This is what You should know to Protect Yourself and Your Wealth

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1 Are you being Fooled by Titles? How to Protect Yourself! Every week I receive dozens of calls, s or questions from investors just like you who finally realize the person they entrusted with their investments is no more than a salesman who is not working in their best interest! So I thought I would educate you on how to protect your wealth and get real money management that s in Your Best Interest! First, the Title of Advisor, Financial Consultant, Financial Planner or Wealth Manager, is often just a Broker or Salesman using a title to Confuse you...yes, Confuse you into thinking they are more than just a salesman of the investment products their firms represent. And those investment products come with conflicts of interest and hidden agendas; that s Not in your Best Interest! If You want REAL Investment Management, Real Investment Advice without the conflicts of Wall Street, Sales People, Commissions and Conflicts of Interest: Work with a Fee-Only Registered Investment Advisor who acts as a Fiduciary under the Fiduciary Standard and has a legal obligation to work in Your Best Interest! This is what You should know to Protect Yourself and Your Wealth 1. You want a Fee-Only Registered Investment Advisor. An Advisor, Financial Consultant, Financial Planner, or Wealth Manager is NOT a Registered Investment Advisor. Sounds the same, but a Registered Investment Advisor actually manages your wealth as a Fiduciary; the others are just titles to confuse you into thinking they are more than salesmen. These salesmen only sell you the investments their firms manufacture and represent; they DON T work in Your Best Interest and they DON T manage your wealth.

2 2. You want a Fee-Only Registered Investment Advisor. Again, you want a Fee-Only Registered Investment Advisor! Fee-Only is Not Fee-based and is Not Commission...a BIG Difference! NO Commissions, NO Conflicts of Interest, NO hidden compensation, NO sales trips or sales quotas. 3. You want an Advisory Account, not a brokerage account. BIG Difference. Chances are you have a brokerage account...check your account statements or brokerage account application/agreement. If you work with any brokerage firm there is a good chance you only have a brokerage account, not an advisory account. 4. You want a Fiduciary Relationship; anything less is JUST SALES! The legal definition of a Fiduciary is: In Your Best Interest. Brokers and so-called Advisors DO NOT act in a Fiduciary Capacity! Only a Registered Investment Advisor acts as a Fiduciary... In Your Best Interest. DON'T think all people in the investment business act as a Fiduciary; very few do! If your Advisor is NOT a Registered Investment Advisor then he/she is not a Fiduciary, but is a broker or salesman! 5. NO Investment Advisory Agreement? Then You DON'T have an Investment Advisory Account or a Fiduciary Relationship! If you did not sign an Investment Advisory Agreement, and receive a Form ADV Part 2 completely outlining the investment management services provided, then you DO NOT have an Advisory Account or an Investment Advisory/Fiduciary Relationship. You only have a brokerage account and a broker or salesman! 6. Warning signs that You have a Broker, so-called Advisor, or Salesman. Anyone Selling Variable Annuities, Annuities, Mutual Funds, Stocks or Bonds for Commissions is NOT Fee-Only, NOT a Fiduciary, NOT a Registered Investment Advisor, Not Managing your Wealth, and is Not working in Your Best Interest!

3 7. Find Out the Truth...use our FREE Fiduciary Questionnaire! The Fiduciary Standard is the only way to be confident that the Investment Advice you are receiving is truly in your best interest... and Advice at ALL. Access our FREE Fiduciary Questionnaire/Important Fiduciary Test...it's available FREE on our website under the Investor Resources Tab. 8. Your broker may Lie to you... Again use our FREE Fiduciary Questionnaire with the person you entrust with your money; have them sign it then they can t LIE! Some brokers lie, yes, they lie. Every week I have people just like you calling, ing and thanking us for our Fiduciary Questionnaire. They say it helped them uncover those lies and helped them find a real money manager acting as a Fiduciary; often it s our firm they hire. Have your current advisor take the fiduciary questionnaire. Protect yourself and your wealth make sure they sign it! A recent SEC study showed investors are being Fooled and Confused by Titles such as advisor, financial consultant and wealth manager. These titles are meaningless, and only fool the consumer into thinking their broker is more than just a salesman of investment products. This puts your interest at the back of the line, as these individuals do not manage your wealth or monitor your investments... they only sell investment products. Only a Registered Investment Advisor is licensed to provide Investment Advisory Services and Investment Management. No Investor should work with any advisor that does not provide a fiduciary standard of care, as there is no way otherwise to be confident that the advice they are giving is in Your Best Interest. If someone tells you it s not important to work with a Fiduciary or in Your Best Interest, RUN! It s a Salesman

4 CONFUSED? DON T BE! FIDUCIARY STANDARD IS WHAT YOU WANT SUITABILITY STANDARD IS PROBABLY WHAT YOU HAVE WHAT ARE YOU REALLY GETTING; Sales or Real Investment Advice? SUITABILITY STANDARD Investment Sales Titles they take: Advisor, Financial Consultant, Wealth Manager, Financial Planner, Broker NO LEGAL OBLIGATION TO WORK IN YOUR BEST INTEREST WORKS FOR BROKERAGE FIRM, NOT YOU INVESTMENT SALES CONFLICTS OF INTEREST COMPENSATION: COMMISSIONS OR COMMISSION BASED FEES NOT ADVISORY NO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT NOT WORKING IN YOUR BEST INTEREST LITTLE TO NO DISCLOSURE HIGH INTERNAL EXPENSES ON INVESTMENT PRODUCTS SOLD TO CLIENT THE BIG DIFFERENCE FIDUCIARY STANDARD Real Investment Advice, Real Investment Management Title: FEE ONLY REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISOR LEGAL OBLIGATION TO WORK IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CLIENT WORKS FOR THE CLIENT, NOT A BROKERAGE FIRM OR INSURANCE COMPANY INVESTMENT ADVISORY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT NO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST FEE ONLY COMPENSATION NO HIDDEN AGENDA FULL DISCLOSURE LOW COST STRUCTURE INVESTMENTS USED FOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

5 Reading the Fine Print Understanding what you are getting yourself into means looking for the message in the fine print, and a recent publication from the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors drives that point home: Federal and state law requires that Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) be held to a Fiduciary Standard. This requires an advisor to act solely in the best interest of the client at all times. RIAs must disclose any conflict, or potential conflict, to the client prior to and throughout a business engagement and must adopt a Code of Ethics and fully disclose how they are compensated. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of financial advisors are federally or state registered RIAs. Most so called financial advisors are considered Broker Dealers by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Brokers are not held to a Fiduciary Standard; they are held to the lower Suitability Standard. In fact, they are required by federal law to act in the best interest of their employer, not in the best interest of their clients. Because broker dealers are not necessarily acting in your best interest, the SEC requires them to add the following disclosure to your client agreement. Read this disclosure, and decide if this is the type of relationship you want to dictate your financial security: Your account is a brokerage account and not an advisory account. Our interests may not always be the same as yours. Please ask us questions to make sure you understand your rights and our obligations to you, including the extent of our obligations to disclose conflicts of interest and to act in your best interest. We are paid both by you and, sometimes, by people who compensate us based on what you buy. Therefore, our profits, and our salespersons compensation, may vary by product and over time. If this ABOVE disclaimer appears in agreements you are signing, you are not working with a Fiduciary advisor. If you wish to work with a broker, you should ask additional questions about how he or she is compensated, and where his or her loyalties lie. Then decide if the relationship is in your best interest. Be sure to read the fine print! They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I say a disclosure is worth your financial future. Rezny Wealth Management is a Fee Only SEC Registered Investment Advisor. We are completely independent from any outside influence. We are not an advisor of, or owned by, a brokerage firm or insurance company. Unlike commission based brokers and insurance agents, all of our compensation comes from our clients in a direct and fully disclosed manner. Fee Only means we do not accept commissions, referral fees, company kickbacks, or other incentives for the investment management we provide. We work for you, in Your Best Interest as a Fiduciary and as a Money Manager!