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Comprehensive
Financial Advice

Financial Planning

Financial Planning

We use financial planning to help clients understand how the different pieces of their financial picture – investments, real estate, income, expenses, liabilities, insurance, retirement expectations, etc. – work together and how a plan can help them make more informed decisions that will move them closer to reaching their goals. I believe that the value of a financial plan is measured not by how long or detailed it is but rather by how much it helps clients stay the course and avoid behaviors that can hinder their plans.

Investments

Investments

The client’s Risk Score is calculated first. The Risk Score goes from 1, the most conservative and risk averse, to 100, the most aggressive and risk tolerant. The next step is to construct a portfolio based on the personal Risk Score so that client expectations can be more in line with portfolio behavior. Some of the most common types of investments we use include Stocks, Exchange Traded Funds, ETF’s, certain mutual funds, government, corporate, and tax-free municipal bonds, Fixed Indexed Annuities, and for qualified investors, Private Equity Real Estate.

Tax Planning

Tax Planning

The timing and class of investments made by an investor are important criteria to consider so as to minimize the tax burden. Apart from working with clients to better plan what investments to buy and when and which ones to sell, we work closely with trusted CPA’s to analyze past returns to identify potential tax savings that may have been overlooked.

Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning

Planning for retirement is an ongoing process that is always better the earlier you start. Different “what if” scenarios are considered and questions such as age to retire, projected assets at time of retirement, expected or desired life style, when to start taking social security, and many others are discussed and answered.

Estate Planning

Estate Planning

An area often postponed or left unaddressed, estate planning is a critically important part of the client’s financial picture. At the initial meeting with a new client, we make sure that the different estate planning items have been set up and updated. These include a will, a healthcare surrogate, a durable power of attorney and possibly a trust. We coordinate with clients’ existing attorneys or recommend one of the tried and trusted ones that have helped other clients.

Risk Management

Risk Management

A review is performed on your current insurance coverages including life, home, business, and health. The objective of the review is to confirm that you have the correct coverage and that it is adequate. Also, we make sure the client understands what they have and why.

Cash Management

Cash Management

We provide practical guidance on how to better prepare and use budgets, manage expenses, saving to invest, paying down debt, smart use of credit cards and creating emergency funds is an important part of the financial picture. Specific goals for cash management are set through the financial planning process.

Self-Directed IRA's

Self-Directed IRA's

Employer sponsored retirement plans such as 401k's, 403b's, 457's as well as Roth and Traditional IRA's are usually limited to investments in mutual funds, stocks, bonds and ETF's. Other potentially lucrative investments that can significantly diversify your portfolio, i.e., real estate, private equity, tax lien certificates, cryptocurrencies, precious metals and others, are not possible with those accounts. We have the knowledge and experience of using an IRS approved way of converting a 401k or an IRA into a self-directed IRA to take advantage of a new world of investment opportunities!

<strong>SPECIAL OFFER!</strong>

SPECIAL OFFER!

Free confidential portfolio analysis

For a limited time basis, we are offering a free analysis and report of your current portfolio. This includes an explanation of how these together help us create realistic expectations of the likely future performance of your investments. Your capacity and comfort with any downturns in your portfolio will also be measured by the relationship of these two Risk Scores.

Complimentary Financial Education

Workshops, Webinars & Talks

Schedule an educational presentation or workshop in person or via Zoom for your company, association, school or family. Some popular topics include:

  • How to prepare for a successful retirement
  • Financial Literacy: The ABC’s of money for kids and teens
  • The power of compound interest: Why everyone should invest
  • What is an IRA and a 401k, and why should I get one now
  • Should I invest in stocks or real estate: The Pros & Cons of each
  • How to know if your stock portfolio is the best for you?

F.A.Q.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FIDUCIARY AND A NON-FIDUCIARY ADVISOR?

Only a Registered Investment Advisor or RIA (such as Jose Silva) are required to act as fiduciaries at all times with their clients and are held to the fiduciary standard. This means these advisors must put their clients’ best interest first and above any personal interest. Fiduciary advisors are fee-only and receive compensation solely from clients. They do not receive commissions from investments, products, or services that they may recommend in the course of providing advice. What’s more, a fiduciary advisor must disclose any conflicts of interest that arise or could arise in the client-advisor relationship.


Non-fiduciaries are held to a “suitability” standard when making recommendations to a client. This standard gives advisors much more flexibility and latitude when giving advice to a client. As long as the investment is “suitable” for the investor’s risk tolerance, age, and goals, the non-fiduciary may recommend a product regardless of better, more effective, and less costly alternatives. This creates a problem and a conflict of interest since the non-fiduciary is faced with the incentive of selecting products and services that pay them favorably while ignoring products that may be better for the client but do not compensate them as well.


The problem is not with the people; most non-fiduciaries are honestly trying to do their job as best they can. The problem is the business model that these broker-dealer corporations use. This model places the interest of the corporation first, then the advisor’s, and finally, the client’s.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU MEET WITH CLIENTS?

It depends on each client’s preferences and on the objectives of the meeting. In general, I meet with all clients in person or via Zoom once or twice a year for a complete review of their accounts, check up on their progress with their financial plan, and discuss any relevant changes in their personal finances or life. Apart from the reviews, ongoing communication is actively maintained throughout the year through telephone calls, email, and informal meetings whenever the client desires. We also reach out to clients periodically to discuss significant events that could impact their finances, provide perspective in times of market turbulence, or congratulate them for any milestones achieved.

WHERE ARE MY MONEY AND INVESTMENTS HELD?

We count on one of the largest, most secure and respected custodians in the country, TD Ameritrade Institutional, to safeguard all our clients’ assets and accounts held with Silva Fiduciary. TDAI’s comprehensive experience, powerful resources, and account security are some of the most important reasons that we chose them as our custodian.

DOES SILVA FIDUCIARY HAVE A MINIMUM INVESTMENT AMOUNT FOR NEW CLIENTS?

No, there are no specific, minimum assets required to become our client. What’s most important, is that we see the opportunity to make a significant difference in their financial situation and that the advisor-client relationship be a good fit.


All our clients are a pleasure to work with, they are coachable, and they value and appreciate professional guidance. They seek us as advisors because they understand that they do not have the expertise, or the time or the desire to create their own financial plans, select and manage investments, and navigate through the myriad details involved in keeping their financial picture in clear focus.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME FOR YOUR SERVICES AS A FIDUCIARY ADVISOR?

All of our services and advice – investments, financial planning, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning, risk management, cash management, private equity real estate – are covered by one single fee. The single fee is a percentage amount of the assets under our care, what’s in the investment account, and the percentage declines as the amount of assets under care increases. There are no commissions and no nuisance fees such as annual IRA account fees, wire fees, or any other fine print expenses. We exclude any commissions to avoid conflicts of interest. This way we can safeguard and put your interests first.

WHAT IS A SELF-DIRECTED IRA?

A self-directed IRA or SDIRA, is a type of traditional or Roth IRA with the same tax-advantaged savings but which offers many more investment options. With a SDIRA you can invest in real estate, undeveloped or raw land, private equity, gold, silver and other precious metals, cryptocurrency, and many other types of investments prohibited in regular IRA’s. The SDIRA is available as either a traditional IRA to which you make tax deductible contributions or a Roth IRA from which you take tax-free distributions.

WHAT IS RSS, RISK SCORE SYNCHRONIZATION?

RSS is a process through which a portfolio is constructed to attain a level of risk that is aligned with the investor’s level of comfort with risk. This is achieved by first numerically calculating the investor’s Risk Score or level of comfort with risk from 1 to 100, with 1 being ultra-conservative and 100 being ultra-aggressive. The investor completes a special questionnaire with different investing scenarios and questions regarding age, income and expenses, and investment time horizons. Once the personal Risk Score is determined then the Risk Score is calculated for the existing portfolio or the score is used to construct a new portfolio.


Although it’s impossible to predict what the market will do in the future, through RSS, the performance of a portfolio under different market scenarios can be determined with a reasonable level of accuracy. By using RSS, we are able to provide the client with more realistic expectations of the future performance of their investments with relation to the overall market. By having more accurate expectations, clients are less likely to impulsively react to market swings and consequently, more likely to make better investment decisions.