We seek to offer clear, strategy‑based guidance built around your goals, with recommendations only when they fit your plan.
We help retirees, pre-retirees and business owners
Seek to worry-less about money and focus more on life
We want to be your trusted partner for investment management and more
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The W.A. Smith Difference: Your Goals, Our Focus
Generic financial advice can cost you—missed opportunities, higher taxes, and uncertainty about your future. Many advisors overlook the personalized strategies you need to succeed.
We take a different approach. Our Ascend360™ planning process provides customized strategies across income, investing, taxes, estate planning, and healthcare, ensuring a financial plan designed for your success.
Your financial journey is unique, and we're here to guide you through it with a simplified, personalized approach that adapts to your changing needs.
Schedule a free, no-obligation Retirement Tune-Up™ to uncover potential opportunities in your financial plan.
We analyze your priorities and create a personalized plan that aligns with your goals for retirement.
Your customized plan is put into action, aimed at helping you navigate life’s financial changes with clarity and confidence.
Your plan grows with you through our Ascend360™ process, keeping you on track as your life and goals evolve.
We believe in transparency and open communication. Find straightforward answers to common questions about our process, fees, and commitment to your financial well-being.
Don't see your question? Ask us here.
A Retirement Tune-Up™ financial review is a complimentary consultation designed to assess your current financial situation and uncover opportunities to enhance your overall financial strategy. It's the first step in our Ascend360™ planning process and helps us understand your needs, goals, and concerns before crafting a personalized plan. If you are looking for a second opinion on your financial state, or you a specific need or concern that your are dedicated to finding a solution for, schedule your Retirement Tune-Up™ financial review today – click here to schedule!
Typically, the Retirement Tune-Up™ financial review meeting lasts about an hour. Sessions can be held in person at one of our office locations or virtually through Zoom.
Not at all. We work with a wide range of clients, including pre-retirees, retirees, and business owners, as well as individuals and families focused on building a secure financial future.
Yes, W.A. Smith Financial Group works with individuals, families, and business owners who have at least $250,000 in investable assets saved for retirement.
Yes, we do. W.A. Smith Financial Group operates as the DBA for W.A. Smith Financial LLC and Great Lakes Retirement, Inc.. Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. is the sole SEC-Registered Investment Advisory firm providing fee-based financial services. Our fees may range from one-time consulting fees to annual recurring fees based on the service provided. Most clients choose to have us actively manage their investments under a "fee-based" arrangement, where an annual percentage fee is charged based on the total assets we manage for their household.
W.A. Smith Financial Group operates as the DBA for W.A. Smith Financial LLC and Great Lakes Retirement, Inc.. Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. is the sole SEC-Registered Investment Advisory firm that operates as a fiduciary, always prioritizing our clients' interests. Our compensation structure is transparent and flexible, tailored to align with your specific needs, goals, and objectives. Depending on what works best for you, our fee arrangements may include fee-only or fee-based options, such as a percentage of assets or an annual fee, as well as financial planning fees that can be one-time or recurring. We work closely with you to determine the approach that best fits your unique situation and financial goals.
Consider seeking a financial advisor if you feel overwhelmed by financial decisions or lack confidence in achieving your goals. It's also a good idea if you want to ensure your finances are handled in your best interests, need help with complex situations, or desire a personalized financial plan. Finally, our mission is to ensure that our clients focus more on their life and worry less about their money. If our mission statement hits home with you, you should consider working with a good financial advisory team.
A comprehensive financial plan provides clarity and confidence in your financial life. It reduces stress by creating a well-articulated plan, and uncovers new opportunities through a thorough analysis of your finances. With a personalized income strategy, you can feel secure about your retirement and enhance your wealth potential through expert portfolio oversight. A comprehensive plan also saves you time, potentially lowers your tax liabilities, and safeguards your assets.
Financial planning is a holistic process that encompasses all aspects of your financial life, including income, investments, taxes, healthcare, and estate planning. Investment management focuses specifically on managing your investment portfolio to help you achieve your financial goals.
The Ascend360™ Planning Process is a structured, four-step approach that takes a 360-degree view of your financial life:
1. Discover – Understand where you are today with a thorough review of your financial situation.
2. Build – We analyze and develop a personalized plan based on your goals, priorities, and values.
3. Implement – Put your tailored plan into action with precision and care.
4. Evolve – Adjust your plan as life changes to keep you on track.
At W.A. Smith Financial Group, we don’t start with specific financial products. Instead, we focus on developing a comprehensive plan based on your goals. Our strategy aligns investments with each client’s individual objectives, emphasizing long-term planning over specific product recommendations. We do not hone in or specialize in any one type of investment option or financial product. Rather, we aim to provide solutions to our clients problems using most all investment options and products that are available to us as an independent advisory firm.
Our proprietary process for helping our clients create a financial plan is called the Ascend360™ planning process. It is a simple, 4-step process that enables our advisory team to assess your current financial situation, identify actionable steps potentially needed for improvement, a side-by-side value presentation showing you how to accomplish your goals and objectives more efficiently, and a detailed written design that creates the structure and simplicity you might be looking for. Each plan is custom-made and tailored to your unique situation. No cookie-cutter plans here!
Our internal investment committee plays a key role in shaping client investment strategies. Following a rigorous 5-step due diligence process, the committee assesses current economic, and market conditions, evaluates optimal asset allocation, and conducts thorough risk assessments. This ensures our clients' portfolios are strategically aligned with changing market conditions and personal goals.
As a holistic financial planning organization, we aim to serve as our clients “CFO” – meaning that our advisors are trained and knowledgeable on most all financial subject matters that could affect your investment strategy and overall financial plan. To name a few specialties, our team can help you with retirement planning, income planning, estate planning, tax reduction strategies, healthcare solutions, investment design and appropriate allocation, budgeting and spending, debt reduction, business succession planning and business tax reduction, and much, much more.
Discretionary investment management means you authorize us to make investment decisions on your behalf. We'll develop a personalized investment strategy aligned with your goals, risk tolerance, and financial situation. This allows us to actively manage your portfolio, making adjustments as needed to pursue your objectives. You'll save time and benefit from our expertise while staying informed about your investments.
W.A. Smith was founded in 2008 under the name Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. by our CEO and founder, William "Bill" Smith. We later rebranded to W.A. Smith Financial Group.
Yes, we are fiduciaries. This means we are legally obligated to put your best interests first among all our financial recommendations.
W.A. Smith Financial Group sets itself apart with a holistic, client-centered approach. Our advisors focus on comprehensive planning across key areas: income, tax, investment, healthcare, and estate planning. We use our proprietary Ascend 360™ Planning Process, ensuring that every aspect of a client’s financial plan is well-coordinated and aligned with their personal goals.
Yes, we have a CPA on staff and partner with local attorneys and Medicare professionals to provide well-rounded financial planning support. This team approach allows us to address the complex needs of our clients comprehensively. All of our partnered professionals are vetted out by our leadership team to ensure that philosophy aligns and our client is taken care of properly.
Bill Smith has over three decades of experience in the financial industry, with a career that began at Prudential before founding W.A. Smith Financial Group. Bill and the financial advisors at the firm combine for well over 100 years of financial industry experience.
We meet with our clients regularly in quarterly, bi-annual or annual meetings as part of the “Evolve” stage of the Ascend 360™ Planning Process, ensuring that financial plans are updated as necessary to reflect changes in the market, economy, and personal goals. We feel it is vitally important that, regardless of how involved you choose to be with your financial plan, you stay informed and are regularly updated by your financial advisor about your plan and the state of your financial world. Outside of the regular "strategy meetings" with your advisor, our regular monthly resources provide additional education and understanding of our investment strategies and the changes our investment committee chooses to make in order to manage your money proactively and efficiently.
Our team comprises experienced financial advisors with a combined 100+ years of experience in the financial services industry. We hold various designations, including CFP®, RICP®, MRFC®, RFC®, and AWMA®, demonstrating our commitment to ongoing education and expertise. We are well-equipped to address the unique needs of both individuals and business owners.
The Ascend 360 Insider is our complimentary, weekly video blog and educational series covering retirement planning, investing, and financial planning strategies. It's designed to provide valuable insights and keep you informed about the latest trends and best practices in the financial world. You can join the Ascend 360 Insider community on our website to receive regular updates and enhance your financial knowledge. Click here to become a member!
Ongoing education is important to us. We make an abundance of resources readily and regularly available. From our quarterly, live and in-person client events to our weekly TV show (Retirement Solutions with Bill Smith), you’ll have everything you need to stay sharp and in the know. Visit our “Resources” page by clicking here. You’ll want to check out our YouTube channel and our free, informational guides. And don’t forget to become an member of our Ascend360™ Insider, a weekly video email series designed to help you take your financial knowledge to the next level! Become an Insider here!
Our client portal is a powerful tool made available exclusively to clients of W.A. Smith Financial. It allows our clients to view their accounts regularly and easily, both on a PC as well as a smart device like a cell phone or a tablet. With a few clicks of the button, you can see at-a-glance investment and performance results, asset class and allocation breakdowns, transaction details, historical performance metrics, and more. The portal also serves as an “aggregator,” allowing our clients to view all financial assets (even those outside of their investment portfolio) in a single login place.
