FAQ

We work best with couples and families who are navigating early retirement, complex equity comp, cross-country moves, or business transitions. If that sounds like you, we’d love to connect.

Yes, we typically work with families who have at least $1,000,000 in investable assets — though every situation is unique and we’re happy to chat.

Lake Road Advisors is a virtual firm, which means you don’t need to live in New York or Washington work with us. We serve clients across the country using secure video calls, screen sharing, and digital tools that make it easy to collaborate no matter where you are. Many of our clients appreciate the flexibility — no commuting to an office, no scheduling around travel, just focused time together when it works for you.

We’re a fee-only firm, which means we’re paid directly by you — not by commissions, product sales, or referral fees. There’s nothing hidden and no fine print. Our fee is a percentage of the assets we manage for you. The more you have with us, the lower your rate.

A Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) is an investment adviser (IA) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or a state’s securities agency. The numerous references to RIAs within the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 popularized the term, which is closely associated with the term investment advisor (spelled “investment adviser” in U.S. financial law). An IA is defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission as an individual or a firm that is in the business of giving advice about securities.

Lake Road Advisors, LLC is a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) with the State of New York. You can confirm this by visiting the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov and searching using the firm’s identification number 281657.

Fee-only advisors are financial planners that are Registered Investment Advisers (RIA) with a fiduciary responsibility to act in their clients’ best interest. They do not accept any fees or compensation based on product sales, which leads to fewer inherent conflicts of interest, and generally, they provide more comprehensive advice.

There are two standards that financial planners and advisors are held to, the fiduciary standard and the suitability standard. The fiduciary standard charges financial planners with putting their clients’ best interest ahead of their own. For instance, faced with two identical products but with different fees, an advisor under the fiduciary standard would be compelled to recommend the one with the least cost to the client, even if it meant fewer dollars in the company’s coffers — and his or her own pocket. The suitability standard requires that advisor’s investment recommendations must fit clients’ investing objectives, time horizon and experience. Under this standard of care, if an advisor has three suitable products, he can recommend the one that pays him the most as long as its suitable. It doesn’t have to be the best decision for the client.

An Index Fund is a type of mutual fund or exchange traded fund (ETF) with a portfolio constructed to match or track the components of a market index such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The index fund provides specific market exposure at a low operating cost and with minimal turnover.

As financial planners, our job is to simply help our clients achieve their goals. For me, Lake Road (named for East Lake Road on Keuka Lake) represents a personal goal, one that means spending time with family and friends and not losing sight of what is truly important.