Services, Products and Advantages

Potomac Wealth Strategies delivers outstanding services, products, and advantages, all at a competitively-priced fee structure:

Investment Planning

When can I retire?  What about paying for college?  How much to save...  Which accounts to use...  What investments to make...

As your investment advisor, Potomac Wealth Strategies (PWS) is your trusted guide.  Your personalized Investment Plan shows what you need to do and if you are on track.

Account Management

PWS helps clients set up their accounts on Charles Schwab & Co.'s Advisor Services platform.  It is user-friendly for clients and professional-grade for advisors.  Existing accounts are transferred to Schwab so PWS can advise on them directly.  PWS clients work primarily with PWS, but Schwab's large team is there to help also.  Schwab does not provide financial or investment advice to PWS clients, but they deliver excellent customer service on administrative and transactional matters if PWS is not available.

Portfolio Management

PWS implements your Investment Plan using successful proprietary portfolio models.  These are the investments that comprise your portfolio--the tools to get the job done.

The first step is determining a suitable long-term risk profile so your portfolio's ups and downs are tolerable for you.  That asset allocation strategy optimally balances risk and reward for each client and is based on Nobel Prize-winning portfolio methodology.  It is implemented using mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), money market funds, cash, and/or carefully selected individual stocks.

PWS helps clients use the most suitable investments for each account type.  An actively-managed mutual fund may be a good fit for a tax-deferred account but may not be for a taxable account, for example.

Whether using actively-managed funds, index funds, or ETFs, clients incur no external (out-of-pocket) fund-related costs in the normal course of PWS-advised portfolio management on the Schwab platform.

Financial Advice

To provide even more value to the client experience, Potomac Wealth Strategies offers evaluation of, advice on, and products/services for:

• Net Worth
• Cash Flow
• Emergency Reserves
• Life, Disability, and Long-term Care Insurance
• Retirement Funding
• Education Funding
• Tax and Estate Planning (coordinated with the clients' own tax and legal advisors)

Fees

One out-of-pocket cost incurred by PWS clients.  It's the investment advisory fee.  That's it.  No extras or surprises, no strings attached.  Schwab charges no account fees, and there are usually no transaction charges or commissions (in rare cases there are, but those would be explained and agreed to in advance).  

The advisory fee is a small percentage of each client's Assets Under Management (AUM).  Clients pay their advisory fees quarterly, and all PWS services are covered by the one advisory fee.  Clients effectively have PWS "on retainer".  

And that is the only compensation PWS receives.  No kickbacks or referral fees, no commission or fee sharing with legal, tax, insurance, real estate or other professionals.  While there are many fair and prudent compensation structures in the financial services industry, PWS believes the AUM-based advisory fee method is best for our clients.

Potomac Wealth Strategies regularly uses the following products:

• Mutual Funds (actively-managed)
  
• Index Mutual Funds (passively-managed)
• Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs, which are usually passively-managed)
  
• Stocks
• Purchased Money Market Funds
  
• Bank Sweep cash holdings
  

PWS in some cases will use the following products:

• Exchange-traded Notes (ETNs)
  
• Stocks
• Bonds

PWS will advise clients on, but not sell or directly manage, the following products:

• Annuities
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• Long-term Care insurance
• Medicare Supplemental insurance

Benchmark-beating performance...  Simple cost structure...  Expert advice from an experienced professional...  The stability and scope of Schwab's Advisor Services...  All available to clients of any size and for a reasonable price.

Potomac Wealth Strategies works hard to earn and maintain the trust of each client.  PWS' services are effective, innovative, time-tested, and delivered through client-friendly practices and user-friendly systems.

Potomac Wealth Strategies devotes most of its time to client service and investment research, not marketing and cold-calls.  PWS is grateful to keep growing thanks to referrals from clients and friends of the firm.

The bottom line:  Potomac Wealth Strategies clients invest prudently and understand their overall financial situations, and so they are better-equipped to achieve their goals.