FAQ’s
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How can Sustar Financial Group help manage my money?
We focus on your current financial situation, your hopes and dreams and goals, and the type of lifestyle that you aspire to in retirement. We also address your concerns and fears and what is most important to you. Basically, we spend a good amount of time listening to you, getting to know you.
Very often clients will say that no one has ever taken the time to get to know them or ask these types of questions before. Many times they have to stop and really think before they answer because this is something they have never really put into words before – just how they plan to spend their retirement years. Our clients find this process very enlightening and helpful.
After assessing the client’s financial wellness in conjunction with their wants and desires, we make a list of the areas where we can create the most value for them, usually tax-reduction strategies, wealth accumulation and preservation strategies, estate planning, etc., and we discuss these areas together. Our aim is to provide direction and meaning to their financial dreams./p> -
I currently work with a stock broker and/or other financial advisor. Is it possible to come in and meet with you to get a second opinion on my current situation?
Absolutely! Many people have approached us for an honest second opinion and we have often found ways to add value to their situations. We get second opinions on our health – why not get a second opinion on our wealth? Call us to set up an appointment today at 800-852-0313 or 330-345-8635, or send us an email at terry@sustarfinancial.com.
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What are some of the key areas in which you create the most value for the people who benefit from a relationship with Sustar Financial Group?
We often meet with people who have a stock broker, a tax preparer, and possibly an estate planning attorney. They are trying to address all of the areas that could impact the success of achieving their retirement goals. The problem we see is that some of these professionals can tend to work in a vacuum, and don't necessarily coordinate with the other advisors and therefore, may not really understand how it may impact decisions and other areas of planning.
Where we often create a lot of value is that we not only may be able to develop improved investment strategies, but due to our background, training and experience in finance as well as tax preparation, we can help determine that the tax efficient strategies and the estate planning strategies are in tune with the investment strategies.
Some people we meet with have no professional relationships at all while others have well established ones. With our long term associations with tax planning experts, elder care attorneys, estate planning attorneys, etc., we are like the quarterback who helps you call the play for the team. The quarterback knows each player’s assignment on each play and determines if everyone is working together and striving to achieve the best results. -
How do I know if you’ll be able to help me? Who is a good candidate to benefit from your professional background and experience?
If you are interested in having a plan that potentially gives you income throughout the length of your retirement and, at the same time, enhancing the protection of your money during your retirement years, Sustar Financial Group offers the services and solutions with the potential to help your dreams become a reality.
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How do you interact with and include – estate planning attorneys, accountants and CPAs or others?
This is a very important area of concern for any investor. When we refer one of our clients to another professional such as an estate planning attorney, we feel that professional is like an extension of ourselves, and we want to feel comfortable that our client will be well-served. The estate planning attorneys we work with are specialists – all they do is estate planning – and we feel this is very important as this area of law is very complex and ever-changing. We have laws on the books that change the inheritance tax levels every year from 2008 through 2011. This is four changes in four years. We feel it is imperative that we work with specialists in these areas.
Not only are these attorneys very competent specialists, they treat our clients with dignity and respect. All of our clients receive a complimentary first meeting and often preferred pricing if they implement the recommendations. We always ask our clients to tell us how they felt about the experience when we refer them to an estate planning attorney, elder care attorney, CPA, etc., We take this feedback seriously and it helps us continue to have confidence in the professionals we choose to work with.
In many cases we will still accompany our clients to these meetings to help ensure the issues are properly presented and addressed. In the case of estate planning, assuming our clients need to have a Revocable Living Trust created, we help ensure that all the assets are properly funded into the trust so their love ones can avoid unnecessary probate concerns and other potential issues.
So, in summary, we are able to recognize when our clients need the assistance of other professionals to help us implement the tax-saving strategies, the estate planning needs, etc., and we assist them in achieving these goals by working hand-in-hand with expert specialists who we have long-standing relationships with. Again, it’s like we are the quarterback – we strive to ensure that all the players are performing their assignments and we coordinate everything to verify that all the plans and activities are working in harmony for our clients. -
What are some of the resources and tools you provide to help people stay up-to-date or get further answers?
One of the things many people tell us is that they seldom hear from their stockbroker or the insurance agent who sold them a product in the past. As Investment Advisor Representatives, we have a fiduciary responsibility to put the needs and desires of our clients ahead of all others. We understand that people want and need communication with their financial planner and they need to be educated and reminded about things that could affect their retirement.
We do several things to maintain communication with our clients. We conduct live, educational seminars on a regular basis and our clients are always invited and welcome to attend. Very often our clients will bring friends to our seminars. They find it an easy, non-threatening way of introducing us to their friends and an opportunity for others to enjoy a nice meal along with an experienced, knowledgeable speaker, providing important and timely information. Another key benefit is the free "financial fitness check-up" offer which provides a great way to obtain a second opinion when it comes to planning and service. We have been blessed with many referrals and the opportunity to help more retirees because of the unique way we utilize this retirement planning program.
We also mail out a periodic newsletter. It’s called “Fascinating Financial Facts” and we received a lot of compliments on it – so we know people do read it and enjoy the interesting material. They’ll often quote it back to us. We also include in the newsletter additional timely comments that could be important to the readers.
Our standard procedure is to call each of our clients every quarter to discuss their investments, the market, the situation, etc. We want to be confident that we are comfortable or discover that we need to make changes for any reason.
In addition to that, we have an audio C/D library of topics of interest to people such as Long Term Care Strategies, investment strategies, IRA pitfalls, etc. And because we are members of the Ed Slott Elite IRA Advisor Group™ we even have an audio available by Ed Slott on IRA and IRA planning. Our goal is to continue adding valuable information to this library to help us continually educate and inform our clients on areas of interest or concern.
Those are the things we are doing on a regular basis. We have also done some guest speaking for retirement groups from time to time. We are also currently working with the local newspapers to publish timely articles and we hope to start that very soon.
On a personal note, we send birthday cards and anniversary cards to our clients –we call them first thing in the morning. Very often we surprise them with a happy birthday call even before their kids call them.
We feel good two-way communications are very important in any relationship. In addition to our annual review meetings we encourage our clients to call us any time something in their life changes which may impact their plan, or if they just have questions about something. We believe it is our responsibility to always strive to be available and responsive when needed. -
What kind of fees does Sustar Financial Group charge?
In most cases we charge a one-time, up-front planning fee based on the complexity level required in developing a retirement plan to address each client’s specific situation. In less complex situations, we do not charge a fee.
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Where can I check into Sustar Financial Group’s reputation?
We are proud members in good standing of the Better Business Bureau, as well as the Wooster Chamber of Commerce. You can also go to www.finra.org and the Ohio Insurance Commission to get further information about us.
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What should I do if I want to contact Sustar Financial Group?
If you are interested in learning more about your situation or possibly taking some action towards retirement planning, or maybe you just want a second opinion or have other money concerns, please call us at 800-852-0313 or 330-345-8635. We will schedule you for a free one-hour “Fiscal Fitness Checkup Meeting” and/or reserve a place for you at one of our upcoming live educational seminars.
We will not put any time limit or reduction on this free offer. But, we should point out that the number one reason we have discovered as the cause for people failing to achieve their retirement goals is due to procrastination. So, if anything you see at this site has hit a nerve, or sparked a concern, we encourage you to act now and call us at 800-852-0313 or 330-345-8635. Remember, the famous saying, "He who hesitates is lost." -
How would my Financial Advisor get paid for managing my money?
One of the main ways we get paid is through asset fees based on assets under management for securities strategies, similar to how your stockbroker or other financial advisor might get paid. All details would be covered well in advance of any financial decisions. For insurance transactions we get paid commissions like any other agent offering the same or similar product tools.
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How do I find out more about the history of Sustar Financial Group?
Some of our history can be found here.
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How do I sign up to attend one of Sustar Financial Group’s educational dinner seminars?
You can register for one of our highly informative and educational dinner seminars by entering your information here.
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How can I refer a friend to Sustar Financial Group?
By referring a friend you will often discover they were able to benefit greatly in some way, adding confidence and potentially improving their quality of life. To possibly help a friend, send them to Sustar Financial Group.
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How can I sign up to regularly receive "Fascinating Financial Facts", Sustar Financial Group’s newsletter published monthly, providing a wealth of financial facts and information?
Sign up to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, "Fascinating Financial Facts", by entering your information here.
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Where is Sustar Financial Group located?
We are located at 4379 Cleveland Rd., Wooster, Ohio 44691. We are on Rt 3 North across from Park Mazda.
