Von Haefen Financial Management

Von Haefen Financial Management provides fee-only holistic financial planning to individuals, families, and trusts, offering investment recommendations alongside tax, estate planning, risk management, retirement planning, and business-development advice. The firm delivers services under either a comprehensive retainer engagement or a limited financial review engagement and does not accept commissions, referral fees, or product sales compensation.

The firm operates on a non-discretionary basis: it makes investment recommendations but executes trades only with a client’s prior approval, and clients may place reasonable restrictions on securities or types of securities. Investment analysis is goal- and tax-sensitive, relying on sources such as Morningstar and fund reporting tools, and typically emphasizes no-load mutual funds, ETFs, U.S. government securities, and other low-cost instruments aligned with each client’s risk tolerance.

What is distinctive is the firm’s pricing and implementation model — it uses fixed retainer or flat fees rather than percentage-of-assets billing and does not provide discretionary portfolio management for client accounts, a combination that is less common among similar advisory firms. The practice also integrates tax return preparation into its planning services and maintains fee-only professional affiliations (ACP, NAPFA), which shape its policies on conflicts of interest and continuing-education standards.