Did you know there are no credentials required to call oneself a financial advisor? If you choose someone who has earned a CFP designation or Personal Finance Specialist (PFS/CPA) designation at least someone has passed a test, is held to a code of ethics with disciplinary procedures and must meet continuing educational requirements.

Did you know that there are no uniform requirements in creating a financial plan?  This makes it difficult for a client to compare quotes when in fact they may not be getting the same thing.

Did you know there are different ways of compensating an advisor? Many advisors are paid what you would call a commision for selling or placing products. Others are paid a fee by the hour or project, the fee-only advisor. Some are paid commisions and fees and call themselves fee-based advisors. If an advisor has a broker dealer listed or associated with him or her, then the advisor is compensated in some way through product sales. The wording may also say, "securities offered through blank".

Did you know that many times financial planning is used as a marketing tool to sell other products?   This has several important ramifications for you. The subject areas covered may be limited and the depth in which they are covered may be inadequete for your needs. Managing cash flow effectively is essential for building weath.  Proper analysis is required and many times a superficial analysis by someone will not expose weaknesses that need to be addressed.  The products emphasized will often be limited to the company's and their partner's products.  That may provide you less benefit for your dollar and hurt your diversification which could increase your risk. Finally since there are no uniform requirements, you are likely to receive a plan that leaves out or only superficially covers certain areas.  You may think you have addressed your planning needs in these areas when in fact you may have some unfinished business.

Now About Us.............Barbara Camaglia is President of Legacy Financial Advisors which provides financial planning and related services on an as needed basis. There are never any commissions involved or products sold. Barbara holds a BBA with a major in Finance from Emory University having graduated with highest distinction and having became a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the Phi Beta Kappa for business majors. She also holds a MBA with a major in Finance from Emory University where she completed an accelerated program.

Barbara has experience in both corporate finance and personal financial planning. She began as a corporate financial planning analyst at The Southern Company. Moving to Cleveland, she pursued her passion for personal financial planning at CIGNA Financial Advisors. Feeling uncomfortable about selling products while advising clients, she went back into corporate finance. She authored and ran a financial model that CEI and 4 other CAPCO companies used to forecast the cost of financing nuclear fuel as well as developing other models to forecast financing costs. Barbara has a solid financial education and practical financial experience to build upon.

She has the tools needed to address your planning and investment concerns.Barbara earned the CFP designation in 1990. She earned the CFS (Certified Mutual Fund Specialist) designation in June of 1992. Barbara has been providing customized financial planning services and money management for select clientele for the past 12 years.  In anticipation of expanding her practice, Barbara went back to complete couse work for the CPA designation. She sat for the exam in November 2001, scoring in the top ten in the state of Ohio. Being a CPA allows her to merge finance and accounting knowledge so tax efficient investments are emphasized as well as tax planning.
 
Barbara lives with her husband Fred, who is a principal in a manufacturing business. They have two children; a son who is a sophomore at Ohio State University and a daughter who is a 2007 Harvard University cum laude graduate and a second year medical student at Case Western Reserve University.   
 
Barbara currently provides corporate financial planning and accounting services to a privately held corporation. She provides financial planning and investment advice to her original clientele as well as LFA clients.

Legacy Financial Advisors LLC may offer money management services which will include DFA Funds as well as other mutual funds and various other financial  holdings including ETFs. LFA does offer non discretionary money management services where clients control their own accounts and receive direction from Barbara.

Legacy Financial Advisors LLC is a proud member of the Garrett Planning Network, a nationwide network of professional Fee-Only financial advisors. The Garrett Planning Network  has been recommended in many financial publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger's Personal Finance and Money Magazine. A virtual private network allows members to communicate, providing support, advice and economic discounts.
 
GPN members are dedicated to providing competent , unbiased financial advise to people from all walks of life, on an hourly, as needed basis. Nationally recognized CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER TM  professional, Sheryl Garrett, founded GPN to further her vision of making competent, fee-only financial advice accessible to all people.
 
Many advisors accept clients only if they meet certain income and net worth requirements.  Barbara and her fellow GPN members believe, however that professional unbiased financial advise is something all Americans need, at least periodically, to build the brightest financial futures. Holding to this philosophy, Barbara is proud to offer the same quality professional advice to all clients, not just the affluent.  

Many current clients exceed traditional minimums because they want unbiased advice without anyone generating commisions on products they purchase. 

In a 4 minute radio segment on NPRNews called “Tips on Choosing a Financial
Planner,” Jonathan Clements of the Wall Street Journal said that people should
shy away from commissioned sales people and consider employing a CFP® from
a small firm, with at least 6-7 years experience.  He said to consider hiring a planner on an hourly basis to avoid conflicts of interest. The clip can be heard at the following link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=513232 The link to the clip
on NPR's site is <http://garrettplanningnetwork.webexone.com/r.asp?a=10&id=26600&t=26600>