We answer your Questions
Who is T. Anton Investment House?
We are a registered investment advisory and financial planning company, located in Middleton, WI. We manage money and provide financial planning for those looking to grow their wealth. Our passion is to help you realize your dreams; whether that’s owning your first or second home, education for your kids and/or grandkids, retiring early, creating a comfortable retirement income, funds for travel, gifting opportunities, leaving a legacy or any other dream. If it’s on your bucket list, it’s on ours too! At the “Investment House”, we want you to be comfortable with your investments and confident in how you can use your assets to achieve the lifestyle of your choice.
“Investment House” is a unique name, how did the name come about?
We’ve heard many times from new clients that they don’t feel comfortable with financial markets or financial jargon or investing. Often times they have been investing through another advisor or on their own for many years. They also don’t understand how their investment accounts fit together to enhance retirement planning, income tax planning and estate planning to reach their goals. Tracey Anton, President used “ Investment House” in the name because she wanted to create a place where people feel just as comfortable with investing as they feel in their own house. We believe money and markets are tools to be used to create and grow wealth, but should not be intimidating. We explain investing and markets in a common sense way and focus on your goals and devise an investment plan to help you reach your goals.
What makes T. Anton Investment House different from other wealth advisors?
We are a fee only investment advisory firm. We have, by law, a fiduciary responsibility to act in your best interest. This is different than an investment broker which is required to offer advice that is “suitable” to their customers.
What does the fee only mean?
Fee only means you are the only one who can pay us to advise you on your investments. We don’t receive compensation by a mutual fund company or any other investment. This allows the fee you are paying to be totally transparent and also minimizes any conflict of interest since there is no hidden incentive to use one investment over another.
Investing can be difficult, how do you make it easier for clients?
We are no more than a phone call away or a stop in to our office. When markets are volatile and its more difficult to stay the course, we’re there providing information on markets as well as your portfolio. Dalbar, a financial research firm in Boston, updates a study every year that compares the returns of an average investor to the SP500 over a period of years. The latest study showed the average investor in all US stock funds earned 3.7% annually over the past 30 years and SP500 stock index returned 11.1% annually. Why did the investor under perform the market by about 7.4% annually for 30 years? There are several factors, but the major factor is that investors chase returns. They tend to buy high and sell low. They react emotionally to incomplete economic or financial data and often miss out on market recoveries or buy into market bubbles. We provide the feedback necessary to avoid knee jerk responses to help you fully earn market returns.
Do you help with other financial questions besides investments?
Yes! We work to reducing your taxes, maximizing social security benefits, analyze options regarding State of Wisconsin pensions or other pension plans, decide whether or not to pay off mortgage, car loan etc or any other financial question. We are here to be your sounding board and help you optimize your financial life!
What should someone look for in a financial advisor?
As in any good relationship, communication is the key. You should be able to talk frankly with your advisor and feel like you are being heard. Do you feel your advisor understands your goals, needs and tolerance for risk? Do you feel the advisor is knowledgeable, experienced and able to take on new clients? Has the advisor had experience in both up and down markets? Are they trustworthy? Do they have a Certified Financial Planning (CFP) designation?
How is T. Anton Investment House different than other wealth managers when it comes to retirement planning?
We provide an easy to understand roadmap to retirement. We create with you “what if” scenarios to show retirement at different ages and varying income possibilities. We provide guidance on the best retirement vehicles to use such as 401k’s, IRA’s, Roth IRA’s, SEP IRA’s, SIMPLE IRA’s etc and the amounts necessary to reach your preferred goals. We help determine your investment mix based on your risk tolerance and market conditions.