Financial FAQs
Your Top Investing and Wealth Management Questions Answered
The questions worth asking a wealth management firm are easier to ask before the paperwork is signed than after. Here are the ones we hear most often from Austin-area investors, business owners, and retirees.
1. What types of clients do you work with?
We work with individuals and families who have built significant assets and now face more complex decisions, including professionals, executives, business owners, and retirees. We also work with 401(k) and defined contribution plan sponsors, trusts, and endowments. Most of our clients are in the Austin area, though we serve people in other states as well.
2. Are you a fiduciary?
Yes. Beck Capital Management is a registered investment adviser, which means we operate under a fiduciary standard and are required to act in our clients’ best interests. Our Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS describe our services, our fees, and any conflicts of interest we are required to disclose.
3. Are you an independent financial advisor?
Yes. We formed Beck Capital Management as an independent alternative to the Wall Street firms where our founders started their careers, and we are not part of a bank, insurance company, or brokerage firm. That means we are not required to recommend any outside company’s products, and our research and portfolio management happen in-house.
4. What are your fees?
We charge a single investment management fee rather than adding our fee on top of outside managers’ fees. Because our team manages portfolios in-house instead of routing assets to third-party managers, clients may avoid the extra layers of cost those arrangements can introduce. Our current fee schedule appears in our Form ADV Part 2A, and an initial consultation carries no cost or obligation.
5. Do you offer financial planning?
Yes. A plan gives you a roadmap for decisions like funding education for children or grandchildren, buying a second home, or creating income when you stop working. Our financial planning professionals build strategies around your goals, timelines, and tolerance for risk, and that plan shapes how your portfolio is built rather than sitting beside it as a separate service.
6. Do you offer investment management?
Yes, and our team manages portfolios in-house rather than sending your assets to third-party managers. We use a sector investing strategy, adjusting exposure across industries so a portfolio can respond to trends while they are happening rather than after. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or safeguard against loss in a declining market.
7. Can you help me with retirement planning?
Yes, and retirement planning is one of our primary areas of focus. We look at your assets, your expected income streams, projected Social Security benefits, tax implications, and potential investment returns, then test that plan against the planned and unplanned events that can happen once you retire. You come away with a view of whether you have saved enough, what your monthly budget may look like, and how long your finances may last.
8. Can you help with my 401(k)?
Yes. We review how your 401(k) is invested, what it is costing you in fees, how it fits alongside your other accounts, and what your options are when you change jobs or retire. Employer plans come with their own rules and a limited investment menu, so those decisions are best made in the context of everything else you own.
9. Do you help with estate planning?
Yes. We handle the financial side of an estate plan, including tax-aware wealth transfer, charitable giving strategies, beneficiary designations, and how your assets are titled and would pass to your heirs. We do not draft legal documents or provide legal advice, so we work alongside your estate planning attorney.
10. Do you offer advice about stock options?
Yes. Restricted stock units, option grants, and concentrated employer stock raise questions about timing, taxes, and how much of your net worth sits with a single company. Executive compensation packages have also changed considerably in recent years. We help you weigh those decisions as part of your broader plan rather than in isolation.
11. Can you help me with Social Security?
Yes. Projected Social Security benefits are part of every retirement plan we build. There is no universal claiming age, since the right timing depends on your other income, your tax situation, your health and longevity expectations, and whether a spousal benefit is involved. We can walk through different claiming ages alongside your portfolio withdrawals so you can see how the two interact before you file.
12. Can you answer Medicare questions?
We can help you understand how Medicare enrollment and premiums fit into your retirement income plan, including how withdrawals and required distributions may affect what you pay. For coverage decisions themselves, we suggest working alongside a licensed Medicare specialist.
13. Will you help with my pension?
Yes. We can help you compare payout options such as a lump sum against monthly income, and look at how each choice may affect your taxes, your other retirement income, and what passes to a spouse.
Have a question that is not here?
Schedule a no cost, no obligation consultation. You can also download the Retirement Income Worksheet to organize your numbers first.