My Vision
The world’s changed a lot since the 1980s. Wall Street hasn’t. They still follow Gordon Gekko’s, “greed is good,” mantra. Where do Wall Street’s profits come from? Your pockets.
I founded Verbatim as a flat fee advisor to give people the help they need, at a logical and reasonable cost.
My Clients
I help people sleep easier at night. I can’t increase your income or create an investment portfolio to outperform the market, but I can help you make a plan so that you know that if you follow the plan, you’ll be ok.
I want my clients to have what my friend Brian Portnoy calls, “funded contentment.”
My Approach
Financial planning and investment management is complicated, but it’s nowhere near as complicated as Wall Street wants you to think it is.
My job is to help you make a plan, and simplify your financial world as much as possible, so that you understand all of it.
Me
I spent decades on Wall Street as a trader, investment banker, and portfolio manager. I know how the sausage is made. I know what works, and what doesn’t.
I’ve also seen far too many people taken advantage of by the financial services industry, and I’m here to stop as much of that as I can, while helping solve the problems that are important to you.
Comprehensive Solutions to Reach Your Personal Goals
The words, “comprehensive,” and, “holistic,” get thrown around a lot when it comes to financial planning. While these words have meaning, they are most often used as marketing tools. Many advisor websites & brochures make their processes look as complicated & complete as possible, so people think they’re getting their money’s worth.
Spoiler alert: Only you will know whether you’ve gotten your money’s worth from an advisory relationship, and that will often only happen by surprise, like when you wake up one day & think to yourself, “I haven’t thought about money or my investments in a while, when I used to worry about them every day.”
Smart investing, in my opinion, is simple investing. Simple investing isn't always easy. I work with you to create as simple a portfolio as possible that meets your needs.
It may sound trite, but the truth is that without a plan, there's no way to know whether you're on target. Everything starts with a financial plan.
Yes, everything starts with a plan, but the one thing we know about every financial plan is that it's only correct at the moment you hit print. When you work with me in an ongoing advisory relationship, we work together to deal with life, the expected & unexpected things that we all go through.
Simple portfolios need management as well, usually because of life's unavoidable changes. Legacy portfolios often require the most work to transition to simple portfolios, with tax implications always front of mind.
I’ll Help You Plan, Save, & Grow Wealthy
(if that’s what you want)
Money is just a tool, but like food, water, & sleep - without enough of it, life can get hard pretty fast. Luckily, there are some rules we can follow in finance and investing that can provide a greater chance of success, and the first one is to create and follow a plan.
You Are Not a Client.
We're Partners.
Are you tired of getting fleeced by Wall Street? I’m tired of seeing it. Hi, I’m John Stoj. I do financial planning and advisory for people who know they need help, but don’t want to be taken advantage of.
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