Mark Berg: Hourly Financial Planning Is 'A Vast Blue Ocean'

Our guest on the podcast today is Mark Berg. He is the founder of and lead advisor at Timothy Financial Counsel, which is an hourly financial planning firm that he started in 2000. Prior to launching Timothy Financial, Berg served as a client manager at a fee-only financial planning firm and has provided fee-only financial guidance since 1995. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wheaton College and is a certified financial planner practitioner and is registered with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. He served on the national board of directors for NAPFA from 2008 through 2011. Timothy Financial is the firm that Christine Benz and her husband use for financial planning, and a member of Jeff Ptak’s family is a Timothy Financial client as well.

Background

Bio

Timothy Financial Counsel

“Scaling Up to $1.4M of Revenue With (Only) Hourly Financial Planning Fees With Mark Berg,” by Michael Kitces, Financial Advisor Success podcast, March 20, 2018.

Influences

Garrett Planning Network

“Voices: Sheryl Garrett, on the Evolution of a Planning Firm,” Thomas Coyle, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 31, 2009.

“Sheryl Garrett: ‘The Industry Thought I Was Nuts,’” The Long View podcast, Morningstar.com, July 17, 2019.

Tax Planning/Direct Indexing

“An Inside Look at Direct Indexing,” by Danny Noonan, Morningstar.com, March 23, 2023.

“Could Direct Indexing Lower Your Taxes?” by John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, March 27, 2023.

“4 Questions About Direct Indexing,” by Sheryl Rowling, Morningstar.com, Oct. 24, 2022.

Retirement

“What Is the ‘Retirement Spending Smile’?” by Wade Pfau, Retirement Researcher.

Resources

Michael Kitces

Financial Planning Association

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)

Other

Morningstar Investment Conference 2023

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