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FAQ

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Why should I work with a financial advisor?

Working with a financial advisor may be one of the best decisions you ever make.

Handling your finances alone is akin to making your own medical diagnoses. While you don’t need to race to a doctor when you have the symptoms of a common cold, we think it’s safe to say no one would attempt open heart surgery themselves. Instead, you’d consult a professional, a specialist.

Here at Paragon, our team combines their years of experience in advice and industry knowledge to put all the pieces of your financial life together. With a team like ours behind you, you’ll feel empowered enough to put all of your financial affairs in order.

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What can I expect from an initial consultation?

We position our Discovery Meetings to serve as much more than just a consultation.

We want to learn as much as we can about you and the people and things that are important to you. This includes understanding what financial success looks like to you.

This is also an opportunity for you to learn about us. The Discovery Meeting gives you the chance to see how we work and to help determine if we’ll be a good fit for you.

There’s no cost, no obligation and no commitment at that stage.

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Do we have to meet in person?

You choose! While we love to interact with our clients face-to-face, there are many reasons this is not always feasible. We feel confident that we can deliver a great experience to you whether we meet in person, virtually, or over the phone.

Although we are based in Virginia, this also allows us to serve clients all over the country and helps eliminate a distance barrier.

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What is a fiduciary?

A fiduciary is, in these circumstances, someone who has a responsibility to put the client first. As fiduciaries, we have an ethical and legal duty to act in the best interests of the client, rather than in our own interest.

At Paragon, we have been held to a fiduciary standard for over sixteen years – nearly four decades cumulatively. With a fiduciary you can rest assured that your financial advisor is always working for the best outcome for you.

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How big is your team and who will work with me?

As a client of Paragon, you have a team behind you that is 4,500+ people strong. This is because we partner with LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer in the nation (as reported by Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2020, based on total revenue).

Here in our office, things are much more personalized. There are seven of us – three advisors, and four support staff. While you’ll team up with a primary advisor to work with, you will come across all of us at various stages of your client journey.

Approaching your specific circumstances as a team is what makes us stronger and means that we can really do our best work with you, combining our knowledge and experience to see your bigger picture.

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What is the minimum amount I need to invest with you?

We believe that everyone deserves to get expert financial advice. For that reason, we don’t operate with account minimums, but rather with what we call household minimums, which differ from situation to situation. A household minimum is determined after assessing your needs, the level of service that would best fit your circumstances, and our expectation for the impact we can make on your life.
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How does Paragon get paid?

We offer our services based on an annual advisory fee, ranging from 1.50% to 0.80%. The fee is determined by the level of assets on which we are directly advising.

This annual fee is assessed quarterly, based on the quarter end value of your portfolio. We believe this approach keeps our interests aligned with yours. The only way we make more is if you make more. We make less if you make less. This alignment of interests is essential to your trust in us.

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How do you keep my money safe?

Our duty to uphold the fiduciary oath means that we are always acting in your best interest ethically and legally, and professionally we always uphold the very highest standards.

We work with LPL Financial, the largest independent broker dealer in the nation (as reported by Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2020, based on total revenue), and they are covered by an extremely high level of regulations and compliance that are put in place to help protect your money. For added peace of mind, funds invested with LPL Financial are protected federally through SIPC insurance. This membership provides account protection up to a maximum of $500,000 per customer, of which $250,000 may be claims for cash. An explanatory brochure is available at www.sipc.org.

Moreover, LPL accounts have additional securities protection through London Insurers to cover net equity of customer accounts up to an overall aggregate firm limit of $600 million, subject to conditions and limitations. London Insurers rely on SIPC to determine the extent of losses incurred by individual LPL account holders. This additional protection covers losses above limits available from SIPC and would be payable up to a total of $600 million. Please contact your registered representative or refer to www.lpl.com for further information.

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How often will I hear from you?

One of the biggest complaints we hear new clients make of previous relationships with financial advisors is lack of communication. We pride ourselves on our high level of communication with clients, but don’t worry – we won’t be turning up at your door or getting into your personal space, but we do like to keep in touch.

Our process includes at least one meeting per year; however, you’ll hear from our team directly at least once every quarter. Other regular communication you can expect from us includes our monthly letter series, our economic update videos, weekly market recap emails, and client events.

You’ll also get to know Anne, our client relationship manager, extremely well. She’ll give you a quick call a few times a year to check in, schedule a meeting, or see if you need anything.

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That all sounds great. What’s next?

Call us. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
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