Yes, as a fee-only advisor, and also that all financial planners at Astraea are Certified Financial PlannerTM professionals, Astraea is a fiduciary.

A fiduciary is someone who manages money or property for someone else. When you’re named a fiduciary and accept the role, you must – by law – manage the person’s money and property for their benefit, not yours.

More information from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is found here on fiduciary duty and what it means.

The way in which your financial planner is compensated can make all the difference in the recommendations they make for you. That’s because some advisors work under a standard that requires only that their recommendations be suitable to your particular situation. Other planners work under a fiduciary standard that requires advisors to consider what is in their client’s best interest. You may be wondering why your advisor would make a recommendation that is not in your best interest. That’s where the issue of compensation comes into play.

There are three basic ways in which financial advisors are compensated:

• Through a commission-based model
• Through a commission & fee model
• Through a Fee-Only model

Both commissioned and commission & fee advisors receive a compensation based on the specific financial products they sell to you. Due to the conflict of interest inherent in these transactions, these advisors may have difficulty putting the client’s interest above their own.

Fee-Only planners are compensated directly by their clients for advice, plan implementation and for the ongoing management of assets. Fee-Only financial advisors may be paid hourly, as a retainer, as a percentage of assets (AUM), or as a flat fee, depending upon the planner you choose.

Information above was directly cited from NAPFA's page, here. This linked page also has a helpful financial planner checklist with questions you should ask any potential financial planner you are considering hiring.

Most people think all financial planners are “certified,” but this isn’t true. Just about anyone can use the title “financial planner.” CFP Board benefits the public by independently certifying financial planners. Although CFP Board does not guarantee their work, CFP® professionals have met rigorous qualifications for financial planning. Only those who have fulfilled CFP Board’s rigorous requirements can call themselves a CFP® professional.

As part of their certification, CFP® professionals commit to high ethical standards. What’s more, a CFP® professional must acquire several years of experience related to delivering financial planning services to clients and pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam before they can call themselves a CFP® professional.

Explore more about what a CFP professional is here.

Astraea partners with East Bay Investment Solutions within the Equita network to come up with intelligent, low-cost portfolios for clients. East Bay's team of Chartered Financial Analyst's are constantly monitoring the investments in the portfolios, and does due diligence on every position held. Astraea participates in the investment committee calls asking critical questions of the market outlook and how that impacts client portfolio recommendations.

Since costs are one of the few things that can be controlled in financial matters, our goal is to keep them as low as possible. The portfolios used consist of low cost exchange traded funds and mutual funds. These instruments are used to provide lower-risk diversified investment options when compared to indvidual stocks or bonds. Please don't hesistate to ask any specific questions.

However, whenever a client partners with Astraea Wealth Management, care is taken to review all of the client's current positions, and construct an investment plan based on tax consequences and the client's goals. Many clients that work with Astraea have a multi-year plan of moving out of legacy investment positions that have large tax consequences.

For clients who are interested in impact investing with environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") investments, Astraea has portfolio solutions available.

In the same way your physical weight is not your worth, neither is the value of your investment accounts.

Astraea’s pricing is discussed in more detail on this page.

The typical asset range of clients that partner with Astraea for annual ongoing compressive planning is between $1 million -$10 million, or if assets are below that, household annual income averaging >$100,000/person.

Importantly, if this does not describe your situation, that should not discourage you from connecting with Astraea. Based on your specific situation, Astraea will reccomend if a one-time plan makes more sense, or, can refer you to another like-minded advisory firm that is a good fit for you if Astaea's model does not fit your situation.

Astraea primarily meets with clients remotely, so clients live anywhere in the United States. Laura currently lives in Reston Virginia, and travels twice a year to Grand Rapids, Michigan- she is happy to meet clients at their home or other amenable locations when in the area.

Talking to financial planner is a vulnerable experience. Astraea gets that. Laura thinks talking to a financial planner can be more intense than going to your doctor, given you are putting all your financial cards on the table about how much money you make, choices you have made, and how much you have saved.

Know that you are welcome no matter what choices you have made, who you love, or what you believe in. 🌈

As of 2022, 23.5% of all CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(TM) professionals are women. This statistic has not changed since 2013.

In the broader world of financial advice, only 15% to 20% of advisors are women, according to Barron’s. The American College of Financial Services found that only one-third of advice firms have women in client-facing roles.

By partnering with Astraea, you are helping support a more equitable environment for female advisors.