At Bay Point, our primary purpose is to improve the lives of our clients and their families through highly personalized wealth management.

As a client, you will feel that we truly care about you and your family in the way we get involved with nearly every aspect of your financial life - whether helping you refinance your mortgage, update your estate plan, or even get a great deal on a new car.  We work closely with a team of professionals to make things easier for you and to make sure everything gets done right.

We will meet with you on a regular basis to establish and prioritize your goals, identify and protect against risks, minimize your taxes, and simplify the complexities of your financial life. We will also help care for those you care about. This can include aging parents, independent children or family members with special needs.

We have a unique set of skills and experience that allows us to offer the best solutions, even for clients with very complex financial concerns. No matter what your situation, we can help you develop the most optimal strategies for meeting your goals.

Our competence is reflected in the designations we have earned and maintain. These are the highest standards in the industry for comprehensive, client-focused, financial and tax planning.

Certified Financial Planner

Most people think that all financial planners are "certified," but this isn’t true. Anyone can call himself or herself a "financial planner." Only those who have fulfilled the certification and renewal requirements of the CFP Board can display the CFP® certification marks. When selecting a financial planner, you need to feel confident that the person you choose to help you plan for your future is competent and ethical. The CFP® certification provides that sense of security by allowing only those who meet their requirements the right to use the CFP® certification marks. For more information on the CFP® designation, please visit: www.cfp.net.

National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

NAPFA advisors have even more rigorous requirements, including peer reviewed financial planning and twice the number of continuing education requirements as the CFP.  All NAPFA advisors must be Fee-Only and take a Fiduciary Oath each year. For more information about NAPFA, please visit:www.napfa.org

Certified Public Accountants

The CPA designation is limited to those individuals who have met the high standards of examination, professional work experience, and continuing education requirements set by the State Boards of Accountancy.  These individuals will have expertise in the areas of accounting, auditing, tax, business valuation, and personal financial planning. For more information about the CPA license, please visit: www.aicpa.org.

At Bay Point, we do not receive commissions or referral fees, so our advice is never biased toward particular products.  Instead, we find solutions that best serve you.  In fact, we are required by law to always act in our clients’ best interest. This is known as a fiduciary duty. Read our Fiduciary Oath.

Commission-based or fee-based advisors earn commissions on the financial products they sell to clients. They may also charge fees on top of the commissions. They are not held to the same fiduciary duty as fee-only advisors and do not have the same obligation to openly disclose all fees and conflicts of interest. The risk is that there may be financial incentives to recommend products that are not the best solutions for their clients.

Only a small percentage of financial advisors are fee-only.

Bay Point also does not charge additional fees for our truly comprehensive financial planning, but includes it as part of our investment management service.  From cash flow planning to insurance to taxes, we make sure all your bases are covered.

Click here to check Bay Point's compliance record at BrokerCheck powered by FINRA.org.

HOLISTIC, COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL PLANNING 

At Bay Point, we are committed to improving our client's lives. Most of our clients have complex financial needs, such as business owners needing to coordinate their business and personal finances, executives wanting to understand and get the most from their compensation packages, or individuals experiencing life changes such as retirement, divorce or death of a spouse. Our goal is to help you simplify, strategize and succeed. 

OUR COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES MAY INCLUDE 

CASH FLOW PLANNING & DEBT MANAGEMENT: For our clients that have already accumulated the required net worth and income sources to retire, we are experts in planning the required cash flows and managing the associated tax implications related to retirement account withdrawals. For our clients that are still accumulating substantial wealth from their employment or business, through rigorous analysis we assist in planning for retirement and accumulating the required wealth to comfortably achieve all key goals.

RETIREMENT PLANNING: We comprehensively bring together our knowledge of various types of aspects relating to each client's retirement, which include both financial and nonfinancial matters. We develop a strategy to help you achieve a comfortable and worry-free retirement. Your plan is then monitored regularly and evaluated to see if any changes may be required based on your life circumstances, changes in legislative/tax laws, and other events that require adjustments to your plan.

TAX PLANNING STRATEGIES: Federal and local income tax payments have significant impact on your ability to invest and save for the future. Our review and recommendations encompass many aspects of income taxes and ensure that you are taking advantage of available tax benefits and are avoiding any unnecessary costs. 

EDUCATION FUNDING: With education planning we conduct an analysis to project the expected costs of primary school through higher education needs. Within the context of your financial plan and circumstances we help you develop a strategy to effectively prepare for these costs. Finally, we help you select the most effective savings vehicle, which may include a 529 college savings plan or a trust for your children or grandchildren.

ESTATE PLANNING: Passing your legacy on to your heirs, protecting your family and business, growing your estate, reducing or eliminating both death and income taxes, and providing to charity are the key components that we review as part of each client's estate plan. After evaluating your current state plan and discussing with you carefully your current estate planning goals and objectives, we will work closely with your attorney to design a plan to efficiently transfer wealth to your heirs and charitable beneficiaries. If you are not currently working with an attorney, we will assist you in finding one that best meets your needs.

RISK AND INSURANCE MANAGEMENT: Passing your legacy on to your heirs, protecting your family and business, growing your estate, reducing or eliminating both death and income taxes, and providing to charity are the key components that we review as part of each client's estate plan. After evaluating your current estate plan and discussing with you carefully your current estate planning goals and objectives, we will work closely with your attorney to design a plan to efficiently transfer wealth to your heirs and charitable beneficiaries. If you are not currently working with an attorney, we will assist you in finding one that best meets your needs.

CHARITABLE GIFT PLANNING: Philanthropy is an important part of preserving your family's legacy.  We help our clients understand the various charitable giving alternatives and make the best decisions from both a tax and philanthropic perspective.

We provide institutional investment solutions for our clients. The portfolios we construct are diversified and designed to meet each client’s unique circumstances, goals, and objectives.

Our “goals-oriented portfolio design” means that your portfolio is tailored to your specific short or long-term goals. Our disciplined, due diligence process allows us to select and monitor our recommended investment managers. We review your portfolio on a regular basis and rebalance it as necessary to keep it diversified and properly allocated.

There are three elements of our investment philosophy and practices that diverge from the approaches of most other investment managers. We believe these to be highly beneficial for our clients:

MANAGE DOWNSIDE RISK

For most of our clients, the primary objective is to preserve wealth rather than chase performance. To achieve this objective, we include mutual funds that actively manage downside risk for a portion of each client’s equity holdings. We might give up some “upside” performance, particularly in a bull market. However, since the timing of a bull market or a bear market is impossible to predict, we believe that the prudent path is to seek to avoid large losses when the market turns downward.

DON’T CHASE THE BENCHMARKS

Many investment managers compare their performance to a “benchmark,” such as the S&P 500 Index. This, however, is not how our performance is measured. Our objective is to reach a targeted return for each client, based on that client’s specific financial needs and risk tolerance. Attempting to minimize performance deviation from a benchmark does not necessarily help our clients achieve their investment objectives, especially when that benchmark drops significantly.

PLAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO TAXES

We very carefully design each client’s portfolio for tax efficiency. For example, we place securities that would be subject to higher taxes in tax-deferred accounts and place securities that would be subject to lower taxes in taxable accounts. When tax laws change, or even when we anticipate changes in tax law, we consider how these will affect the client’s investment portfolio.

As a business owner you will experience unique planning issues as you expand and develop your business.  In many cases the majority of your net worth is comprised of the value of your business. You need an advisor who not only understands your business but also understands how the ownership of the business becomes deeply intertwined within your personal and family planning needs.

At Bay Point Wealth Management, we build close relationships with our business owner clients so we can clearly understand their planning needs as well as their personal and business goals. Our proactive and comprehensive approach helps you plan ahead for success and growth. We make certain that you and your family are taken care of.

While there are many aspects involved with your business planning, there are generally two key areas on which we focus:

• Contingency planning – This provides for the family and the business in the event of the untimely death or disability of the business owner. We plan for the continuity of your business, how your family is going to be taken care of, and who the best people are to sit in your chair and move the business forward.
• Exit Planning – We help you plan for the eventual change in ownership of your business.

Our planning, including the contingency and exit planning strategies, involves consideration and planning that generally includes:

Bay Point acts as the quarterback, coordinating your planning efforts with your other advisors. We work closely with other professionals, including attorneys, CPA’s and valuation specialists - and thus can provide detailed advice in each specific planning area in conjunction with the advice of a complete team.  Working shoulder-to-shoulder with us and these other professionals ensures there are no missing links.

If you are a business owner who feels you need to create or improve your plan, or if you have questions or concerns around your planning, please contact us to see how we can help.

WILLIAM J. HUFNELL, CPA, CFP®

Principal

bhufnell@baypointwealth.com

KIMBERLY K. ANDERSON, CFP®

Senior Advisor

kanderson@baypointwealth.com

WILLIAM J. HUFNELL, CFP®

Financial Advisor

wjhufnell@baypointwealth.com

GLENELL L. AGNOLUTTO

Paraplanner

gagnolutto@baypointwealth.com

ALLISON P. GOWALLIS

Operations Specialist

allison@baypointwealth.com

CHRISTINE H. HUFNELL

Client Services

chufnell@baypointwealth.com

ABOUT CLIENT PORTALS

As a client of Bay Point, you have access to several portals that will help you monitor and stay abreast of your financial situation. Our goal behind offering client portals is to make your life easier by giving you:

• Access to your account information 24/7 in an easy-to-read format.
• A consolidated view of your current financial position.
• Secure delivery and receipt of sensitive documents that should not be sent by email.
• A completely paperless option!  We send all reports electronically.

 Portal Summary

1. Wealth Management System – this is the system you normally see during your client meetings.  We use it to forecast your cash flows, model “What-ifs,” and calculate your net worth, among other things.  We sometimes refer to this as EMA.
   
   
   
   
2. TD Ameritrade – This is where you can view real-time data for all your TDA accounts, including balances, holdings, and transactions.
   
   
   
   
3. Your Portfolio –This is the system we use to manage your portfolio and generate your portfolio reports, frequently referred to as Advisor View.  By logging into this portal, you can run your own reports such as Performance Summary, Portfolio Holdings, and Capital Flows.
   
   
   
   
4. Secure Document Sharing – this is our document management system, named ShareFile.  It is the secure “file cabinet” where we store electronic documents (such as copies of your tax returns, insurance policies or memos we’ve sent you.)  We also can send documents to other professionals (such as your CPA) from here.  And finally, it contains your client folder, where you can securely upload documents to us.
   
   

Safety Tips

To ensure safe usage, please follow these safety tips:

• When creating a password, include uppercase, lowercase and numeric characters in your password
• Always access your portal by visiting our website or via your own bookmark.
• If you receive an email that looks suspicious, don’t click on any links or attachments.
• Bay Point will never email asking for your password.  If you get such an email, call us!

If you have a question or run into a problem while using your portal, simply give us a call at 410-626-8198. Forgot your password? You can reset it yourself online or call us to get it fixed. Bay Point strives to make the client experience the best it can possibly be and we welcome any feedback you may have. 

Please remember to contact Bay Point Wealth Management, in writing, if there are any changes in your personal/financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services, or if you want to impose, add, to modify any reasonable restrictions to our investment advisory services, or if you wish to direct that Bay Point Wealth Management to effect any specific transactions for your account. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees continues to remain available upon request.

At Bay Point we work closely with you and other professionals to make sure our advice gets implemented correctly.  Listed below are some of the common strategies we use in client planning.  By clicking on them, you will see exactly how each gets implemented - what role we play, what tasks other professionals do, and what your part is.  You can refer to these any time if you are unclear what the roles and responsibilities are for a given strategy. 

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