RJ is my financial advisor & educator! He breaks everything down & takes time to make sure I…read moreunderstand. He uses real life examples to compare to day to fay activities so that I can retain the information. Mrs. Tracey is the best & so friendly. She just assisted with getting all my forms uploaded. RJ is helpful with identifying other needed services.

We just bought our first home and could not have done it without the extremely professional and…read moretalented RJ Martin. We started investing with RJ a couple of years ago, and since then he's become like a close friend. He breaks financial jargon down into something we can make sense of and will really take you as far as you want to go. We tell EVERYONE about him. The Bay Area is expensive and I was always told that they way to get ahead is to make money off your money. I can't stress enough that we would not be where we are today without RJ's guiding hand. We look forward to continuing to work with him long into the future. I also want to shout out RJ's SUPER HELPFUL office administrator Tracey for being really on top of her outreach. While closing on our home the title company required a number of documents to track our payments, and I'm pretty sure I called so often Tracey memorized my number. She sent me everything I needed within in minutes and never once showed impatience with me. I really appreciate it.

Mary is a thorough and detail oriented accountant. I've been her client for about 4 years and I…read morealways feel like I'm in the best hands. She helped me navigate the confusing financial and tax things that happens after a parent passes away, including the final tax return and how to ensure things were organized and filed correctly. Mary is also direct, to the point, and available and super responsive when I needed her. I am planning to be her client for a very long time!

I came to Mary for some advice on how to best fund a large charitable contribution I am planning to…read moremake. Mary checked out my recipient to make sure they were legit. She looked over my tax return. She then gave me some very practical advice on how the taxes might or might not flow from my funding sources. She introduced me to the concept of a Qualified Charitable Contribution from my IRA - something I had never known about and which will be extremely useful in my planned charitable giving. Mary more than earned her fee for the consultation.

My 2017 New Years resolution is to financially plan for the future. Nicole and the Strategy Squad…read moreteam have adequately prepared me to meet my resolution head on. I had a great consultation with Nicole where I went over my goals, risks, assets, and liabilities. With this information, she was able to provide me with an excellent financial plan, including investment, debt management, and estate planning strategies. Thank you Strategy Squad!! I highly recommend Nicole to those looking to improve their finances.

From the owner: We are great at empowering women, couples, and progressive inheritors of wealth who seek to better…read morealign their money and finances with their values. We offer socially responsible investment portfolio management in partnership with Natural Investments LLC for individuals and families who care about social justice and wish to make a positive impact with their wealth -- in their families, in their communities, and in the world.

Really enjoyed the professional way of working with Fiona and Ramiro from Cal Agents and the care…read morethey took -- Used Cal Agents on a house in Oakland.

Professional and Reliable Property Management I have been…read moreworking with The Cal Agents since 2025 to manage my house rental in the Bay Area, and it has been a consistently positive experience. Key Highlights: 1. Exceptional Team: I've had the pleasure of working with Wilsen, Ahyeza, Chris, Patricia, Jana, Fiona, Nikki, and Ramiro. They are professional, attentive, and easy to collaborate with. 2. Problem Solvers: One of their greatest strengths is that they never shy away from a hard problem. Whether it's a maintenance issue or a tenant concern, they tackle it head-on with a level of responsiveness that is hard to find. 3. Trusted Partnership: When you are looking for a partner to manage an investment property, creating an empathetic and caring relationship with the tenants is the most important factor. They have proven themselves to be reliable stewards of my property. Pro-Tip for Owners: Because they manage a diverse portfolio of both condos and houses, I found that providing clear context on my specific expectations for house-level marketing and maintenance from the start created a great feedback loop. Their receptiveness to this high level of communication is exactly why our partnership works so well; it ensures everyone is aligned from day one. Overall: If you need a team that is responsive and capable of handling the complexities of the Bay Area rental market, I highly recommend The Cal Agents.

This place is ridiculous. The fees are astounding and the service is dismal…read more WeBull/Robinhood/Fidelity/TD are leaps and bounds above MS. Avoid at all costs - they are simply not up to par with today's fast market.

I foolishly transferred my wife's 401(k) at her previous job to a managed IRA at Morgan Stanley…read more Where it was--Fidelity (if I recall correctly)--her minimal contributions had grown to $40k in one of their managed accounts. Morgan Stanley managed to lose over half of it in the course of 2-3 years! I feel like a blind monkey could have done a better job picking investments. She looks to me for financial guidance, and I totally screwed her by suggesting Morgan Stanley. I still don't understand what happened and my original broker left.

After listening to a sales pitch by this company, we had some questions so we called the local…read moreoffice. We called & called & called for an entire week only to receive a recorded message saying that "no one is available"? So we followed up with calls to 4 other offices and finally the corporate main number with the same results. WHY would anyone "trust" their assets to people who are never available???? It doesn't make any sense to ask your customers to manage your money only to find that the office is not staffed with fulltime employees. This is NOT the kind of firm we can rely on to be trusted with our investments.

From the owner: We focus on one thing--partnering with you to create a financial strategy for today and beyond…read morethat's flexible enough to change along with you. The ultimate goal? Help you identify what is important so you can achieve your goals--we're committed to being here for everything life brings your way.

Local family own business. I checked out a few spots in the Bay Area and nothing comes close OSG…read moreprice! Brian was very transparent and his wife is very lovely too. He did the testing and weighing in front of me. Gave me great expert advice and explained the process really well. I am satisfied with the results. I definitely will return and definitely recommend.

The owners here are some of the nicest in the business. They are fair, knowledgeable, patient, and…read moremost of all, respectful. In my multiple visits, I have always had an A+ customer experience. Their margins are fair and oftentimes leagues better than their competitors. If you're not familiar with the market, and you walk in with a little bit of humility, they will educate you appropriately and honestly. They never hide anything and are open about everything. They kept their doors open when silver hit all-time highs and started buying sterling silver as soon as they were able to, which you cannot say about some of the shops around the Bay. They have a great selection of silver and gold, including bullion and numismatic items. Prices are often marked on holders, so you know they are treating everyone fairly. When selling, they never pressure you to make a deal. In all my times visiting, I have always walked out pleased and with a little bit more knowledge on precious metals.

Pedram has been my property manager for a duplex and 8 units in Berkeley for years. He is…read moreknowledgeable and efficient. His fees are very reasonable. for the past years, I rarely have any issue with tenants or repairs. if you are looking for property manager in Berkeley/Oakland area, he is an expert.

SLUMLORD. Would give zero stars if possible…read more From the moment I moved into that apartment I realized I was in a slumlord situation. When I arrived on January 19th there was no working heat and it was in the 40s at night. I was provided with a very small space heater by the "property manager" (that term feels like a big stretch) and I was absolutely freezing all night. The only reason I didn't go to a hotel was because I had just driven for 5 days straight and was literally too exhausted. Additionally, the apartment was ABSOLUTELY FILTHY (I have photos to back this up). The apartment was vacant for months so it is unclear how they did not have time to check the heat or do a basic cleaning. When I complained, Pedram gave me a credit of like $70 for both those issues which is wild as a cleaning service and a hotel stay would easily total $500. Pathetic. I knew I was in for some bullsh*t based on this. From this point on, every time something broke or needed to be fixed, and there were a lot of things that were broken UPON MOVE IN (again, this place was empty and could have been repaired beforehand), Pedram ignored my service requests in the app and my emails. I fixed things with my own time and energy and had to hound him to be reimbursed for the supplies. The whole point of renting is so that I don't have to fix things. I literally had to have a friend fix my leaking kitchen sink because the person who "fixed" it initially didn't actually fix it and Pedram would not respond to my emails at all. I begged him for help. In addition to my actual unit being terrible, the general condition of the property was abhorrent. Overgrown weeds and bushes, filthy walkways that haven't been power washed in years, garbage all over the alley where the bins are, etc. It looked totally ghetto and therefore, people treated it as such. Also, we were told with literally ZERO advanced warning that we would lose access to the washer/dryer for at least a month due to the construction project taking place in the back parking lot (earthquake retrofitting). So then I had to start taking my clothes to a laundromat which is hard to do as a professional working 50+ hr weeks. Additionally, Pedram told us we had to park our cars on the street for this project despite the workers only being there during business hours. There was no reason we had to park on the street at night, other than his negligence with regard to understanding the actual scope of the construction project. My car and several others suffered vandalism/damage due to being on the street. It was completely unnecessary, but he would have known that if he ever stepped foot onto that property or put even the smallest amount of effort into managing it. I finally had to threaten him with legal action to be allowed to break the lease, as I could not continue living in that hell hole. He will not return my security deposit and states he kept it as the lease break fee, which is of course illegal under California state law. So not only did I lose my 2k deposit, I have to pay 1k to fix my car and I paid another 1k for moving expenses. Still very seriously considering taking him to small claims court. I had a completely horrific experience at this place and I have no idea who would write a positive review. I spoke to numerous other residents who all had similar experiences and were completely frustrated and fed up. Pedram, you take advantage of people and you know it. Absolutely disgusting behavior. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You can say I'm disgruntled about the deposit or whatever you need to, to make yourself feel better, but we both know the truth.

Faruk was a pleasure to work with! As we wanted to plan further for our future, our goal was to…read moreidentify areas where we are doing well and can improve upon. From the start, Faruk was personable and clear in communicating his services along with having a genuine interest in what our expectations were from this exercise. Fast forward a month, we have gained invaluable clarity and actionable next steps for our finances. Today, we still reference learnings and information shared by Faruk to help influence any financial decisions we may or will make. 100% would recommend Faruk to any family looking to understand their finances.

Faruk is a fantastic guy. I feel very fortunate to have crossed paths with him. He has been great…read moreat setting up our investments to be positioned well, even when the market is volatile. He has consistently grown my investments since working with him (not by single digit percentages either). He is very attentive and always takes the time to explain goals/positions clearly. Faruk is also very friendly, approachable, and genuinely cares about my financial goals. I trust his judgment and appreciate his proactive approach. I highly recommend him!

you call for a simple question the local number and get a computer that does not understand what…read moreyou want. simple question - takes 30 minutes to get an answer.

I was with Schwab for 30 years. They helped me out when my Dad died and left me stock. I stayed…read morewith them until I inherited some money. Then I got avg service, and got poor advice. And probably why I'm with Edward Jones now. But I do miss the lower fees....