Lassus Wherley is a Fee-Only wealth management firm with expertise in financial planning, investment management, tax preparation, trust services, and family office support with offices in New Providence, NJ and Bonita Springs, FL. We work with individuals, couples, families, pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations and other business entities. Using a team approach that we have developed over more than 30 years, we have helped hundreds of clients build secure financial futures.
When we launched Lassus Wherley & Associates, P.C. in 1985, we were new to the field of Fee-Only financial planning, but the field itself was new. The number of Fee-Only planners at the time probably did not exceed 200.
Then, as now, Fee-Only planners were working against the prevailing business model of the time. Most financial planners at the time (and today) are paid by sales commissions and indirect forms of compensation for the financial products that their clients buy or sell. We don’t work that way, and we never did.
In the early years at Lassus Wherley, we had to educate every potential client about Fee-Only planning. People did not understand that they had been paying immense commissions to their previous financial advisors, and they did not understand the distinction between an advisor who worked in their fiduciary interest and an advisor whose fiduciary interest was tied to his or her employer.
A Difficult Situation
The best way we can describe it is this:
Our firm does not accept sales commissions of any type for the financial services that we recommend for our clients. Our clients pay us directly, and in return, they receive our objective advice, untainted by the commissions and quotas that drive most investment brokers and advisors.
People seemed to like our message, and the firm’s client base grew. We added staff members, and we added new services for our clients.
Today, we have grown to 23 people in two offices (New Providence, NJ, and Bonita Springs, FL) who provide financial planning, investment management, tax preparation, trust services, and family office support. In one day, we might help one family fine-tune a retirement plan, suggest a way that a small-business owner can save on taxes, remind another client to have a living will prepared, and discuss a trust through our family office service.
Every day is a new challenge and a new opportunity to help. We respond with the same intent each time: To do what’s right for the client and to build a long-term relationship. We do not focus on accumulating investment assets to manage.
We watch our costs carefully, and we manage our clients’ investments with an eye to minimizing their downside risk. We also educate clients about the importance of planning and investing for the long term, rather than becoming overwhelmed by the daily ups and downs of the stock market. We deliver peace of mind.
Address:
1 Academy Street,
New Providence, NJ 07974
Phone: (908) 464-0102
Email: lwa@lassuswherley.com
Website: https://www.lassuswherley.com
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