Most of the investment management we do is fee-based, which means the cost is a percentage of the assets we manage for you rather than a commission on each trade. You see the fee in writing before you engage us, and because it is tied to your account value, our compensation rises and falls with your portfolio. Some situations are better served by a brokerage account with transaction-based pricing, and when that is the case we will explain why. Either way, you will know what you are paying before anything starts.

We start with a conversation. The introductory call is where we learn what you are trying to solve and tell you honestly whether we are a good fit. If we are not, we will say so.

No. Accounts we manage directly are held at LPL Financial, and moving them is a decision we make together after you have seen the proposal. Some accounts, like a 401(k) at your current employer, generally stay where they are while you are still working. We can still account for them when we design everything else, so the whole picture works as one portfolio.

You generally have four options: leave it in the old plan, move it into a new employer's plan, roll it into an IRA, or cash it out. Each differs in investment choices, fees, services, and tax treatment, and cashing out can trigger taxes and penalties. There is no single right answer for everyone, and we will walk through the trade-offs of all four with you before recommending anything.

Mostly a mix of mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and in some cases individual stocks and bonds, chosen to fit your plan, your account types, and your tax situation. We have no house product to sell. What goes into your portfolio depends on what the portfolio is for.

When it needs it, rather than on a fixed calendar. We monitor how far your actual mix has drifted from its targets and rebalance when the drift is meaningful. In taxable accounts we weigh the tax cost of each trade first, because rebalancing can create taxable gains. That is one reason we coordinate it with your tax picture rather than running it on autopilot.

At some point during our work together, it will. We prepare for declines before they happen: the risk in your portfolio is set against your plan during calm markets, and money you need in the near term is invested differently from money you will not touch for a decade. When a decline comes, we look at what the plan says to do, and we talk with you. All investing involves risk, and no strategy prevents losses in a falling market, but a portfolio you can hold through a bad year serves you better than a perfect one you abandon in the middle of it.

Financial planning decides what your money needs to accomplish: when you can retire, what you can spend, how much risk your goals require. Investment management is the ongoing work of running the portfolio that funds those answers. We do both, in that order, because a portfolio built without a plan is a guess about the future.

Possibly a lot, possibly nothing, and we will tell you which. Low-cost index funds are often exactly what we use inside portfolios. A fund cannot decide how much belongs in stocks at your age and spending level, which account should hold which fund, what order to draw accounts down in retirement, when to harvest a loss, or whether to stay put in a decline. Most of the value in investment management sits in those decisions, above the funds themselves.

Accounts we manage are held at LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer, Member FINRA & SIPC. Your money is custodied there, your statements and tax documents come directly from LPL, and you keep full online access to your accounts. Adair & Associates never takes personal custody of client assets. Custody protections cover the safekeeping of your accounts and are separate from market risk, which every investment carries.