Frequently Asked Questions

We typically work with thoughtful, down-to-earth people who have built successful careers and are now focused on retirement. We also serve many widowed women navigating the next chapter of life.

What they tend to have in common is a desire to simplify their financial lives.

They want to consolidate, coordinate, and delegate the moving parts of their financial lives — investments, taxes, insurance, and estate planning — so they can focus less on complexity and more on the people and activities they love.

  Please don't hire us if...

• you expect us to be able to predict the markets or the economy...we can't
• you expect us to call every time the market hiccups...which is often
• you don't have a sense of humor
• you might be offended by flip-flops or dogs at the office
• you believe that we should wear suits and ties
• you're a difficult person (you know who you are) regardless of how wealthy you may be
• most of your conversations eventually include politics
• you change financial advisors frequently

Yes.  As an independent Registered Investment Advisory firm (RIA) we are held to a fiduciary standard.   That means we are legally required to act in your best interest and disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

We are fee-only and never receive compensation from outside firms. We do not receive commissions, referral fees, bonuses, trips, or T-shirts from any outside firms.  We only get paid for advice.

If we engage an outside firm for healthcare, tax, or legal consulting, Gibson Wealth Advisors may cover their fee, or you may be billed directly for that service, depending on the scope of our relationship. 

If we refer a client to an independent insurance agent who ultimately sells them insurance, the agent will typically receive compensation from an insurance company. However, we never receive any form of compensation for any referrals or products sold.

We manage our portfolios in-house and monitor them continuously to determine if they need to be rebalanced or if there are any losses that we can harvest for tax purposes.

We create well diversified portfolios based on asset-allocation and evidence-based investment theory.

We typically use low-cost, tax-efficient, exchange-traded funds from Vanguard.  

We cannot predict, influence, or control the economy or financial markets...and neither can anyone else.   We won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that we will even try. 

If someone attempts to convince you they have these superpowers, run away...fast.  If you believe them, that's on you, you've been warned.

We tend to steer clear of risky, complicated, commissioned, illiquid, non-transparent investments like limited partnerships, annuities, private REITS, business development companies, structured products, NFTs, digital assets, etc. 

If an investment sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

We all work as a team for all of our clients.  Our goal is to have at least two financial advisors in every meeting.   

We leave that up to you, but we would like to meet at least twice a year to review progress toward your goals.

It also depends on what's going on in your life at any given time as you move through various ages and stages, like getting married, having children, changing jobs, paying for college, kids getting married and having grandchildren, retirement, divorce, health issues, death.

Some years your financial life is really busy and we'll talk often, others, not so much.    

Some areas of your financial life don't need to be reviewed every year, like your wills or insurance coverages.  Other areas like taxes and investments require ongoing attention.

Most of our clients love the convenience of Zoom, but we’re always happy to meet in person. We have offices across the DFW area—including Allen,  Dallas, and Tyler, Texas.   Whatever works best for you.

We aren't the low-cost provider.  To do that we would have to eliminate many of the services that provide the most value for our clients.    Be careful entrusting your financial future to the lowest bidder.

If you're only interested in the cheapest firm or just investment management, we're not the right firm for you.

Your fee will depend on your situation and the services that we deliver.   We typically won't know until after a detailed discussion and preliminary analysis of your situation and needs.

We typically charge either:

1. a flat-fee for comprehensive financial planning only, with no investment management, or

2. a percentage of assets that we are actively managing, for financial planning and investment management, or

3. a combination of the two.

No.   We are subject to oversight by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).    You can visit FINRA's BrokerCheck website or the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure Website for information on advisors.