22 School Street #5
Marblehead, MA 01945
United States
Phone: 800-888-5164 ext 101
Email: cdowley@fieldstonefinancial.com
Website: www.FieldstoneFinancial.com
Training: Registered Life Planner® more info
Specialties
Asset Management
We find that clients, particularly those who are also investors approach their goals with considerable emotion. This makes it very hard to invest successfully in the long term with the objectivity necessary to weather economic turbulence. We bring resolution to many clients who are in this dispute and can find no resolution. Our clients value us for our prudence as well as performance.
Retirement Planning
In a day where retirement for many means continuing to work because there just isn't enough, we have taken the approach that compromise is not our first choice. We approach the retirement part of life not as a termination of employment, but as a redirection of life's energies.
Income Tax Planning
While many financial advisory firms do tax planning, we have developed a proprietary tax preparation system where we collect all the necessary information from our clients. It is organized into an accountant friendly format and delivered to the preparing firm. If there is missing information, often we can provide it without our clients having to spend time hunting for it. We then work directly with the preparer to complete the returns, reviewing any tax avoidance/reduction methods during the process. We can then present the completed returns for signature or file them electronically and provide funds for payment of any tax due or deposit refunds. The end result is a dramatically simpler, stress free process for our clients. It also puts us in an excellent position to facilitate future tax planning for our clients benefit.
Insurance Planning
When life does not work out the way we would like it, we need to have a fall back plan. Any life plan for our clients answers the question, "what will allow our clients have a life worth living to if the unthinkable occurs". Before this happens, we like to plan for the idea of continued financial independence for our clients and their families. We have maintained our insurance licenses to implement life, disability and long term care policies that fit our client's needs and that integrate with their finances and estate planning. If a disaster strikes, we can manage the claims process and bring some continuity to the family that moves on.
Estate & Legacy Planning
One of the most neglected areas of good planning is what to do with the wealth we have created. It is often the most meaningful things we do for our heirs and the community we leave behind is to design a way to give them a legacy, not just an inheritance. Dowley &Company does not draft documents nor give legal advice. As such, we have partnered with highly competent practitioners to design and implement advanced level estate plans that include wills, health care proxies, powers of attorney, trusts of all kinds, charitable and planned giving.
About My Practice
Dowley & Company is an independent Financial Advisory Firm started in 1997 from the idea of making full service financial planning available to individuals and families. We pride ourselves in helping independent minded clients break through limitations and get to a place of greater affluence they might not achieve on their own. In most cases, it is not fancy techniques but an adherence to basic principles and hands on coaching that does it. We often find that it is what we help our clients avoid that makes the difference. We partner with our clients guiding them to a life worth living and attaining financial freedom. Our goal is to get each person to a place where they look forward to each day with vigor and enthusiasm.
We are small by design but do a lot for a few well chosen clients. They frequently refer fiends and family to us knowing they result in a close knit relationship that endures. Many of our current clients have been with us for 15+ years despite the challenges that markets and uncertain economics have presented through the years.
At Dowley & Company, we pride ourselves in collaborating with other professionals to provide a team approach to client issues. If a client does not have an accountant or attorney relationship, we can suggest one. If a client does not know how to arrange a refinance, we can introduce you to competent, ethical mortgage brokers who can help arrange this. We will support the process through completion using our expertise to complement the associated professionals. The process works for relationships we have nurtured for years or for those a client introduces us to. Our goal is to cooperatively implement strategies in these areas that complement the life plan in ways that free up the potentially burdensome time required to complete these tasks.
About Chris Dowley
Chris Dowley has been a practicing financial advisor since 1986. He started his practice in upstate New York with a national financial planning firm and moved to Boston&srquo;s North Shore in 1991 to continue his practice specializing in the retirement and estate planning. In 1997, he opened the firm of Dowley & Company as a registered investment advisor and a NASD Principal. He was awarded the Registered Life Planner (RLP) designation in 2008 by the Kinder Institute, the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designations in 1995 by the American College of Bryn Mawr, PA, and Certified Fund Specialist (CFS) designation in 1998 by the Institute of Business & Finance in La Jolla, CA. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, class of 1981.
Chris is a member of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts and has served on its programming and pro bono committees. He is also a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals. He is quoted in national and regional publications and is a frequent speaker on the North Shore.
Ideal Clients
Our clients are independent minded people who want to bring meaningful change into their life. By teaching our clients the fundamentals of good stewardship, we help them to get more from their lives by helping them make more from the wealth they already possess. This starts by getting people to change the way they think. We say it's not what you think, but how you think that matters. By turning the problems upside down and looking at them in a new way, we change the questions we ask and come up with better solutions.
Qualifications
Registered Life Planner
Chartered Financial Consultant
Chartered Life Underwriter
Certified Fund Specialist
Compensation
We do fee based and flat retainer work. Hourly rates are available upon request.
RLP ® Since
2008
Industry Start Date
1986