Best interest, always
A fiduciary financial advisor is legally required to act in your best interest at all times. Not most of the time. Not when it's convenient. Every recommendation.
Looking for a fiduciary financial advisor near you? Here is what the fiduciary standard actually means, how to verify an advisor is held to it, and how it plays out day-to-day at Intercoastal Wealth Planning.
A fiduciary financial advisor is legally required to act in your best interest at all times. Not most of the time. Not when it's convenient. Every recommendation.
Fiduciaries must disclose how they're paid, any potential conflicts of interest, and the basis for their recommendations. We do this in writing before any engagement.
Anyone holding the fiduciary standard is registered as an Investment Adviser Representative (IAR). You can look us up at FINRA BrokerCheck and verify status before working together.
Our CFP holds an additional fiduciary obligation through the CFP Board, on top of the IAR-level standard. Two overlapping codes of ethics, both enforceable.
We meet on a real cadence, usually quarterly. The plan flexes as your life and the tax code change. Most relationships span decades.
Offices in Boca Raton and Plantation, plus licensed in all 50 states. Existing clients keep us when they move.
A fiduciary financial advisor is one who's legally required to act in your best interest at all times. The legal standard is higher than the suitability standard that applies to many broker-dealer reps. Suitability requires that a recommendation be appropriate for you. Fiduciary requires that it be the best option available to you given everything the advisor knows about your situation.
In practice, the difference matters most in the gray areas. A suitability-standard advisor can recommend a product that pays them more if the product is still appropriate for you. A fiduciary cannot. Where two products are both appropriate, a fiduciary must recommend the one that's better for you, even if it pays the advisor less.
An advisor can be held to BOTH standards depending on the product and the role. This is part of why fee-based vs. fee-only matters and why we disclose everything up front. See fee-based vs. fee-only.
Our Certified Financial Planner is registered as an Investment Adviser Representative through the firm's RIA. The CFP credential adds the CFP Board fiduciary obligation. Both apply on every advisory recommendation.
Where we earn commissions on insurance or annuity products (when those products fit a client's plan), we disclose the commission compensation in writing and explain the alternatives. This is what fee-based means: most compensation is advisory fees with fiduciary obligation; where commissions apply, we say so up front.
Bottom line: if you're choosing between advisors, start with the fiduciary standard. Then check credentials (CFP is the gold standard for personal financial planning). Then check fee transparency. The three together filter out most of the bad actors in the market.
Pages that explain how this works in practice:
How fee-based compensation works alongside the fiduciary obligation. Why we use the fee-based label.
See fee-based vs. fee-only →The team behind the practice and the credentials they hold.
See about our team →The CFP behind the firm and how the practice is built.
See beth's story →Every client deserves a fiduciary, but the standard matters most when planning gets complex:
For clients in their 40s, 50s, and early 60s coordinating the Social Security decision, Medicare timing, Roth conversion windows, and the income plan that follows.
For founders and owners. The planning runs from operating the business through eventual transition or sale.
For C-suite leaders with concentrated equity, deferred compensation, and the planning that comes with senior roles.
For clients receiving an inheritance, sudden or expected. Help making steady decisions in a moment when steady is hard.
For women in their career-building years working through equity comp, executive comp, and the planning that supports both.
For women rebuilding financial independence after divorce. Coaching, accountability, and a real plan for what's next.
For women facing financial decisions for the first time after the loss of a spouse. Patience and a step-by-step approach.
A fiduciary financial advisor is legally required to act in your best interest at all times, on every recommendation. The standard is higher than the suitability standard that applies to many broker-dealer reps. Registered Investment Advisers and CFPs are held to fiduciary standards.
Ask in writing whether the advisor will act as a fiduciary on all your accounts. Check FINRA BrokerCheck to confirm Investment Adviser Representative registration. If the advisor holds the CFP designation, verify at the CFP Board's website. Ask for the firm's Form ADV. Real fiduciaries make all of this easy.
CFP professionals are held to a fiduciary obligation by the CFP Board when providing financial advice to clients. The standard applies to financial planning services and the related implementation. Note that not every interaction labeled financial planning meets the CFP Board definition, which is why verifying the actual scope of work matters.
Suitability requires that a recommendation be appropriate for the client. Fiduciary requires that it be in the client's best interest. In the gray areas where multiple products would be appropriate, a fiduciary must pick the one that's best for you. A suitability-standard advisor can pick a different one if it's still appropriate, even if it pays them more.
Yes, in a dual-registered or fee-based model. The fiduciary obligation applies to advisory work. Where commissions on insurance, annuities, or certain other products apply, the advisor must still disclose the compensation and the alternatives. We disclose all of this in writing before any engagement.
Yes. Our CFP is held to the fiduciary standard through both the Investment Adviser Representative registration and the CFP Board code of ethics. Both apply on every advisory recommendation.
The first meeting is a conversation, not a sales pitch. We'll talk about where you are, what you're working through, and whether Intercoastal is the right fit. In person in Boca Raton or Plantation, or by video from anywhere.