Do our advisors practice what they preach? We asked CEO Eric Brotman, CFP® a few questions to find out.

Do you follow the advice that you give your clients?

Emphatically, yes. Not only do my financial model, investment portfolio, and other measurable metrics mirror those we suggest to clients, my wife and I also meet with another of BFG’s advisors in the same way that our clients meet with us regularly. Each of our employees is offered financial planning as an employee benefit and has access to one of our advisors accordingly.

Do you have an emergency fund to cover six months’ living expenses?

Yes. As we share with our clients and as described in my book “Don’t Retire…Graduate!” the first step to wealth building after paying off adverse debt is to build an emergency fund and to have access to capital. We often encourage clients to set up various lines of credit to borrow when they don’t need the money, as banks are somewhat ironically hesitant to lend to people in actual need of lending. So an emergency fund starts with cash and short-term liquid investments and extends to accessible and favorable lines of credit – backed by real estate, a securities portfolio, or life insurance cash values.

If I ran a credit report on you, what would it tell me?

It would show a score well into the 800s, no adverse debt, and no “dings” for late or missed payments. Although I always pay my credit card balances in full each month, my credit score varies by some 10-20 points depending on the time of the month and the recency of the monthly payment due to the utilization metrics used by credit bureaus.

To keep my credit score as high as possible, sometimes I make a payment a day or two before the end of a statement cycle so the statement balance reported is small.

Do you have a will?

Yes. I have a formal estate plan which is reviewed regularly and includes a will, a durable financial power of attorney, a living will, an advanced health care directive, and an irrevocable life insurance trust. As a firm, we also have a complete set of signed (and updated) agreements for all of our shareholders.

Do you use the same investment managers you tell me to use?

Yes. My portfolio is managed in the same model allocations utilized for our clients. Of course, my portfolio will look more like another client’s portfolio if they are similar in age, objectives, and financial condition than it will for a client 30 years older or younger than I am or with dramatically different goals and objectives. However, the models used and investment managers are the same.

Does your company have a succession and an emergency plan?

Yes to both. We have a plan in the event any of our advisors were to suffer a tragedy of some kind, and as the senior-most member of the team, there is a formal succession plan to allow a graceful transition as I get closer to my own retirement date (which isn’t soon – I’m enjoying this too much!) We also have a formal disaster recovery plan and take cybersecurity and business continuity very seriously.

Do you have an umbrella insurance policy?

Yes. Just as we encourage clients to protect against liability as a part of their risk management strategies, I do the same personally since liability is one of the great unknown variables that can have an adverse impact on finances in unexpected ways.