In October 2017, Financial Planning Office and Blue Barn Wealth merged ownership. Since that time, we have been operating as separate Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firms while making the necessary preparations to become one. We are excited to announce that over the next few weeks all required paperwork and updates will be implemented to create a single unified RIA firm named Blue Barn Wealth. We want to thank you for your patience during this process and tell you how excited we are to finally see all the planning come to life. We hope you will celebrate this key milestone with us.
When the two firms merged in 2017, we did not know what the name of the surviving company would be or the details of how we would combine the two firms. We sent out a communication to existing clients that provided as much information as we then had and gave an example of how we might combine the two advisory businesses. The method we used to combine the two firms is very similar to the example we provided in the original communication. We chose to maintain the Tax ID number and business entity of Financial Planning Office and will terminate the business entity of the original Blue Barn Wealth. This allows us to maintain our 25-year business and regulatory history. It also makes the transition as seamless as possible for as many clients as possible. After terminating the original Blue Barn Wealth entity, we will rename Financial Planning Office, Blue Barn Wealth.
We have intentionally selected a unique name to differentiate us in the financial services industry as we build on a foundation of fee-only comprehensive financial planning to create a unique client experience that focuses on helping our clients enjoy Real Wealth by living a more simple, intentional and meaningful lifeTM. We are eager to share with you our new branding and look forward to hearing your feedback. Please spend some time exploring our new website, watching the videos that we have created, reviewing the services we offer, and using the technology that we have made available to you. We believe as you do so, you will more fully understand our vision.
Financial Planning Office, LLC was founded by Denise Smith in 1994 and has been providing affordable, high-quality, fee-only financial planning to its clients for 25 years. As we look forward to a bright future, we want to take the time to thank Denise for all that she did to help us get to this point. She is an amazing lady who worked so hard with so many of you to gain your trust by providing exceptional service. Her legacy lives on through us and while we are changing the name of the firm that she founded, we never want to change the values that she has passed on of love of and dedication to the client, hard work, and integrity. Thank you Denise!
As some additional background on why Financial Planning Office and Blue Barn Wealth merged and how this will affect our current clients, we have included a few excerpts modified from our original communication to clients.
From our perspective the four primary reasons why we have chosen to partner are: 1) There is a huge need for quality, unbiased, affordable financial planning and investment advice and we want to help build a company that meets this need for as many people as possible. We could not build this alone and needed to partner with capable professionals. 2) The three principals have complementary backgrounds in tax, behavioral finance, financial planning and investments as well as in their personalities that provides a powerful combination for helping clients accomplish their financial goals. We will be better together than we were separately. 3) Our vision of the future of this company and financial planning in general is very well aligned. We all believe in putting the client first, providing very detailed and valuable financial plans, and offering quality investments at an affordable price. 4) We provide backup for each other when we are out of the office or if something were to happen to one of us.
Now for how this affects you. Our hope and expectation is that going through this process, your client experience and level of service will only be improved. Your lead advisor and Client Engagement Agreement (Contract) will continue in accordance with its existing terms and conditions. For some of you, the name of the company has changed but the great service you are used to will stay the same.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have,
Our goal is to create a first-class financial planning and investment services company. We could not do this without you. Thank you so very much for the trust that you have shown in us up to this point.