If you're looking for a financial adviser who makes no money from commissions, give Bill Pollak a…read morecall. His office is very close to Pleasant Hill BART, making it convenient for San Franciscans. If you've been postponing organizing your assets and calculating expected future income, don't worry. Bill will do it all for you. He specializes in advising people going through transitions such as retirement, divorce, or unemployment. Do you have a new graduate in your family? A one-hour session with Bill would be a unique and useful gift.

I've purchased two homes with Carlyle financial. The first was a triplex investment. I was told…read moreby multiple people that myself and my mom couldn't get a loan on a $1.6 million investment unless we put down 40%. Robert was the only person who was able to find us a loan and not only that, got it for about 1% less than we were expecting with putting down 30%. Because of this, when I moved I went immediately to Carlyle. I was able to get a loan quickly and their method of dragging files into a website was sooooo much easier than emailing them all as I have had to do in the past. I couldn't recommend them more.

Robert Cohan and his team really delivered, solving a difficult mortgage scenario for us and on a…read moremulti-million mortgage, on-time. I hardly write Yelp reviews but would like to express our thanks to this team for a job well done. We corresponded with a few conventional and well-known lenders, including of course our prior lender. We worked with them for several weeks, providing all our financial documents on-time and in detail. Those lenders led us on, saying 'no problems, no problems', until just about closing where they said 'yes, we can do it but the interest rate is much higher or we need this amount of cash etc'. In contrast, Robert delivered exactly as he promised verbally and above and beyond his services, and professionally. He is our go-to person now for all mortgages or refinances, big and small. His rates and services are very reasonable. Highly recommended!

Main Street Research has been our investment advisors since 1999. They have done a wonderful job…read moremanaging our investments, through thick and thin! They truly get to know each client and tailor their strategy for solid growth over time. I can't say enough good things about James Demmert and his team of experts.

I am not a fan. I gave MSR a bunch of money in December 2021, when I saw troubled waters ahead. I…read morefigured (wrongly as it turned out) that professionals were needed to navigate the market pressures of inflation and Putin's ominous presence on the Ukrainian border. All MSR did was lose a lot of my money. MSR lost no time buying AAPL at 173.98 on 12-27-2021. More mistakes followed, including AMZN at $3,412 on 12-30-21 and MSFT at 341.96 on 12-29-21. I was surprised and worried but didn't complain; they were the experts, I (wrongly) reasoned. Buying continued as the market dropped: COST at $564 on 12-30-21 and more COST at $520 on Jan 11 '22 -- down $44 in 10 days! Rather than sense the fear in the market, they piled in with more of my money! More MSFT at $318 on 1-5-22...more AAPL at $163 on 1-21-22. (NOTE: I am not cherry-picking examples --these are random samples of a large purchase spree.) On Jan 26, 2022, I wrote an email questioning a partial sale of SHOP at $898 (purchased at $1,033 on 1-20-22). Portfolio Manager Jacob responded saying they were "... likely to move soon on buying again since we see the market as highly oversold, providing us with good value opportunities in the market." I replied "... I am less enthusiastic than you that the market is oversold." That is when I should have closed my account. But, they were the experts. Throughout this time, communication from MSR was lacking. Oh sure, they always said, "Let us know if you have any questions." But there was little communication of their take on the latest market threats or their investment committee's leanings. High-buying and low-selling continued. When I complained on Apr 25, 2022 that this fiduciary arrangement was not working for me, James responded that "...we never suggested that we are clairvoyant about predicting short term market movements." and that I had "...checked the box that you could withstand market swings of up to 20%". James was correct. MSR was not down as much as the S&P 500 and I had checked the 20% loss box. Were these the assurances I needed to hear from my professional investment firm? There was no mention of MSR strategy being wrong and there was no apology for losing lots and lots of my money. I heard arrogance and I have no need for an arrogant money manager. Yes, he wasn't down as much as the S&P 500 but I didn't hire a bunch of blind monkeys (referring to the S&P 500) to grow my wealth. I hired MSR. I closed my account at the end of May, 13% lower than when I started. 30%+ of the account was still in cash and cash equivalents, so MSR's professional, fiduciary investment decisions on the other 60%+ resulted in a LOSS north of 18%. I find that incredible (not in a good way). I am not a fan and I do not recommend Main Street Research.

I have been working with Amy Blodgett of San Francisco Associates for 14 years! Amy's expertise &…read more knowledge in her field have helped me budget, save and plan for my financial future in the short term and long term. It was with Amy's financial guidance that I was able to make one of my dreams come true, finance and earn my masters degree in fine arts from the university of Ca. at Berkeley! Amy is a true professional exhibiting an expertise in her field that has always proven to be on the mark. I would reccomend Amy Blodgett at San Francisco Associates to anyone in the need of financial advising. Anastasia Faiella Design

I've been working with Ryan Cole at San Francisco Associates for over a year now and couldn't be…read morehappier with the support my wife and have received. My wife owns her own business and I recently started a new career so financial planning is crucial at this stage in our lives. Ryan helped not only with helping us understanding our monthly cash flows but also with preparing for retirement, paying off student loans, and getting health, life, and home insurance. He has been like a one stop shop for getting our life in order. Ryan also has great soft skills too in addition to his financial expertise. He is very easy going, always accommodates our busy schedules, and is very proactive. My wife and I are extremely grateful for Ryan's support.

Wouldn't recommend at all. High priced, very incompetent. I had to amend business taxes done by…read morethis firm to save money. Keep asking same questions and feels like you're doing all the work. They are more in a rush to collect their fees and tell you last minute of due date to send out payments. if you're in real estate across multiple states, highly NOT recommended!

Dhaval Joshi is very knowledgeable and very responsive. Dhaval knows what she's doing and always…read moreprovides The best service.Thanks to Dhaval. my payroll is always smooth. Navjeet is also awesome - I switched to him 3 years ago for my taxes and he has saved me money with all the great advice. Next Year I will be oh using him again! 2020 was definitely a crazy year and his advice was greatly appreciated. To some it up I am very impressed with Dhaval and Navjeet!

Fast responsive setup. Everything is faster than you expect for setting up an SD IRA and then…read moretransacting on it to make investments

I've made a number of self-directed real estates investment in the past through another IRA…read morecustodian in San Carlos, which was bought out by a larger firm with poor service (per Yelp), so I did my research and switched to IRAR. I was concerned at first since it was a significant investment in a real estate project that had a very tight timeline to close escrow. Thankfully IRAR was extremely efficient, responsive, and courteous. I could always find someone over the phone easily in case of urgent questions. They followed through promptly and were even better than my previous IRA custodian, which was already very good. I'm glad to have found another IRA custodian to rely on and I highly recommend IRAR.

We retained Cheryl Vesely for help in our retirement planning. She is honest, thorough, extremely…read moreknowledgeable and fun to work with. She also communicated clearly, answered all of our questions and provided invaluable advice.

Cheryl is amazing. She was somehow able to untangle our complex financial situation and communicate…read morewith us about the best ways to invest while being really easy to talk to and very cost effective. You can pay by the hour for advice and do the investing yourself if you like, a perfect model for us. I've recommended her to at least half a dozen friends, all who have been really satisfied by her work. Highly recommend!

Joel and his office staff are great! I've completed three mortgage transactions with him and I've…read morealways been happy! They are professional, reliable, trustworthy, and get things processed quickly and accurately. One thing that really stands out about Joel is that he provides honest answers and he won't put you in a loan or situation that isn't best for you. I have and will continue to recommend Joel to my family and friends!

Highly recommend Joel for your Mortgage needs. He is very knowledgeable in the market and follows…read morethe current interest rate fluctuations and will lock you in at the lowest available interest rate according to your credit score. He is friendly and his staff is easy to work with. Definitely would use Joel in the future.