Hello and welcome! I am Rick Alvarado, CFP®, founder of WealthOne Advisors, a fee-based Registered Investment Advisory firm. I’ve spent more than 30 years as a financial advisor holding the Certified Financial PlannerTM designation for the virtual entirety of my career.
My first few years in the business were filled with twists and turns; the most significant of which presented a test of my core values. It was the early 90s when I was faced with a choice between recommending investments in the best interest of my clients versus selecting from a product mix fraught with bias and conflicts of interest. I had entered the profession expecting to represent investors, but found myself in the position of representing a brokerage firm. The choice between client or company left me at a crossroads. It ultimately forced a career decision to offer independent money management services on a fee-basis. In keeping with my core values, I chose to embrace the fiduciary standard.Investment advisors are legally required to meet a certain standard of conduct, which is either suitability or fiduciary. Advisors conforming to a suitability standard are required to make investment recommendations that are suitable based upon a given client’s age, risk tolerance, and financial goals. Fiduciary advisors are also held to the suitability standard. However, the fiduciary standard includes the added requirement that advisors must place the clients’ best interests ahead of their own. In short, a fiduciary relationship is client-centered, whereas a non-fiduciary advisor is product and/or sales centered.
Fast forward 30 years and my perspective on financial planning continues to evolve. I’ve seen how the passage of time can shift priorities – even reshaping how people define success. As a financial planning firm, we no longer focus exclusively on financial goals. We approach planning as a process of aligning health, wealth and wisdom. We tailor tax and investment strategies to match with each client’s definition of a meaningful life. In its simplest terms, our role is to map your unique journey and provide ongoing guidance for the inevitable course corrections along the way. We do so by coaching accountability, offering insight and creating context to the chaos of life events.
Outside of professional life, my time is mostly spent with family. The three of us, my wife Jessica and our teenage son Brandon are a close-knit trio. We’re often accompanied by Oliver, our English Cream Retriever. On any given weekend, it’s not unusual to find us together – enjoying each other’s company in some outdoor activity.
When I’m not with family, one of my favorite pastimes is adventure motorcycling. It’s a passion I’ve held since childhood and it’s rewarded me with many friends and countless adventures. Some of my best memories are on two wheels.
As part of my personal commitment to align health, wealth and wisdom, I enjoy reading from influential thought leaders, both past and present. My weekend reading regimen includes a dose of op-ed articles from the most influential of major left and right leaning periodicals. It’s a deliberate exercise in critical thinking.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, “If your body is a garden, then your willpower is its gardener.” So, I schedule time for strength training and practice intermittent fasting in combination with a low-carb diet. Discipline is a constant challenge, but Jessica’s culinary prowess helps keep me on track.
Some of my other pastimes include refining an eclectic music collection, reading non-fiction, hiking, biking, photography and videography.
