How Morris Retirement Advisors Simplifies Wealth Management Through a Wholistic Approach

By Preston Ehrler

Understanding how a financial management firm differentiates itself can be difficult, at best. Many advisors have created groups that focus on fee-based asset management, billing on a client's assets, instead of transactions. While this is a step in the right direction, pieces to the puzzle may still be missing, including accounting, and planning via a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). Additionally, and interestingly bucking the trend, asset based billing may not always be the best option for every client.

Morris Retirement Advisors
Enter Adam Anderson and Marco Lima and their comprehensive team of professionals at Morris Retirement Advisors in Parsippany, and Sparta, New Jersey. "We offer tremendous options for the client," says Lima. "Some clients should not be in fee-based relationships, some clients should not be in brokerage-based relationships."

Decades of Experience: Objectively Focused
Speaking more broadly, Lima adds that the partners at Morris Retirement Advisors, with decades of experience, place emphasis on planning, and as CFPs, and a CPA, the plan is everything. Focusing on more than just wealth management, according to Lima, creates a 360 degree picture of each client, and their short and long-term goals. Most often those specific objectives include asset protection, taxes, and investments. "Our focus is working alongside our clients to create a roadmap to their financial independence," says Lima.

The Real Difference
And while the program they employ is flexible based on each client's individual objectives, both Lima and Anderson stress that it's a "systematic approach," that while always detail focused, also enables clients to see their complete financial snapshot--sometimes for the first time. Anderson adds, "one thing that differentiates us from other advisors is that our clients pay one, flat retainer fee, which includes: financial planning, asset management, tax planning, and tax preparation." Legal services as part of the suite of services are also being added.

The Systematic Approach: Planning Modules Based on the Person
Morris Retirement Advisors utilizes six specific planning modules that are based upon where a client is in their lives and what their specific needs are.

Wealth Builder, as denoted by its name, is the asset management module, and is in place to manage, grow and protect assets.

Wealth Builder Plus focuses on working with people who are just starting their financial life, including newly-minted college graduates, first-time job holders, and new parents who want to get an early jump on planning for their future, as well as education planning for their children.

Wealth Consolidator: For career professionals and business owners with emerging wealth and are approximately 15 years away from retirement.
Wealth Protector is the module that is tailored for those approaching or in retirement, who, according to Lima, "need to plan to replicate a paycheck. They are often also concerned with legacy issues, and asset protection issues for their children and grandchildren."

Business Owners have their own module, and it specifically focuses on the needs that family-owned business have, such as creating a savings plan, a tax assessment, and understanding and utilizing tax codes. "We can work with them, essentially as their virtual board of directors," says Lima. "Business owners have very specific needs," says Anderson. "Often they are so completely focused on running their business from morning to night, that there may be significant tax opportunities they are missing."

The Partners Are People Too
While any discussion centering on financial planning, retirement and tax services can lean toward the serious, it's evident that both Anderson and Lima are dedicated to their customers. "We have a great rapport with our clients," says Lima. Anderson adds, "we believe in what we do; we see the results of helping our clients, and that's very, very important to us." "We've grown our business based on word of mouth, and we take a lot of pride in that," says Lima.

Beaming, Anderson also points out, "We've got a great internship program, and we currently have three interns, all getting paid and earning college credit. And actually, the head of our planning department was originally an intern with us." Morris Retirement Advisors is also actively recruiting experienced experienced advisors for both their Sparta and Parsippany locations.

Allowing his personal life to peek through, Anderson indicates that the partners have set up a foundation in the name of his son, who was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease. The foundation, The AJ Anderson Foundation, was created to help fund research for rare genetic diseases. Anderson's son was diagnosed with Taysachs, and Lima points out that there is little research or funding for such diseases, as they are so rare. "The foundation was created to help fund needed research for these diseases, says Anderson." "It's important to us," adds Lima.

To learn more about Morris Retirement Advisors, visit their websites:
www.simplifyingplanningandwealth.com
www.morrisretirementadvisors.com
You can also click here to learn more about the AJ Anderson Foundation.