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Gray Financial Planning
If you are looking for independent, objective financial planning and advice, without account minimums or conflicts of interest, you have come to the right place. Most financial advisors earn their living partially or fully from commissions on the products they sell, such as front-end-load mutual funds and cash value life insurance. We are a Fee-Only planner, which mean that our only compensation comes from clients. This eliminates potential conflict of interest between what’s best for the client and what makes more money for the planner, and allows Gray Financial Planning to give you truly independent, objective advice.
Financial Planning is a discipline which integrates all areas of personal finance, including planning for education, retirement, investment, taxes, insurance, and your estate. Gray Financial Planning works with individuals and families to help them define and meet their financial goals.
Dan Gray CFP® adheres to the Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility adopted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. and accepts the obligations not only to comply with the mandates and requirements of all applicable laws and regulations but also to take responsibility to act in an ethical and professional manner in all professional services and activities.
We provide a wide array of specialized advisory and strategic services for our clients.
Gray Financial Planning LLC has advised hundreds of clients for over 10 years.
Sixty-four percent of Americans are now expected to retire with less than $10,000 in their retirement savings accounts.
A couple retiring in 2022 will need $315,000 in retirement for health care expenses alone.
Seventy percent of people that reach age 65 will need long-term care at some point. What many seniors don’t realize is that Medicare doesn’t pay for most long-term care costs. It only covers 100 days of care at a skilled nursing facility, and only if it was preceded by a hospital stay of three days or more.
Just as no two people are alike, neither are two individualized financial plans. Financial planning is a process. It’s not a one-time event that is completed and then never reviewed again. This discussion will take you through Gray Financial Planning’s step-by-step approach to developing your plan.
Communication will be the key for us to develop a successful relationship and help you attain your goals. If there are any questions or concerns you should feel free to contact GFP.
Dan is a Certified Financial Planner, operating Gray Financial Planning, and has been a part of the Garrett Planning Network since 2011. Dan holds a master’s degree in Telecommunications Management from the University of Dallas. After a successful 22-year career with the Wall Street Journal and Alltel as an Information Technology Specialist/Manager, Dan changed careers to Financial Planning in order to assist and empower clients to identify and meet their financial short and long-term goals. Through the University of North Texas, he obtained his CFP® education. After passing the CFP® exam in 2008, Dan joined Edward Jones as an Investment Advisor. He then teamed with the Garrett Planning Network in 2011 and began serving financial planning clients full-time with his own business, Gray Financial Planning. Outside of work, Dan is happily married to Anne. As secondary careers, they manage their multiple rental properties across the country. For hobbies, Dan enjoys getting his hands dirty while building and renovating homes, and he also enjoys staying on top of current and upcoming technologies. Dan and his wife also love being able to spend time with their daughter, son-in-law, two energy-filled grandsons, their parents and siblings. When not working, Dan and his wife enjoy traveling.
Asking someone how they are compensated may seem like a taboo topic. But when you are considering hiring a financial planner, you absolutely should ask how they are paid and understand the answer. An advisor’s compensation often affects their objectivity and the products they recommend or don’t. Here’s an overview of the major types of compensation in the financial services industry.
Many advisors are compensated primarily through commissions. They receive payment for their services based on which mutual funds, insurance, annuities, or other products they sell you. Many honest, qualified advisors are compensated in this manner, however conflicts of interest can arise. Different commission amounts are paid on different products, and there can be incentives to recommend one product over another. It can also be difficult to tell exactly how much you’re paying because the loads, fees, and commissions are often not broken out as a separate line item. When an advisor provides financial advice in exchange for commissions on investment or insurance products, it may appear that the financial advice you are receiving is free. It’s not, nor should it be. However, you need to be aware of how much you’re paying and how it influences the advisor’s objectivity.
Fee based means the advisor charges a fee and accepts commissions.
If a planner is salaried by a bank, financial firm, or discount broker, they have much less potential conflict of interest. However, you should still be aware of the spectrum of products they are permitted to offer through their employer and understand that performance appraisals, bonuses, and continued employment are still a factor influencing the objectivity of the recommendations.
Fee only financial advisors are compensated only by you, the client. They receive no commissions or incentives based on product recommendations. This method of compensation encourages objectivity because the planner is able to focus solely on your best interests. There are different methods of calculating fee-only compensation. Some firms charge a percentage of assets, others a flat fee, and others an hourly fee based on the actual amount of planning time used. Keener Financial Planning is fee only.
Fee offset advisors charge a fee for their planning services but then will apply commissions received to offset the fee. This method has some of the benefits of fee-only advisors, however there’s a potential conflict of interest when the planner retains commissions generated in excess of the fee quoted.
This questionnaire is completed by new clients and brought along to the initial consultation.
This form helps Gray Financial Planning understand your personal tolerance for risk.
This form helps helps Gray Financial Planning understand your monthly and annual income, spending, saving and giving.
This fully informs you of our policies regarding the confidentiality of our clients’ information.
This form is the required disclosure form used for registering as an investment advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission or individual states. It contains full disclosure of our advisors’ backgrounds, sources of compensation, and methods of practice.
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