If your advisor gets paid differently depending on what you buy, you don’t have an advisor. You have a salesperson.

I don’t care which specific investment products we use. My job is to meet you where you’re at.

A few examples:

1. The couple that hates the stock market

One couple I work with HATES the stock market. Does not trust it one bit.

I was able to convince them to let us do a 15% allocation to public stocks as long as:

• We were globally diversified
• We excluded China
• We layered in active tax‑loss harvesting

2. The 7‑figure earner who doesn’t believe in hedge funds

Another client earns seven figures a year.

On paper, tax‑aware hedge funds would be a great fit:

• Diversify the portfolio
• Realize ordinary deductions
• Potentially reduce his income tax bill

The only problem? He doesn’t like hedge funds.

So guess what - we didn’t use them.

3. The OpenAI engineer who likes simplicity

I spoke with someone at OpenAI yesterday that said:

“Everyone is doing this long/short tax‑loss harvesting thing. I’m not sure it’s right for me.”

He’d never heard of 351 exchanges.

Once I showed him how they can help people get diversified exposure without the complexity of long/short overlays, that route made a lot more sense to him.


When I started in the industry at PIMCO, I used to wonder why anyone would ever hire a financial advisor?

Now I think a good advisor is one of the most valuable things you can have:

• Someone objective, with no product agenda
• Who understands investments and taxes
• Who stays on top of a changing landscape
• Who can adapt your plan as your life changes

And if you can find someone who’s in their 20s or 30s, aligned with you, and can walk alongside your family for the next 30+ years?

Are you kidding me?

Sign me up.