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Decoding The Headlines

Our blog decodes the stories you see on the news into simple and straightforward concepts that are easy to digest.

financial planner office decor at Hess Financial, CFP® in Harrisonburg

Team Spotlight | Wisdom & Wealth

June 2, 2026

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Two people in casual outdoor attire stand side by side in front of a lush, green hillside under a clear blue sky.

Taxes Don’t Have to Destroy Your Wealth-Building Plans

May 22, 2026

Taxes are unavoidable, but they don’t have to hold back wealth building. Learn a smarter long-term financial strategy.

Hess Financial team members meetings about estate planning at a conference room table

Why Your Credit Score Still Matters — and How to Improve It in 2026

April 29, 2026

Your credit score impacts loan rates, approvals and long-term wealth. Learn how it works, why it matters and how to improve your credit score in 2026.

Team Spotlight | Wisdom & Wealth

March 13, 2026

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Derek Hess, CFP®, at a financial planning meeting with a woman, sitting at a conference room table.

How AI Is Changing the Financial Landscape: What Investors Should Know in 2026

February 18, 2026

AI is reshaping markets, jobs, and financial planning. Learn how investing in AI impacts your portfolio, the economy, and how to stay protected from new fraud risks.

Protect Your Future | Women & Wealth

February 12, 2026

Women often put everyone else first — but taking care of your own financial wellbeing is one of the strongest ways to support the people who depend on you.

What’s the difference between a financial advisor and a financial planner?

Everyone’s favorite answer: it depends! “Financial Advisor” and “Financial Planner” have become job titles and are used interchangeably by most. Traditionally speaking, a “financial advisor” is registered with FINRA to trade and provide advice on investments; a “financial planner” typically goes beyond trading/recommending investments and focuses on the impact of long-term planning related to topics like taxes, retirement, estate planning and insurance. We highly recommend reading this article on Investopedia that breaks down the answer and encourage you to always ask your professional partners about their licenses and designations.

What does the independent firm in your logo mean?

As an independent firm, we are free to make recommendations based solely on what’s right for you, without bias or pressure to promote a particular product, strategy, or hit any kind of quota. We have the flexibility to explore various providers and ultimately find the solutions that will meet your needs the best. This, in combination with the CFP® Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct, means that we are only accountable to you when making recommendations.

How will I pay for your services?

Building and maintaining relationships is time consuming! We value flexibility to work with people in a wide array of different situations, so how you pay for our services will depend on how you want to engage with us. The fee for our typical relationship has two parts, an Annual Planning Fee and an Ongoing Asset Management Fee. This type of relationship gets you unlimited access to us throughout the year and allows us to be fully integrated into your financial life so we can provide support any time you need it.

Our Annual Planning Fee is based on the complexity of your situation, and our Asset Management fee is a blended schedule that decreases as your account balances grow. We go over both in detail throughout our planning process.

What is your approach to Investing?

We talk a lot about financial planning, but the goal of any plan we create is to figure out how we can establish an investment strategy that supports your goals. That being said, we are not market timers or day traders. We focus on long–term sustainability and we are big fans of the “Bucket Strategy”. Morningstar has a great article explaining this concept on their website.

Do you offer Socially Responsible Investing options?

Yes! In fact, this is one of the questions we ask during our first couple of meetings. Socially Responsible Investing, often referred to as “SRI” or “ESG” (Environment, Social, Governance) has been around for a while but is becoming increasingly popular. We like to educate investors on what this actually means and how it works. If you are interested in a Socially Responsible Investing strategy, we’ll specifically talk about your interests and go from there.

Is there a minimum amount of assets needed to work with you?

Some financial advisors prefer to work with clients whose assets fall within a particular range. Our approach is to work with clients who have enough complexity to find value in our hands-on, proactive approach to planning and asset management.

You mention “Complexity” a lot, what does that mean?

On the surface, most people don’t identify themselves as complex, but financial complexity can sneak up on you. Complexity can mean a lot of things, and it is more meaningful for us to talk about in the form of a conversation, but if we had to make a list:

The amount of assets you have (money or property)
Owning or being a partner in a business.
Owning or being interested in rental property (or alternative investments)
Having multiple retirement income streams (401k, pensions, annuities, rental property, trusts)
Having multiple options for retirement savings through your workplace.
Having certain lifestyle goals or a specific vision you are working towards.
Interest in retiring early.
Inheriting money, land, or a business.
Having goals to leave money to family and/or charities.

Can I do this myself?

Of course you can! Investment management isn’t rocket science, but it does require a lot of research and intentionality. While there are many benefits to working with a professional, we’d highlight three key advantages:

Recognizing Emotions and Behaviors. When the stock market takes a tumble or when you need to make a tough decision, having a relationship with someone that knows your life and can give you an objective opinion could save you from making bad decisions.
The freedom that comes with having a partner. There is an intangible benefit to having a financial partner that is always looking out for your financial well-being. It can provide a great sense of comfort to know that if something needs to be done, we will contact you and discuss it. This frees up time and head space for you to focus on other things.
Continuity of Care. If you or your partner pass away, we will know how to guide and help your family through that process and beyond so that financial matters don’t have to be top of mind while they are grieving.

Do you work with people who don’t live in Virginia?

Yes! If you don’t live in or around Harrisonburg, Virginia, don’t let that stop you from reaching out! We can meet virtually or over the phone, we don’t have to meet in person to get started. Each of our advisors is registered in a variety of states, the most updated list for each person can be found by following the links below:

Why are we so invested in the team approach?

One of our values is relationships, and not just with our clients, but with our employees. We value the team approach because it creates a supportive environment for everyone in our office to thrive and it creates a better outcome for clients. It also means that you have access to multiple people that can help answer your questions quickly, you won’t have to wait hours or days for someone to call you back.

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