As a young boy, Tom McLean’s grandparents taught him a lot about saving and investing.  They believed saving and using money wisely was important. His grandfather, Robert R. Boger, felt it was critical to impart what he knew about investments when Tom was very young.  

When he was 10 years old, his grandfather taught him how to read the stock data in the newspaper and when he was 14 he got Tom a subscription to one of the financial publications.  Additionally, just after graduating from college, his grandfather arranged a meeting with his own financial advisor and encouraged Tom to open his first IRA.

Tom McLean’s interest and curiosity about saving, investing, and smart ways to be more efficient with money  lead him to his career as a financial advisor 15 years ago.  He got his start with one of the large brokerage firms and began serving clients and growing his business.  He loved helping clients, but after a few years, he felt that something was missing. In a number of ways, Tom felt like there was a higher priority placed on selling things than on helping clients achieve their goals.  

To grow professionally and serve clients as he felt they should be served, Tom decided to embark on a robust course of study.  He researched the available programs and institutions of higher learning and decided to attend Texas Tech University,  which has one of the top financial planning programs in the country. After 2 and a half years, Tom McLean graduated with a master’s degree in personal financial planning.  

A university degree in financial planning requires more than twice the coursework than is stipulated for the Certified Financial Planner exam.  As such, completing his master’s degree made Tom eligible to take the test, which he passed, and he became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional.

After graduating, he wanted to work as a fiduciary, fee-only advisor as he believes this is the best way to serve clients.  As a fee-only advisor, he does not have sales quotas or receive commissions from selling anything.  Additionally, his clients have a clear understanding that his advice is objective as his only compensation is derived from the fees clients pay.  Finally, as a fiduciary, his recommendations are always in the best interest of his clients.  

Last year, Tom McLean fulfilled his long held dream of having his own firm.  He launched Advitica Financial Planning in Olympia, Washington to serve clients as he would want to be served – by carefully listening to their concerns and dreams, providing excellent advice, and updating their financial plans at regular intervals.  The name, Advitica Financial Planning, is his own, original creation and was chosen to embody the idea of “advice excellence.”

Tom is a husband and a father. His daughter attends Olympia High School and plays the violin with the Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia (SOGO).  In his free time he enjoys working in his garden, outdoor pursuits, reading, and tennis.  He believes he got the gardening bug from helping his grandfather care for his multitude of rose bushes and vegetable garden.  Although he is a gardening novice and has more success from some of his “happy accidents” than from the things he set out to grow.  Once he discarded the rind and seeds from a watermelon on his manure pile and a veritable watermelon farm sprang to life. That summer he harvested almost 20, 15 pound sugar baby watermelons.  Tom firmly believes that there is nothing quite like fresh strawberries, raspberries, – and watermelon that you have picked straight from the garden.  

Tom also loves activities where he can be outside, including hiking and camping. Tom is a member of the Mountaineers and enjoys the camaraderie of others that enjoy the outdoors.  One fun fact about Tom is that he has climbed Mt. Everest 16 times. Not literally, but he has completed a through-hike of the entire 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail which is equal in elevation change to climbing Mt. Everest 16 times.  Tom emphasizes this was 20 years ago when he was quite a bit younger. As a member of the Olympia Rotary Club, Tom enjoys being a part of a group that strives to uplift our community and people around the world.  In Rotary, Tom serves as chair of the membership and dine around committees and enjoys the monthly get togethers of its book club.

If you are confused by these terms, don’t worry, here’s some help:

1. Commissions:  advisors using this model of compensation receive payments for selling insurance and financial products.                                       
2. Fee-based:  advisors using this model typically receive fees based on the assets they manage as opposed to commissions on investment transactions; however, they can also receive commissions when they sell insurance products or other financial products like mortgages                             
3. Fee-only:  advisors using this model of compensation only receive fees from their clients; they are never compensated from the sale of an insurance or financial product.

Only advisors who meet the CFP Board’s requirements for certification and renewal can use the CFP® trademark.  Criteria of a CFP® professional include:

• Education.  CFP® professionals must complete a comprehensive series of courses in financial planning from a program that has been approved by the CFP Board.  
• Examination.  CFP® professionals must pass a comprehensive exam that covers the financial planning process, tax planning, employee benefits, retirement planning, estate planning, investment management, and insurance.
• Experience.  CFP® professionals are required to have several years of practical experience before they may use the CFP® trademark.
• Ethics.  CFP® professionals are held to the highest standards.  They are required to uphold the principles of integrity , objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism and diligence as outlined the CFP Board’s Code of Ethics.  Additionally, they are required to serve their clients as a fiduciary, meaning their advice is in the client’s best interest.

• Evidence-based Investing:  We incorporate those strategies which have shown to work through decades of empirical research.  This is an approach based on sound principles, not on predictions.
• Diversified:  as the returns of different industries, market sectors, and countries are constantly changing, having a well-diversified portfolio can help to smooth out the volatility in one’s returns.  Additionally, a well-diversified portfolio can help to capture the returns of the best performers while assisting you in avoiding losses from heavy concentrations in a poor performer.
• Invest Efficiently: With millions of trades happening every day, the stock market has a high degree of efficiency.  We understand this and leverage it to our advantage. We also look for strong performing, low-expense funds, so as much of the market performance can be delivered to you as possible.
• Matching Portfolios to Your Needs: We carefully analyze your goals and discuss the various portfolios available.  We also share what the likely risks are you may encounter. Once we have decided upon a portfolio, we outline and document your goals and describe how we intend to achieve them through use of a specific portfolio strategy.
• Check In, Examine, Rebalance:  We frequently review your portfolio and make adjustments when investments drift from their target range.  We also watch for tax harvesting opportunities to generate losses when desired and take gains when offsetting opportunities are available.

-Clients that engage us in a one-time planning project pay us for the hours needed to analyze their situation, design a plan, and develop recommendations.  Our fee for hourly based projects is $250 per hour.  Total hours depend on the scope and complexity of the work needed. 

-Clients that work with us on an ongoing basis to receive financial planning and investment management pay a fee based on the assets we manage. 

• For assets up to $1 million, our fee is billed at a quarterly rate of 0.225% (0.90% per year).
• For the portfolio portion over $1 million and up to $2 million, fees are billed at a quarterly rate of 0.20% (0.80% per year).c.
• For the portion of the portfolio over $2 million, fees are billed at a quarterly rate of 0.175% (0.70% per year).