

Our goal is to meet you where you’re at, and that includes working remotely. All of our resources are available to you wherever you may be.

Long-term relationships with our clients are important to us, so you know we will always be there for you no matter what stage in life you are in. V.I.P. would be a good fit for you if:

• You want a long-term trusted partnership where your best interests are always a priority
• You want to protect the lifestyle you’ve worked so hard to achieve and free up more of your time so you can enjoy your freedom.
• You value the advice of an experienced, highly credentialed team.
• You are looking for a concierge-style service driven by your unique wants and needs.

No, it’s important to ensure we take the time to get to know each other. The first meeting is usually a Zoom video or phone call. We want to know what led you to contacting us and learn as much about your current situation and future lifestyle plans. From there, we will be able to provide feedback and determine together if we would be a good long-term partnership.

Our ongoing process is comprehensive, complex, and strategic, and as such is time-intensive for us. Therefore, our clients usually have at least $1,000,000 of investable assets and more complex scenarios.

For certain scenarios we may also offer an hourly charge instead. Another option is https://www.letsmakeaplan.org/ to find another CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® professional who may be able to offer a simpler financial checkup option for you.

Some of the complexities we help clients with may include re-location to a different state/country, concentrated stock positions, tax discussions, legacy planning, understanding the complexities of social security and how to incorporate it into their plan, making suitable provisions for potential health events, etc.

We partner with Raymond James, one of the largest independent Broker Dealers in the U.S. We chose them for a multitude of reasons. They are a publicly traded company, have over 50 years of experience and put clients first just as we do. All client accounts are held directly with Raymond James; they produce all your documents, including your tax forms each year. They have always been a conservative company and have expert dedicated cyber security and technology support that we utilize in addition to having access to all their extensive compliance and investment analyst teams. We can benefit from their excellent resources while still maintaining our individual client-centered concierge-style service as an independent organization. By virtue of V.I.P. being independent we are free to partner with any other carefully vetted industry professionals if they are more suitable for our clients’ various scenarios.

Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®) is a professional designation for financial advisors. Having the RICP® designation means the advisor has a specialized education in retirement income and is committed to professional and ethical best practices. If you are already retired, preparing to retire, or plan to retire in the future, you may want to select a well-trained, educated, and qualified financial professional to help develop a retirement income plan that will meet your needs. When you find an RICP®, you know that he or she has the specific education and knowledge that can help you think through all the complexities of making your resources last throughout retirement.

CFP® stands for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional. Most people think all financial planners are but this is not true. Only those who have fulfilled the certification and ongoing extensive renewal requirements of the CFP Board can display the CFP® certification trademarks which represent a high level of competency, ethics, and professionalism. And because they are held to a fiduciary standard of care when providing financial planning services, a CFP® professional is required to act in your best interest.

At all times when providing financial advice to a client, a CFP® professional must act as a fiduciary, and therefore, act in the best interests of the client. By choosing a CFP® professional, you know he or she is bound by this.

Independent advisors are just that Independent. We work with Raymond James as our Broker dealer, Registered Investment Adviser and Custodian, but we are free to utilize all the tools the entire market has to offer to best serve our clients.

It is important to us to be upfront when it comes to costs, as we have seen too many firms bury them in multi-page reports or add on additional fees for Financial Planning services. Costs are deducted quarterly and are based on the assets we manage for you; this is often referred to as a Fee-Based Model. They are a percentage of the total. We feel this gives the best value to our clients. We primarily offer fee-based advisory services charging a flat fee based on a client's total assets under advisement. However, if deemed appropriate and in our client's best interest, we also provide commissioned brokerage services.

You most definitely can manage your own finances. Our clients, however, trust us to maintain their financial independence due to our extensive knowledge, years of experience, and vast resources we have available. We look at their individual situation and consider many factors such as re-location plans to a different state/country, concentrated stock positions, wealth preservation and suitable investment strategies, tax discussions, legacy planning, understanding the complexities of social security and how to incorporate it into their plan, making suitable provisions for potential health events, etc. We help our client have confidence so they can spend their valuable time enjoying themselves.

Use the ‘contact us’ link, give us a call at 408-713-2020, or send an email to Mark Vivian (mark@vip-rj.com). We will set up an initial call so we can learn more about your current financial good fit. From there we will gather more detailed information from you about your goals and dreams, help you determine If you’re already ready there yet, and we will educate you about options you have available. We’ll develop a plan that has the flexibility to change as your scenario changes throughout the different life stages.

We do all the heavy lifting while you take the time to relax, sleep well and wherever and however that may be.