Plan

Personalized Approach

Using a personalized, concierge-style approach, our primary goal is to help you successfully navigate through various financial options. Financial planning is about identifying the things that are important to you in your life and helping you achieve them. It encompasses your own goals and constraints, the economic environment, current tax laws, and realistic investment expectations.

We fully realize that everyone’s financial situation is unique. Our comprehensive process analyzes your financial position and lifestyle, creates integrated action plans, and executes the plan. Our duty is to act as your personal Chief Financial Officer, giving you the information needed to make effective financial decisions.

The Highest Standard of Knowledge and Trust

If your financial life seems to be spinning out of control, you’re not alone.

Today more than ever, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals like Faruk Jaffer are an essential resource. From budgeting, to planning for retirement, to saving for education, to managing your taxes and your insurance coverage, “finances” doesn’t mean just one thing for most Americans — and “financial planning” means much more than just investing. Bringing all the pieces of your financial life together is a challenging task.

Although many professionals may call themselves “financial planners,” CFP® professionals have completed extensive training and experience requirements and are held to rigorous ethical standards. They understand all the complexities of the changing financial climate and will make recommendations in your best interest.


Commitment to Education

Your Chartered Financial Consultant® has completed the most extensive educational program required for any financial services credential. Each ChFC® has taken nine or more college-level courses on all aspects of financial planning from The American College, a non-profit educator with the highest level of academic accreditation.

The Highest Standard of Knowledge and Trust in Financial Planning

Your Chartered Financial Consultant® has completed the most extensive educational program required for any financial services credential. Each ChFC® has taken nine or more college-level courses on all aspects of financial planning from The American College, a non-profit educator with the highest level of academic accreditation.

The average study time for the program is over 400 hours, and advisors frequently spend years earning this coveted distinction. Each ChFC® must also complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education every two years, adhere to strict ethical standards, and meet extensive experience requirements to ensure that you get the professional financial advice you need.

Financial Planning – Basic Package

Are you going to be able to retire to the lifestyle you dream of? If you’re like most Americans, retirement planning is a major concern for you. Do you worry about: The rising cost of healthcare? When to start your retirement? How to protect your assets? Your ability to leave an inheritance? Converting your assets to retirement income? If you are worried about being able to enjoy your own retirement, one way to begin easing those concerns is to think about what you want retirement to look like. How will you spend your time? Where do you want to live? What do you expect your health to be like? Will you spend more time on travel, family, community, or volunteer work? What are your retirement dreams? Index Gurus will work with you to determine your current financial status, evaluate your goals, develop a sound retirement plan (cash-flow based) to meet those goals, and monitor your future progress.
Our role in tax planning is to suggest tax-saving strategies to clients as part of their overall financial plan, then to work with clients’ accountants and attorneys to implement those strategies. Tax planning services include: Asset location: allocate assets by tax strategy Wealth transfer strategies Roth IRA conversion strategy Tax reduction strategies Incentive compensation structure We encourage clients not to overlook basic tax planning strategies like maximizing deductions and making maximum contributions to retirement plans. We also can help small business owners with more complex strategies, like using defined benefit plans, defined contribution and deferred compensations plans like 401k and SEP IRA, and various corporations to take advantage of tax-savings.
Index Gurus works with clients and their attorneys to be sure that their estate planning documents accurately reflect the legacies they want to leave. After understanding your financial situation, Index Gurus may find that you need a simple will. For others, we may recommend sophisticated estate planning options such as a variety of trusts that may help clients avoid the expense and public nature of probate as well as minimize estate taxes.
During your wealth accumulation years, the goal of cash flow management is to provide adequate funding for future spending needs. This may include needs like funding college education and creating wealth to provide a stable income at retirement. It also entails building an adequate emergency reserve and setting aside savings for more frequent needs like car purchases, repairs, and vacations. In retirement, the goal of cash flow management is to provide a cushion in order to meet you daily financial needs. The rest of your portfolio may be allocated for other objectives like income generation or long-term growth. Index Gurus will help you achieve a smooth and continuous cash flow through a well-diversified portfolio that encompasses a broad range of asset classes. In addition, we help clients plan for retirement well in advance so they are prepared for the transition from accumulating assets to using assets.
Risk management is a major component of a financial plan. For most clients this means insurance. Having the right insurance can save your assets, but being over-insured can be damaging to your financial health. Index Gurus will assess your current insurance and recommend types of insurance protection. As your financial health grows, we will periodically review insurance coverage. As a client-centered, fee-only financial planning firm, Index Gurus does not sell any insurance products such as annuities or whole life policies; instead we help our clients through sound insurance planning.
Faruk was responsible for developing Google’s financial benefits strategy with a primary focus on non-retirement programs that includes topics such as financial planning, savings, investment, estate planning, debt management, budgeting, home buying and education. He will use a data driven approach to determine and identify program needs, design solutions and measure effectiveness. As a subject matter expert, he will use financial planning knowledge to design, propose and implement scalable and innovative solutions. He has implemented software solutions at companies to manage financial wellness. In addition, he has designed and setup retirement plans from profit sharing to defined benefit plans. Contact Faruk to request a quote to ensure programs are effective in meeting the needs of employees and achieving the desired outcomes.
If you want to feel more confident and to reduce financial anxiety, or you want to proactively plan for your family’s financial future, the Basic* Financial Planning Package is right for you. Total payment is $2500 for one month of service after signing agreement. Contact Faruk for more detail. *Basic plan cost applies to those with assets under $10 million

Your Next Steps

We believe that taking a step – even a small one – can start you on a path to positive change. So we offer you the support you need to take actions that are right for you, right now. As well as ongoing feedback to help you believe in what you’ve done and build confidence in what’s to come. The choices you make – what to buy and what not to buy, how much to save, how to invest and much, much more – can make a difference in your life, today and in the future.

Ongoing, one-on-one financial advice can help you discover answers to the questions that can make a big difference – like evaluating your overall asset allocation including your 401k assets, where you stand relative to your goals, and what actions you can take to keep moving in the right direction. When you partner with Index Gurus, you’ll have a trusted resource for comprehensive, objective, and affordable financial advice. The first step in our process begins with you taking action. We look forward to taking this journey with you.

 

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Certification Marks

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Locations

Walnut Creek Location
1383 South Main Street
Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Cupertino Location
19349 Stevens Creek Boulevard
Cupertino, CA 95014

Palo Alto Location
1950 University Avenue #180

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