Read the 4Q 2025 Management Letter, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!".

Read the most recent blog post "Controlling What You Can".

 

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Investment Management

West Financial Services is an independent registered investment advisor (RIA). Independence gives us freedom from constraints that hamper other firms.
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Financial Planning

When it comes to financial planning, implementation is key. We collaborate with specialists and experts, including insurance providers, attorneys and accountants, to make sure that your financial team is coordinated toward implementation of recommendations.
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Blogs

Controlling What You Can

Alan R. Menase, CFP® |
Categories
Personal Financial Planning
Investments
This past year brought significant challenges, especially for those in the public sector. After the longest government shutdown in history, Congress urgently needs to secure funding for the remaining federal agencies before January 31, 2026. Doing so can prevent further disruptions. Meanwhile, government spending and long-term fiscal sustainability are pressing concerns that affect us all. On a broad scale, government debt can weigh down economic output over time, ultimately hurting individuals and businesses that rely...

How Fine is “Fine”?

Brendan Lyons |
Categories
Lifestyle
Personal Financial Planning
Retirement Planning
“Reality charges compound interest on avoidance.” This is a thought-provoking statement I came across recently. You can apply it to anything in life—health, relationships, finances, the list goes on. It’s all too common to shrug and say, “I’m fine,” when it comes to stressful situations in life. But realistically, how fine is “fine”? Let’s dive into a scenario. You and your spouse are in your mid-50s and have been saving for retirement for the last...

News & Insights

Time to Worry about the Stock Market?

Glen J. Buco, CFP® |
Categories
Financial Focus

If you read the headlines, listen to the news, or are an avid reader of investment research (like us), it would certainly seem so. Media and various publications have opined on market bubbles, Jerome Powell, the need to support the labor market, inflation, America’s fiscal deficit, the price of gold, softening consumer spending, and the stock market valuation. At the same time, the stock market refuses to listen and has been setting new record highs, up approximately 14% year to date as of November 14, 2025.

AI Point/Counterpoint

Kristan L. Anderson, CEBS®, CFP® and Matt Cohen, CFP®, CIMA® |
Categories
Financial Focus

The debate over artificial intelligence (AI) is just getting started, but there is considerable buzz about its potential impact on the financial services industry. In this article, Matt Cohen and Kristan Anderson debate questions related to AI and find some common ground on a few of the more pertinent issues that will impact clients and how we work with them.

1. Will using AI in financial planning have an impact on client privacy?

Where Do We Go from Here?

Kristan L. Anderson, CEBS®, CFP® |
Categories
Financial Focus

In our third quarter management letter to clients, we discuss stock market gains so far this year, despite significant headline risk including tariffs, concerns over employment levels, inflation, and a government shutdown. It is counter-intuitive that investors continue to see their portfolios grow in the face of these headwinds. Some commentators describe the current market as having a sugar high resulting from large, ongoing investments in artificial intelligence (AI). Indeed, 75% of the S&P 500 Index gains since ChatGPT launched in November 2022 are from AI-related stocks.