Contributor, Benzinga
August 9, 2023
Facet Review
Overall Rating:

The only service of its type, Facet is an industry disruptor, offering the type of expert, custom-fit financial advising normally reserved for those with high portfolio balance. Their proprietary platform and streamlined client dashboard make it super easy to outline your financial goals and interact directly with your dedicated Certified Financial Planner™ Professional.

Number of Advisors: More than 70 financial advisors make up a diverse roster of experts with the CFP® Professional designation; a growing staff of over 200 people comes together to deliver you the best possible financial advising experience.

Best For
  • Anyone looking for low-cost financial and investment advising
  • Non-traditional investors that may normally be priced out of a dedicated relationship with a CFP®, such as young professionals, families and those nearing or in retirement looking to handle their retirement investments digitally
  • Great for anybody interested in maximizing their money’s potential, including non-high net worth individuals
Pros
  • Dedicated client-advisor relationship with a Certified Financial Planner™, also known as a CFP®
  • Bespoke financial plans for each client
  • Affordable financial planning and investment management
  • Flat-rate, subscription-based fees
Cons
  • Virtual advisory services, so may not be best for those who prefer the option to have in-person meetings with their advisors
  • No Socially Responsible Index (SRI) portfolio model

Facet Review Ratings at a Glance

Facet Overall Rating

Overview of Facet

Founded in 2016, Facet saw a huge gap in the wealth management sector and put in the work to fill it. Facet designed its personal financial planning platform to serve the needs of people who may be left out with other types of financial planning firms. From the millennial investor to growing families financially planning for a baby to retirees, Facet believes in making prosperity accessible to everyone regardless of their net worth.

In addition to its wide range of affordable financial planning and investment management services, Facet has tons of educational resources. Facet doesn’t just want to manage your money, they want to help you understand it, too. As a client, you’ll have invite-only access to webinars and other Grade A financial education content. Facet wants to make the most of your client experience, ensuring you are both benefiting from your relationship with your certified financial planner™ Professional and being empowered to make informed financial choices.

Services Offered

Facet primarily operates as a fully remote financial planning and wealth management firm. Facet offers a full roster of financial planning services in a virtual environment, within which you’ll have a direct line of communication with your personal Facet certified financial planner™ Professional. You can plan virtual meetings with your advisor, scheduling your appointments around your schedule. 

The level of guidance you receive from your advisor is fully customizable. If you need a financial planner but not an investment advisor, that’s doable. You may also elect to have your Facet CFP® Professional advise you on your investment strategy without directly managing your portfolio. Or, you can go for the full treatment and opt-in for both financial planning and investment management. The best part? Investment management is already included in your annual fee, so you won’t pay extra for this service.

Facet’s financial planning approach is holistic: It considers your whole life and who you are as a person and client to form your unique financial blueprint. You call the shots. You can opt for comprehensive financial planning if you want to cover all your bases. Or, pick and choose which areas you need direction. 

Perhaps you want to start planning for retirement but need help deciding which retirement account is best for you, like an IRA or 401(k). Or, maybe you want to find ways to generate passive income to ensure your financial security after retirement. No matter what your specific concerns are, the advisors at Facet lend an expert eye to any or all of the following areas and more:

  • Cash flow analysis and management
  • Retirement planning 
  • College planning
  • Debt management and reduction
  • Legacy and estate planning
  • Hands-on advisory investment management
  • Tax planning 
  • Insurance planning
  • Advisory workplace retirement plan management
  • Stock option plans 

Facet also offers solutions to employers. Facet makes it easy to add their financial planning services to your available employee benefits or perks, taking the burden off your shoulders while adding an appealing employee incentive, a great way to attract — and keep — valuable employees.

To give your advisor a true sense of your current finances, Facet makes it super easy to link external bank and investment accounts using Finicity or Plaid. This will keep your advisor updated on details like your cash flow and budgeting along with assets outside of management so they can provide you with the best guidance. 

Account Minimums

A huge draw for using Facet as your financial planner is that it doesn’t set account minimums for any of its customers. Facet stresses the importance of a personal, in-depth client-advisor relationship. Think of it almost like a marriage — there will be the good, the bad and the ugly, but your Facet advisor will be a constant, celebrating your highs and riding out your lows right alongside you.

This is why it doesn’t set account minimums — you’re not a means to making a dollar to Facet. You’re a human who may have some times that are financially better than others, and that’s okay. Facet is in for the long haul.

Fee Structures and Pricing

Facet charges a flat rate yearly fee for its financial planning and investment services rather than a percentage of an asset under management. Facet doesn’t set a minimum balance for its clients, either. 

Advisors working with Facet are fee-only financial planners who do not receive commissions from selling you certain products, so the flat-rate fee fully covers any services you utilize. 

The flat-fee structure makes it easier for consumers to know how much they will pay for these services. This may seem a bit ambiguous, but Facet strives to ensure you’re receiving a fair deal. You won’t pay for services you don’t use, so your actual fee will fall somewhere in the aforementioned range based entirely on how complex your finances are and the level of financial guidance you require. 

~$500 kick-start*: Get $250 into your brokerage account when you invest $5k within your first 90 days and we’ll waive the $250 enrollment fee for new, annual members.

How to Open an Account

Facet designed its proprietary services with the everyday American in mind. It believes that financial education, empowerment and expert guidance should be available to anyone who wants it.

Getting started with Facet is as simple as could be. You’ll schedule your initial 30-minute introductory call online, choosing a time that works around your schedule. Scheduling your client intro is as easy as filling out a quick questionnaire, providing basics like your name and email along with a brief synopsis of your primary financial goals. 

Once you’ve decided to enlist the services of Facet Wealth CFP® Professionals, you’ll get set up with your personal dashboard. 

Streamlined and intuitive, this dashboard is your control panel, meet-up spot and monitoring hub for your client-advisor relationship. Here, you’ll map out your current financial state and take stock of your cash flow and how you spend your money. Once your financial planner has a solid idea of who you are and what is important to you (both financially and otherwise), you’ll set goals together as metrics for progress.

At this point, your Facet financial advisor will get to work constructing your financial planning blueprint. This will look like a long-term plan that attacks your financial goals from all angles with defined, actionable steps you can take to meet them.

Your digital dashboard then acts as the set of tools you and your CFP™ Professional use to analyze and discuss all facets of your financial plan and goals, and decide how and when to adjust to changing standards and adapt your strategy to meet them.

Take advantage of the promotions Facet currently offers. Also, newly signed clients can both gift and gain 1 free month through the client referral program. 

Facet Investment Style

Once you’ve developed a solid relationship with your Facet certified financial planner™ Professional, they’ll design a portfolio personalized to your financial standing, your long-term financial goals and your tolerance for risk. Your portfolio will be composed of low-cost index exchange-traded funds (ETFs) selected from a range of 13 asset classes.

Facet is able to manage your portfolio directly if you choose to use 1 of 4 custodians: Charles Schwab, Apex, Fidelity or TD Ameritrade. You can also act on the advice of your Facet advisor to manage your portfolio yourself. 

Facet Overall Rating

A best-in-show remote financial planner and industry disruptor, Facet is one of the top digital financial advisors available today. Dotting countless “best of” lists and winning numerous accolades, Facet has done away with the tradition of high account minimums and high fees based on assets under management to make expert financial advice and education available to everyone, even if you don’t have a high net worth.

If you thought you didn’t make enough to need a financial advisor or to start making investments, think again. Schedule your client introduction with Facet today. You work hard enough for your money — it’s time that your money starts working for you, too.

***Disclaimer: By submitting this form, you acknowledge that you have directly provided the email and phone number contact information listed, further acknowledge that Facet has the option to use either method to contact you, and agree to the terms set forth in our Company Privacy Notice. Message frequency varies, and message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt-out of messages, and email support@facet.com for help. See our Social Media & Testimonial Disclosures.

*See Terms and Conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q

Should you hire a financial advisor?

A

Yes, you should hire a financial advisor to help you manage your investments, savings and financial future.

Q

How much does a financial advisor cost?

A

You might pay a financial advisor a range of fees, but a flat-fee structure is generally cheapest for consumers.

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