At Divergent Planning, we have been serving pre-retirees, mid-career professionals, and federal government employees since 2010. With headquarters in Bethesda, MD, and advisors in Tysons, VA, our Registered Investment Advisory firm provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management throughout Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, and nationwide.

We believe that you are best served when your financial advice is objective and your fees are transparent. That is why we embrace our role as fee-only, fiduciary financial advisors.

As fee-only financial advisors, we do not sell products and do not accept commissions or referral fees. And as an SEC-registered fiduciary Registered Investment Advisor, we have a legal responsibility to put your interests ahead of ours. Our responsibility is not limited to certain services or investment accounts, such as retirement plans. It applies to everything we do for you. Always.

We embrace our status as fiduciary financial advisors in Bethesda, MD, and Tysons, VA, because it enables us to serve as your financial advocate. Unburdened by conflicts of interests, we can provide unbiased advice meant only to help you reach your goals.

 What Is a Fiduciary?

When you go to the doctor, you expect their advice to be in your best interest. Same goes for your attorney. But even if you expect your financial professional to have a similar responsibility to you, that doesn’t mean they do.

Many financial professionals give recommendations that do not put your interests first—and it can cost you. If they earn a commission from the product they pitch to you, then how do you now that product is the best one for you? Maybe it is just the best one for their paycheck.

That is why working with a fiduciary financial advisor is essential, in our view. Like your doctor or your attorney, an advisor with a fiduciary duty must put your best interests first.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates RIA firms such as ours, the fiduciary obligation also means acting with good faith, providing full and fair disclosure of all facts, and avoiding potential conflicts of interest.

In our view, the fiduciary duty is the only way a financial professional can genuinely serve a client—unfortunately, it is not the only way.

 The Suitability Standard

You will sometimes find financial professionals such as broker-dealers acting under the suitability standard. This means that they need to give you advice that is “suitable” for your situation.

What is the difference? Say you are getting close to retirement, and your broker is recommending a certain mutual fund. The mutual fund may have higher fees than other products, but in the broker’s view, it is “suitable” for your situation. They never even tell you about the alternatives. They do not have to. 

A new rule, Regulation Best Interest, says some recommendations need to be in the client’s best interests at the point of sale. But the financial professional would still not have a continuous fiduciary obligation to you.

Someone with a full-time obligation to advance your interests is going to deeply understand your financial situation, strive to disclose all the pertinent information, and tell you if their advice changes.

 How Do You Know Who Is a Fiduciary?

So how do you tell if a financial professional or financial firm is a fiduciary?

Just ask them. Their response should be an unequivocal “yes.” Anything less probably means they are not.

You should talk to your potential advisor at length about the fiduciary obligation they have: Is it continuous or at the point of sale? Are they paid only by you? Do they earn any commissions or compensation from anyone else? Will they put everything they just said in writing?

Ask for their Form ADV and Form CRS, which provide details about their fee structure, conflicts of interest, disciplinary history, and other essential information. 

Make sure to check with the agency that regulates them. A Registered Investment Advisor—which always has a fiduciary responsibility—will be registered with the U.S. SEC or a state regulator. You can confirm their status on the SEC advisor lookup webpage.

If you are checking a broker-dealer, the SEC website will confirm their brokerage status. Or you can go to the BrokerCheck search by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Certain certifications can tip you off that a financial professional has a fiduciary obligation to you. They include:

  • CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL™ (CFP®)

  • Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®)

  • Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®)

Memberships in some professional organizations also indicate a fiduciary responsibility to clients, among them:

The above organizations also have search features on their websites so you can find a fiduciary advisor.

Our Comprehensive Services

Our advisory team provides fiduciary financial planning that is comprehensive and tailored to your goals, concerns, and needs.

Our services include:

Budgeting, Risk Management, Retirement Planning, Investment Management, Insurance Analysis
Tax Optimization, Estate Planning, Employee Benefit Analysis, Social Security Analysis, Medicare Analysis Health Care Cost Analysis

We complement our comprehensive services with a fee-only model that eschews commissions and accepts compensation from only our clients. We think serving as a fiduciary, fee-only advisory firm aligns our interests with yours even more.

Want to Learn More About the Fiduciary Obligation?

Here is a roundup of articles that can help you better understand why a financial fiduciary is so important:

We also welcome any questions you may have about our role as fiduciary advisors.

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