The questions we hear most, answered plainly.
Every question and answer from across the site, gathered in one place. If yours isn’t covered here, the fastest way to a clear answer is a short conversation.
01
Working with us
What a fiduciary is, how we are different, how our fees work, and who we serve.
Start on the home page- What is a fiduciary financial advisor?
- A fiduciary financial advisor is legally and ethically required to act in your best interest at all times. That is the highest standard of care in financial services. Most advisors follow a lower “suitability” standard, which only requires a recommendation to be appropriate. Applied Wealth Management is a fee-based fiduciary Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) regulated by the SEC, with no commissions on investment management and no proprietary products.
- How is Applied Wealth Management different from other advisors?
- Three differences. First, we are independent: no proprietary products, no captive insurance carriers, no broker-dealer affiliations, no quotas. Second, our only revenue from investment management is the fee you pay us, so our incentive points at your result. Third, rather than managing a portfolio in isolation, we use The Vantage Formula to coordinate every dimension of your financial life: investments, taxes, insurance, and estate.
- How do your fees work?
- Applied Wealth Management is fee-based. For investment management and planning, you pay a transparent, agreed-upon fee, with no commissions and no proprietary products on the investment side, so our only incentive is your result. Where we coordinate insurance, we act as a carrier-independent broker and may earn a commission from the carrier; we disclose that plainly and recommend coverage only where it closes a real gap. Every cost is laid out in plain English before you decide anything.
- Who does Applied Wealth Management serve?
- Families, business owners, professionals, and athletes facing genuine complexity. Our typical clients are approaching or in retirement, planning a business succession or sale, managing significant equity compensation, or navigating a short earning window against a long financial timeline. Headquartered in Bakersfield, California, we serve clients nationwide.
- Should I use a robo-advisor or a human advisor?
- A robo-advisor can manage a simple portfolio cheaply and works well for straightforward situations. A human fiduciary earns its place when your financial life has moving parts that must be integrated: retirement assets across accounts, business ownership, multi-state tax exposure, estate planning, and the real decisions you face as life unfolds. A robo-advisor manages your portfolio in isolation; we coordinate it with everything else.
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The Vantage Formula
How our four-phase process works, what the first conversation covers, and what you walk away with.
See the full process- What is the Vantage Formula?
- The Vantage Formula is Applied Wealth Management’s proprietary financial planning process, structured around four phases: Discovery, Analysis, Engineering, and Stewardship (D.A.E.S.). The name is the promise: an elevated point of view over your entire financial life, high enough to see how every decision affects every other decision. Each phase moves you toward one coordinated, comprehensive plan with one fiduciary advisor accountable for it.
- What happens in the first conversation?
- Discovery starts with your life, not your portfolio. We ask about your income, your obligations, your timeline, your family dynamic, and what success actually looks like to you. It is a 45-minute conversation with no obligation, and many clients tell us it is the first time a financial professional has asked those questions. You leave with clarity on where you stand and on the questions you should be asking.
- What do I actually walk away with?
- Two documents built for your life, never a template. First, a comprehensive written financial plan that coordinates every financial decision, across investments, taxes, insurance, and estate, into one coherent strategy. Second, a Financial Action Checklist: specific, prioritized steps that ensure nothing important is left undone. Both are coordinated with your CPA, your attorney, and any other professional involved.
- What does Stewardship look like after the plan is built?
- The plan is a living document, so Stewardship keeps it current as your life, markets, and tax law change. We meet quarterly with a standing agenda, send monthly performance reports that are transparent, benchmarked, and in plain language, and review the full plan annually. Once a year, we also get your CPA, your attorney, and AWM on the same call for one hour, so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Does the process cover more than investments?
- Yes. The Vantage Formula exists because portfolios managed in isolation fail quietly. The process integrates investment management, tax strategy, independent insurance review, estate planning, and retirement income into one strategy, with ongoing accountability built in. That integration is what “Applied” means in our name.
03
Our services
What each service actually involves: retirement income, investment management, insurance, tax, and estate.
Explore the services- What does retirement income planning include?
- Retirement income planning turns your savings into a paycheck that lasts. It coordinates Social Security timing, pension elections, required minimum distributions, Roth conversions, and portfolio withdrawals into one tax-efficient plan, then stress-tests that plan against long retirements, poor market timing, and rising healthcare costs. The goal is reliable income you cannot outlive, not a single rate of return.
- What is evidence-based, factor-based investment management?
- It means building diversified portfolios around the sources of return that decades of academic research have identified, rather than picking stocks or chasing last year’s winners. We focus on what you keep after taxes, fees, and behavioral mistakes, using tax-loss harvesting, asset location, and disciplined rebalancing, all coordinated with your tax and estate plan. On investment management we take no commissions and use no proprietary products.
- How do you decide what insurance I actually need?
- We start from your plan, not a product. As a carrier-independent broker we can access every major life, disability, long-term care, and annuity provider, and we recommend coverage only where it closes a real gap in your protection. If the coverage you already have does the job, we will tell you. Where we do place insurance, we disclose plainly that we may earn a commission from the carrier.
- What is proactive tax planning, and how is it different from filing my taxes?
- Tax preparation records decisions you already made. Proactive tax planning shapes them before the year closes. We coordinate strategies across the whole year, including Roth conversions, tax-loss harvesting, charitable giving, and entity structuring, and we work alongside your CPA so the return simply reflects a plan that was already optimized. Done well, tax planning is the single largest lever in most financial lives.
- What does estate planning cover, and do I need it if I am not wealthy?
- Estate planning makes sure your assets go where you intend, with as little lost to taxes and probate as legally possible, and it is not only for the wealthy. It covers beneficiary alignment, account titling, wills and trusts, and coordination with your attorney, so the plan in your documents matches the plan in your accounts. We handle the financial side and work with your estate attorney on the legal documents.
04
Client situations
Questions raised by the situations our clients bring us: succession, NIL income, Social Security, and comprehensive planning.
Meet the clients we serve- What is business succession planning?
- Business succession planning prepares the transfer of your business to family, a partner, a key employee, or an outside buyer in a way that protects its value, minimizes taxes, and keeps the transition smooth for your team and customers. It typically includes a buy-sell agreement, a professional valuation, key person planning, and an exit strategy designed years before the event.
- What is a buy-sell agreement and why do I need one?
- A buy-sell agreement is a legally binding contract that defines exactly what happens to an owner’s interest if they die, become disabled, or want to exit. It protects the remaining owners from unwanted partners and guarantees the departing owner a fair, pre-agreed value. Every closely held business with more than one owner should have one.
- How does NIL income affect a college athlete’s taxes?
- NIL income is taxable, and most of it arrives as self-employment income, which brings quarterly estimated payments and self-employment tax on top of income tax. How an agreement is structured, and which states the income touches, can change the outcome significantly. We help athletes structure agreements, manage the tax exposure, and evaluate brand deals from the first dollar.
- When should I claim Social Security?
- It depends on your life expectancy, marital status, other income sources, and tax situation. Claiming at 62 reduces your benefit by roughly 30% versus full retirement age, while waiting past full retirement age grows it by 8% per year until age 70. For married couples, a coordinated claiming strategy can add hundreds of thousands of dollars over a joint lifetime. There is no universal answer, only the right one for your plan.
- What does comprehensive financial planning include?
- It coordinates every dimension of your financial life under one strategy: retirement income planning, investment management, year-round tax planning with your CPA, estate coordination with your attorney, an independent insurance review, and Social Security optimization, plus business succession planning when it applies. Ongoing accountability comes through quarterly meetings and an annual call with your full professional team.
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About the firm
How to vet a fiduciary, what advice costs, where we are located, and where your assets are held.
Learn about the firm- How do I know if my financial advisor is actually a fiduciary?
- Ask three questions. First: are you compensated solely by fees from clients, or do you also receive commissions or third-party payments? Second: will you sign a written fiduciary oath stating you will act in my best interest at all times? Third: do you receive any compensation for recommending specific products, including dinners, retreats, or sponsored trips? A true fiduciary answers all three transparently. If an advisor deflects, equivocates, or refuses to sign, that is your answer.
- What does a financial advisor cost in California?
- Fiduciary advisors in California typically charge between 0.50% and 1.25% of assets under management annually, depending on portfolio size and service complexity. Some also offer flat-fee or hourly arrangements for planning-only work. Be careful with advisors compensated mainly through product commissions, where the true cost is often buried inside the product itself. Applied Wealth Management is fee-based: you pay a transparent, agreed-upon fee for planning and investment management, and every cost is disclosed in writing before any engagement begins.
- Where is Applied Wealth Management located and who do you serve?
- Applied Wealth Management is headquartered in Bakersfield, California, with team presence in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Oakland. We serve clients nationwide through secure video conferencing and in-person meetings. Typical clients include families approaching or in retirement, business owners planning a succession or sale, professionals with significant equity compensation, and athletes and entertainers managing concentrated income windows.
- Where are client assets held?
- Client assets are custodied at Altruist and Charles Schwab, two independent custodians. Your accounts are held in your own name at the custodian, and you can see them directly at any time. Applied Wealth Management never takes possession of your money; our authority is limited to managing the accounts under the agreement you sign.
- What does "Applied" mean in your name?
- Wealth management is a theory: a plan, a portfolio, a set of documents. Applied wealth management is what happens when someone connects all of it to your actual life as it unfolds. When something changes, one call reaches a person who already knows your full picture and coordinates taxes, investments, insurance, and estate into a single recommendation. That is also why our process is called The Vantage Formula: it takes an elevated view that sees everything at once.
The hardest part is starting the conversation. We’ll take it from there.
Tell us where you are and what’s worrying you. We’ll ask questions, listen, and tell you honestly whether we can help.
- A fiduciary, legally bound to act in your interest
- Fee-based planning with transparent, plain-English costs
- Investments, tax, retirement, and estate coordinated under one roof
- A 45-minute first conversation, with no obligation
Prefer to speak directly? Skip the form and call us. No gatekeepers.
Call (661) 487-1020