Cypress West Federal Credit Union

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Fee-only Financial Planning: Is this a better way to go for credit union members?

Cypress West FCU believes that a well-thought out plan for our member's future is a good basis for transactions at the credit union. While savings and borrowings are the lifeblood of a credit union's financial health, the larger story is that credit unions have always strived to serve members from cradle to grave with a variety of transaction and non-transaction services for a fee or bundled with other services.

As credit unions have evolved over the years, the tools credit unions use and make available to members in achieving those goals have necessarily evolved too. Making available financial planning services have been a part of that evolution. Credit unions, whose members are the most satisfied users of financial services in the US according to American Banker Magazine, have prided themselves in making a financial planner available in a no-pressure environment of deep trust that has evolved in the credit union over nearly 100 years of existence in the US.

There are two basic ways that planners are available to members within the credit union. One is to make a planner available "free." The planner gives "free" advice and where appropriate, sells products from which the credit union derives income. This income helps to pay the planner's salary. Such planners do not work on commission which removes the incentive the planner has for selling products that may not be beneficial to the member. However, the credit union's commission can be problematic for the maintaining the member's trust if or when a commission is not fully disclosed.

The other method of making a planner available to the member is to establish a relationship with a fee-only planner. What is a fee-only (FO) planner? Fee-only planners offer independent objective financial advice and do not sell any products and derive no income from transactions from inside or outside the credit union. When a FO planner recommends an insurance product, you can be sure that the planner will not be receiving a commission. The same goes for recommending the sale or purchase of securities* in your portfolio or for credit union services, be they loans, savings or other products. Financial planning offered in this manner protects and preserves the hard-earned and well deserved reputations that credit unions have built over the years.

The Cypress West FCU offers Financial Planning Services

Cypress West FCU has contracted with Jim Frazin, CFP®, AIF®** who is a former CEO of Cypress West (when it was named Qantas FCU). His firm, Your Money & Your Life offers fee-only planning, objective, hourly, as-needed financial planning advice to CWFCU members. Jim is a member of The Garrett Planning Network, a national network of fee-only planners started by Sheryl Garrett [http://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com]. Ms Garrett has been written up in Newsweek, Money, Bloomberg Personal Finance magazines and other national publications.

Jim became a Certified Financial Planning® praticitioner in 1990. He became an Accredited Investment Fiduciary in 2003. He is also a member of the Financial Planning Association.

The first hour of your consultation is free. If you want more information, please call Jim at 415-337-4566 or 866-882-7817.

**Jim Frazin, CFP® is an Investment Advisory Representative of First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC, an independent investment advisory firm registered with the SEC. Investments outside the credit union may not be federally insured by NCUA/NCUSIF or FDIC, may not be credit union guaranteed, and may lose value.

*Investments in such securities may lose or gain value over time and may be worth less than the initial investment.

What is Fee-only Advice

No commissions
No sales pressure
No third-party sales incentives
No conflicts of interest regarding compensation
No net worth or account minimums to meet
No long-term contracts or assets-under-management required

Just independent, unbiased advice, billed in easy-to-understand 6-minute increments, on an Hourly, As-Needed basis (see FAQ to learn how the fees you pay for financial planning and advice may be taken as a tax deduction).

Now you have "somewhere to go" when you need:

One-time or ongoing advice
A second opinion
A financial check-up
Specific advice on a financial concern
Portfolio design and asset allocation
One module or a complete financial plan
Periodic reviews and plan updates
Assistance with implementation, if you desire
Ability to implement your advisor's advice on your own (perfect for do-it-yourselfers)