How to Choose a Wealth Manager That’s Right for You: 4 Key Signs

Proverbs 21:5 – “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” 

The Bible is full of practical insights into money management and just how important it is to budget, plan for retirement, and to save for future uncertainty. 

As stewards of His material bounty on earth, we believe it’s important for you and your family to plan your finances for the long-term, looking to ensure that you’ll always have the resources on hand to fulfill your purpose and to give back. But this is no simple task:

Christian wealth management helps you address a whole array of finance needs, from budgeting, tax planning, wealth protection, and estate planning, to debt elimination, investment allocations,, family governance, and more, in a way that can align with your spiritual values. 

It is our view that your family’s financial goals shouldn’t be left to the vagaries of volatile market performance and short-term, high risk approaches. You need wealth managers who understand your values and long-term life goals, and work tirelessly to build your tomorrow, today. 

But how do you find the right wealth manager? At Cooke Wealth Management, we’re a father-daughter duo who’ve assisted hundreds of families like yours to navigate the complexities of financial markets. We understand the value of family and long-term relationships, and focus on wealth management from a Biblical perspective. 

In this piece, we’d like to walk you through some of the most important things to look for in a wealth manager, and how Cooke strives to exceed your expectations. 

A consultative, long-term holistic approach towards your finances

Wealth Managers are more than just investment advisors. Investment advisors are often primarily concerned with maximizing returns on specific investments, as opposed to your overall financial well-being. Great wealth managers are so much more: they focus on long-term relationships, sustainability, lasting financial stability and mitigating risk. If you meet a wealth manager who tries to sell you a financial product or a high-risk guaranteed investment strategy during the first meeting, you might want to reconsider using their services. Advisors, who focus on you, will spend time getting to know you, your financial profile, perspectives, and experiences. This helps them understand your long-term goals and needs to provide you with tailor-made solutions. 

Choose a wealth manager who can draw up a holistic financial plan, for everything from lifestyle expenses, insurance, charitable planning, college funding, to debt management, tax-saving, estate planning, and retirement.  

Ask them about their history as wealth managers, the number of long-term clients they have, and how have they been able to assist their clients in reaching their goals over the years. 

My dad, John Cooke, has 33 years of experience  helping Christian families from all walks of life with their financial, tax, and investment planning. He’s built long-term, trust based relationships that span generations. He epitomizes the Cooke Wealth Management ethos: long-term, sustainable, and God-centered. 

The right investment philosophy 

There are no “right” or “wrong” investment philosophies. Some approaches, however, are a better fit for you and your goals than others. 

Wealth managers adopt a wide range of investment philosophies, from strategic to tactical, from contrarian to hedging and opportunistic to arbitrage, just to mention a few. 

Again, there is no right or wrong here: We believe the best strategy is the one that’s aligned with your needs and your risk-taking capacity. It’s important to ask questions and better understand your financial advisor’s philosophy, to understand how well it resonates with your own approach: when it comes to your wealth, it’s important that you’re both on the same page.  

At Cooke, our investment philosophy is closely aligned with Christian spiritual values. 

We take a conservative, well-thought out approach to your investment strategy, emphasizing asset preservation while helping you realize sustainable opportunities for growth. We use a structured investment methodology based on over 80 years of market data, academic research, and in-depth analysis  of investor philosophy and behavior. 

The right plan for you 

While we work towards many of the same goals, each Cooke client is unique. This is why we make sure to sit with you and build out a personalized, long-term wealth management plan designed to be the perfect fit for you. These are plans we implement over decades, so it’s critical to understand where you are, where you want to go, and the dreams you’re looking to fulfill. We don’t believe in cookie cutter planning at Cooke. Your plan is your very own path towards long-term stability and fulfilment. We’ll be there every step of the way to guide you along the way . 

Payment models: the right reasons for managing your wealth

Not all wealth managers work on the same payment models. Whenever a commission is involved, wealth managers inevitably face a conflict of interest. In some cases,  they might prioritize higher risk or more conservative financial opportunities over your long-term financial stability, in order to earn a better commission. 

At Cooke, we value your trust. To ensure that there’s never this conflict of interest, we work on a fee-only model. We charge you  a transparent, flat rate based on asset volume and the services you pick. That way, you’ll know who you’re dealing with, and you can expect the same quality and consistency of advice over years of service. 

Selecting a wealth manager can be a major life decision: you’re picking a trusted partner long-term, often for life. If you’re a Christian looking for Orange County wealth management that aligns with your values we’re there for you. We’re here to build lifetime relationships based on trust. 

Reach out to us at 949.724.3880. We’ll schedule you in for a free consultation on our 90-day foundation financial plan.