Paul Culbreth, CFP^®
Culbreth Wealth Management, LLC

Financial Services

When managing portfolios, we believe risk deserves greater consideration over returns, given that historically, the risk of portfolio components such as stocks and bonds, are greater than their respective returns. Likewise, when determining an appropriate risk profile for a client, we believe certain factors deserve a higher level of consideration. These factors include investor risk tolerance, liquidity needs and the current state of the economy. The risk tolerance of the client includes the ability to take on risk, the comfort level with the volatility inherent in investment risk and the psychological composure with risk taking. Liquidity needs include the need for cash equivalents and/or income at any given time. The state of the economy is the current assessment of the macro economy relative to its position along the business cycle. We believe the distribution of returns across time is not normal, meaning the state of the economy in regard to the business cycle is relevant to the possible distribution of outcomes for any given year rather than a purely random, or normal distribution. Thus, depending on the state of the economy, we may advise clients to reel in risk relative to a client's normal risk profile. By prioritizing risk tolerance, liquidity needs and the state of the economy, we believe you will experience a progression towards your goals with less volatility and outsized setbacks that can impede or even sometimes halt your progress all together due to the human tendencies of behavioral finance.

We believe every clients situation has a unique financial position, unique inflows, outflows, and risk tolerance, and that a one-size-fits-all approach to retirement planning is not sufficient for charting an accurate course to accomplish their goals. Only a plan that tailors to the unique circumstances of each client can appropriately generate a set of actions that increases the likelihood of success. We also believe that in order to maximize the likelihood of success, a plan must be tracked, updated with current facts and adjusted to new realities on a frequent basis. To help achieve this we have daily aggregation tools that will update your plan on a daily basis whether assets are held in house or away. We encourage reviewing your plan on an annual basis.

The marketplace for life insurance and annuities is very deep with many different types of products, with many different types of riders that a client may or may not need based on his or her goals and current situation. Often we find that existing products may not meet a clients current needs because the goals have changed or because there was not a goal-based process for taking out the coverage in the first place. Whether you need new coverage or if you would like a review of your existing coverage, a planning-based approach to determining the level of need is the first step. Once the level of need and length of need are determined, the product type is chosen, and a benchmarking process takes place across many products. Historically products have been predominately commission based as that has been the preferred compensation structure insurance companies have put in place for insurance agents selling insurance and annuities. Today there is a growing marketplace for commission-free life insurance and annuities that are preferred by fiduciary advisors because they can potentially save the client significant internal expenses if the policy is the right fit. In some cases, a commissionable product is still the best option. We benchmark products across both commission and commission-free products to ensure our clients get the best potential value for the lowest cost on insurance products.

The marketplace for life insurance and annuities is very deep with many different types of products, with many different types of riders that a client may or may not need based on his or her goals and current situation. Often we find that existing products may not meet a clients current needs because the goals have changed or because there was not a goal-based process for taking out the coverage in the first place. Whether you need new coverage or if you would like a review of your existing coverage, a planning-based approach to determining the level of need is the first step. Once the level of need and length of need are determined, the product type is chosen, and a benchmarking process takes place across many products. Historically products have been predominately commission based as that has been the preferred compensation structure insurance companies have put in place for insurance agents selling insurance and annuities. Today there is a growing marketplace for commission-free life insurance and annuities that are preferred by fiduciary advisors because they can potentially save the client significant internal expenses if the policy is the right fit. In some cases, a commissionable product is still the best option. We benchmark products across both commission and commission-free products to ensure our clients get the best potential value for the lowest cost on insurance products.

In addition to our managed portfolios, we also offer cash management for clients seeking to earn a greater return on cash held at local banks and credit unions. We customize our cash portfolios to the liquidity needs of our clients.