If you are considering Blake Wealth Management, you may want to know what working with our firm would actually look like before you take the next step.
Below are our direct answers to questions about how we develop recommendations, what happens after you become a client, how we are compensated, and what you should expect from the relationship.
We use a three-step process called our Simply Retirement Roadmap™ process.
The first step is a 20-minute Get to Know You call. We learn what led you to contact us, discuss the questions you are trying to answer, and determine together whether it makes sense to continue.
The second step is a complimentary planning session focused on your concerns, goals, and the financial decisions in front of you.
The third step is the delivery of your personalized Simply Retirement Roadmap™. We explain the issues we believe deserve attention, the options we considered, and the actions we would recommend.
We do not ask you to decide during the Roadmap delivery meeting. You can review what we discussed, ask follow-up questions, and decide whether working together makes sense.
Blake Wealth Management focuses on retirement planning for women age 55 and older. Many of the women we serve are divorced, widowed, single by choice, or preparing for the possibility that they may eventually make financial decisions on their own.
We also work with married couples, including couples in which the woman is the primary financial decision-maker and couples who want to make retirement decisions together. When we work with a couple, we want both spouses to understand the recommendations, participate in the planning process, and feel comfortable asking questions.
Our work commonly includes retirement income, Social Security, tax planning, Medicare, investment management, and estate coordination. We also help clients work through the practical decisions that follow a major life change, including how accounts should be organized and which decisions need attention first.
Not every advisor is the right fit for every person. If your primary needs fall outside the work we regularly do, we will be direct about that during our initial conversation.
Our founder, Eric Blake, has more than 27 years of experience helping clients make financial decisions. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
Earning the CFP® certification requires education, successful completion of the CFP® examination, qualifying professional experience, and meeting CFP Board's ethics requirements. CFP® professionals must also complete continuing education and continue to meet CFP Board's professional standards to maintain the certification.
Eric's background supports our work in retirement income, Social Security, tax planning, Medicare, investment management, and estate coordination. When a decision requires legal or tax advice, we coordinate with the client's attorney, accountant, or other professionals.
Eric is supported by a planning and client service team that helps prepare financial plans, coordinate implementation, respond to service needs, and follow through on the details between meetings.
When we make a recommendation, we explain the reasoning behind it and how it relates to what you told us is important.
If there are reasonable alternatives, we discuss those as well, including the tradeoffs and how one decision may affect another part of your financial life.
There will be times when we believe one option is better suited to your circumstances. We will tell you what we recommend and why. The final decision is yours, and you should feel comfortable asking as many questions as needed before making it.
Our goal is for you to understand the decision rather than follow a recommendation simply because an advisor made it.
We begin by identifying the income you expect from Social Security, pensions, retirement accounts, taxable investments, and other sources.
We then evaluate how those resources may work together to support your spending. That includes deciding when income should begin, which accounts may be used first, and how much should remain available for future needs or unexpected expenses.
Taxes are part of that work. Withdrawals from an IRA, Roth conversions, capital gains, and required minimum distributions can affect both your tax bill and your Medicare premiums. We consider those connections when developing and updating your retirement income plan.
Investment management supports the plan, but the portfolio is only one part of it. Its purpose is to help fund the life you want to live while accounting for the risks and changes that may occur along the way.
When a prospective client asks for references, we first obtain permission from the clients we believe may be appropriate.
We generally try to provide two or three references whose circumstances are reasonably similar to the person or couple considering our firm. That might include a widow, a woman planning retirement on her own, someone who came to us after divorce, or a couple preparing for retirement together.
We do not share private financial information. The conversation gives you an opportunity to ask about communication, responsiveness, follow-through, and the overall experience of working with our firm.
A financial plan should continue to guide decisions after the initial recommendations are delivered. It also needs to change when your life or the rules affecting your finances change.
Once you become a client, we begin implementing the recommendations we agreed should come first. We organize the work so you know what we are handling, what requires your involvement, and when each step should occur.
We typically hold ongoing planning meetings twice each year, with additional conversations when needed. During those meetings, we review your retirement income, investments, tax-planning opportunities, and any changes in your life or priorities.
Some planning work happens outside those meetings. Depending on your circumstances, that may include tax projections, required minimum distribution planning, Social Security decisions, Medicare considerations, beneficiary reviews, and coordination with your CPA or estate attorney.
We also provide planning communications and portfolio reporting between meetings. The specific work will depend on your circumstances and the decisions that require attention during the year.\
You do not need to wait for a scheduled meeting when something changes. We want clients to contact us when a decision arises so we can help evaluate it while there is still time to act.
Our role extends beyond managing investments, but we do not claim to have every answer or replace the work of your attorney, accountant, or other professionals. When another professional should be involved, we help identify the issue and coordinate the next steps with you.
Our reason for doing this work is personal.
Our founder, Eric Blake, was raised by a single mother, and his grandmother has been a widow for nearly 30 years. Those family experiences shaped the way Eric thinks about retirement planning and the work we do at Blake Wealth Management.
Many women eventually become responsible for important financial decisions on their own. That may happen by choice or following the loss of a spouse or a divorce.
We want the women we serve to understand their options, feel comfortable asking questions, and have someone helping them work through those decisions.
Our focus on women also influences how we work with couples. We want both spouses involved in the planning process and prepared to make financial decisions, even if one person has traditionally taken the lead.
Fees are important, and you should understand exactly how an advisor is compensated. Cost alone, however, does not tell you whether an advisor is the right fit or whether the relationship will provide value for the fee you are paying.
Consider whether the advisor's experience, services, process, and ongoing help fit what you need.
Blake Wealth Management is a fee-only advisory firm. We are compensated directly by our clients and do not receive commissions for recommending or selling securities or other financial products.
Because our compensation does not change based on which investment or financial product we recommend, we do not have a commission-based incentive to favor one product over another.
Our founder and lead financial planner, Eric Blake, is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. CFP® professionals are required to act as fiduciaries whenever they provide financial advice.
Our advisory services are offered through RFG Advisory, a Registered Investment Adviser. When providing advisory services, we are held to a fiduciary standard. That means we are required to act in your best interest, exercise care in the advice we provide, and disclose material conflicts of interest.
Our primary client relationship combines retirement planning and investment management through an asset-based advisory fee. We explain the fee in writing before you decide whether to hire us. We also explain the services included and any underlying investment or account expenses that may apply.
The value of the relationship will depend on the help you need. Our work may include coordinating retirement income and
Social Security, identifying tax-planning opportunities, managing investments, adjusting your plan when circumstances change, and coordinating with your other professionals.
We believe you should evaluate the fee in the context of the entire relationship. The advisor should be able to explain what you will receive, how the work addresses your needs, and what kind of help you can expect after the initial plan is delivered.
Fidelity Investments serves as the custodian for client assets managed through our firm. As custodian, Fidelity holds the assets, processes transactions, and provides account statements and tax reporting.
You can view your accounts directly through Fidelity's website and receive statements from Fidelity. Blake Wealth Management provides advice and manages the accounts under the authority you grant, but we do not take custody of your money.
The Simply Retirement Roadmap™ begins with a brief introductory call, followed by a complimentary planning meeting and the delivery of your personalized Roadmap. The process gives you the information you need to evaluate our recommendations, our services, and whether working together makes sense.
201 W Virginia Street, Suite 102 | McKinney, TX 75069
All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. There is no guarantee the investment process will lead to profits. Past performance of any security or strategy is no guarantee or indication of future results or performance. Market conditions change continuously.
Advisory services offered by Investment Advisory Representatives of RFG Advisory, LLC ("RFG Advisory" or "RFG") a registered investment advisor. Blake Wealth Management and RFG Advisory are unaffiliated entities. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where RFG Advisory and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advisory services may be rendered by RFG Advisory unless a client agreement is in place.
RFG Advisory is an SEC-registered investment adviser. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of RFG by the Commission, nor does it indicate that RFG or any associated investment advisory representative has attained a particular level of skill or ability.
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