My husband and were looking to work with a fee-only CFP in 2014. We ended up working with Jennifer…read moreand it was such a valuable process. We got married a few years ago and had a lot of questions--about retirement planning, taxes, how our home equity figured in, how much we should think about spending on renovations, and cash savings vs. market investing. She also helped us shape up our 401(k) allocations and think about our estate plan. Jennifer's a great teacher--she patiently led us through making more informed decisions and pointed out the things we weren't thinking about but should be. Now we feel like we're on the same page and we get how the pieces go together into the big picture, which is really reassuring. We also appreciated how transparent her fees were and felt the cost was really reasonable compared with other local CFPs we considered. We're really glad we found Jennifer and plan to continue working with her.

My wife and I have been getting advice from Jennifer for a year, and we really like her. She's been…read moresuper conscientious about answering questions I've emailed her between appointments, and she's held our hands as we've executed the plans she helped us develop--without any cajoling or intimating that we were being too cautious. She has a detailed questionnaire she gives you before you even meet for the first time, which lets her know from the outset about your money-managing history, and about your attitudes and aspirations with regard to risk and reward. We feel we've benefited from her help a lot, and have come to think of her as a friend. I can also say I shopped around before choosing her, and considered her rate comparatively cheap.

This review is only for the initial call. I researched a lot of different financial advisors and…read morethey were all pretty much the same. The difference between Lula Financial and the others I talked to is the customer service. You aren't going to get the typical "financial customer service" you're used to. Benjamin is going to talk to you like a person who needs a financial advisor and he'll use words you can understand. He might call your situation boring or lame but not in a condescending way. Talking to Benjamin was like talking to someone I knew personally, and I didn't even have to use my own customer service voice.

I reached out to Lula Financial for some help setting up my SEP IRA. I'm self employed and needed…read moreto understand the best way to save for retirement. They did a nice job explaining the difference between all my options and the best way to lower my taxes. I don't think their recommendations were necessarily revelatory but they did a good job making things simple and concise without being condescending. If you just need some basic financial planning and investment advice, Lula Financial is great.

My partner and I have been working with Ben for about a year now to help us get our money stuff in…read moreorder and would recommend him to anyone needing a clear, easy-to-follow plan for all things finance. The upfront cost is rough, but absolutely worth it, especially if you stick with him. He's accessible as much or as little as we need him and after every conversation, we have more clarity and confidence (imagine!) about what to do next. He follows up with a few pieces of homework and if we get stuck, he helps us do the thing step-by-step (like opening a 529 for our daughter). He's funny and calm, and 100% uncomplicated, which is like a diamond in the rough in the land of financial advisors. 10/10, highly recommend.

After chatting with Ben I found him to be supportive, frank and upfront. All great things in a…read morefinancial advisor! He spoke to me as a human in terms that were easy to understand and provided clear guidelines for helping our family achieve our financial goals.

Axa Advisors take the time to explain to you - in detail - exactly what they want to put your money…read moreinto. While I only have an IRA with them, AXA offers various types of insurance, investement strategies, annuities... you name it. The staff is for the most part young and beautiful, with brains to back it up. I guess they all receive extensive and ongoing training so as to know how to best serve their clients, and to keep up to date about the latest products and trends. I've always felt confident that my advisor was looking out for my best interest, rather than being overly interested in a fat comission check.

Without a doubt, I would refer anybody looking for a financial advisor to Christine and Lisa at…read moreAXA. I met Christine at a women's business networking event and had informed her of a rough tax problem that I've been having for some time. The next day I received a phone from her and the rest is history! Being a young, small business owner I have had to educate myself along this journey of being an entrepreneur and make many mistakes. They are helping me make some educated decisions to set myself up for a strong financial future. I have never felt pressured into any decisions that's not in my best interest. They are 100% about building a long term relationship, educating me and setting me up for success. They are helping me find a small army of professionals to keep in my corner. They are pure joy to work with!

I had such a great experience that I am going out of my way to find a place to compliment Fidelity…read more It sucks that other people seem to have had difficulty with reaching a real person. That was not my experience. I dealt with the robot automated stuff for a couple of minutes before quickly reaching a human who was very polite and helpful. Despite being transferred multiple times to the wrong department, I was not that annoyed because everybody was so nice about it and each transfer was pretty quick. I will say that the "on hold/transfer" robot seemed annoyed or passive aggressively irritated and I'm not sure why they used a different voice for that automated bit compared to the beginning of the call. After the transfer mistakes, I decided to hang up and call again. I specified the department as quickly as possible (without being rude) and soon reached the correct person. From there, it was smooth sailing. After answering my questions, the guy even suggested that another department could provide additional help if I wanted it. He stayed on the line to update the new person so I didn't have to repeat the same info and the new person was just as nice and helpful. Everyone I talked to was polite, eager to help, and clear & thorough in their explanations. They made sure I understood without being condescending or taking a long time to get to the point. So despite a few hiccups, I very strongly recommend Fidelity. They earned a lot of points from me in how they dealt with everything.

I cannot submit with 0 stars! I am ready to take legal action. I have been trying to get a hold of…read morea live person with Fidelity for days! They do not answer the phone! I am the Social Service director at a care center where a resident has an account with Fidelity. He can not go online as they repeatedly stated on hold! He cannot access money. He is aged and confused at times and I just need a human to work with at Fidelity. They will NOT answer the phone! I have for days spent more than 30 minutes at a time on hold, needing to put my efforts to another task I have to hang up and try again later or the next day. I have sat on hold through my lunch break today to get up to 45 min and ticking with no sole to provide support to their customer. Absolutely absurd!

I was speaking with Charles Carroll at a colleague's dinner party recently and in about 3 minutes…read moreof me talking about my concerns with my financial situation he had given me a debt restructuring suggestion that while simple is now a short time later saving me about $550. every month (and will continue to do so for a few more years). Needless to say, my partner and I are OVER THE MOON about this. I am actually very knowledgeable about investments, debt, financial structures, etc. but somehow I had previously missed the strategy that Charles recommended.. Charles, we can't thank you enough.

I've been coming to Charles for about 5 years now for financial advice. I have a complicated…read moresituation with various streams of income, business ventures, and some unique goals but Charles' advice has always been spot on. Charles spent the time to fully understand my situation and has always been very careful to look out for my best interests. One thing I particularly like about Charles is that although he is cautious, he is also very calm, which is exactly what I need when trying to decide on a course of action for my finances. Before getting advice from Charles, I had a financial advisor from one of the "big" Portland financial firms for a few years but it eventually became clear that my advisor had a conflict of interest in the sense that, if he sold me on a financial product, he would get a commission, regardless of whether the product did well for me (by the way, that same advisor also gave me some erroneous advice on student-loan deductions that turned out to cost me thousands). When my former advisor eventually tried to sell me on a very expensive "investment-grade" life insurance policy I decided to get a second opinion and came to Charles and have never looked back! Charles and his team are professional, friendly, and committed to sustainability. But most of all (for me anyway) I feel like I have always gotten the right advice for my situation, free of any conflicts of interest. I couldn't recommend him more!

Excellent team of extreamly knowledgeable professionals.read more

Worst, all I can say is they are worthless as a company goes, and support really sucks. No direct…read moredeposit, hit you with 30 80 dollar fees. Never like these people.

As of this month I tried to repay The Standard due to my unintentional overpayment. I made no less…read morethan 12 phone calls with 7 different representatives over 3 days. Only upon the third day did the representative inform me that I couldn't make a payment online nor over the phone. Instead, they require a draconian method of sending in a money order or check, via snail mail. This is unreasonable requirement on behalf of this company, effort and time is precious. I'm confident this is to maximize profit at the expense of claimants. I wish this monopoly that is The Standard, fails as a business. They aren't easy to work with and they provide little assistance through the complex time consuming process. Companies like The Standard Insurance shouldn't be in business.

The new Slabtown office is a disappointment. The counter person Ms Longstreet spoke in machine gun…read morefire sentences . Kept tell me I'm not licensed so I can't help you . Was cold and dismissed. She must needed to catch a train . Random fast talk . Oh I'm not licensed the Schwab pen was more help . Get a licensed professional at the counter that can lawfully help and isn't in a hurry to get off work

My broker told me I could go there to get a check for fast movement of funds for buying a house…read more The lady at the desk said they couldn't do that and couldn't provide me with any help or guidance. I called the company and they were able to issue a check and that everything could be done over the phone or online. The desk lady couldn't even tell me that I could do everything online or tell me how. Real estate transactions need to happen fast and this place was useless.