Welcome To

Emancipare

(ee-mon-sip-ar-ay) – it means ‘to liberate’!

Your Path To Financial Freedom Begins Here…

The financial advisor/planner for people who think they can’t afford one. Don’t pay way too much for financial advice or planning!
Advice-Only, Flat-Fee. Fee-Only. Fiduciary. Honest. Ethical. Altruistic. Transparent. Inexpensive.

**You’ll love us if…**

You want to know the actual, mathematical date you can retire or be financially independent
You’re in your 30s-50s and don’t want to work until you’re 65
You’re think you’ll have to work until you die
You want the best retirement possible
You want a mentor, to understand your current investments and fees (do you, currently?)
You need strategic tax planning (forward looking) not tax preparation (backward looking)
You need a Total Financial Makeover (kill debt & invest)!
You want a clear, personalized, precise guide/roadmap to your financial independence or retirement date, not a rough metric

We currently have just 5 new client openings, beat the end-of-year/new year’s resolution rush before we book up!

We’re different – very different! We formed our inexpensive, ethical, flat-fee fee-only fiduciary investment advisor/retirement planning company to help those who want an early exit from the hamster wheel (FIRE), or need to make up for lost time in preparing for retirement, their children’s education, and other life goals.

Who else has transparent, up-front and understandable pricing? We don’t bleed you out on AUM rate-table fees from your investment account, where you can’t see them, or charge more just because you have more!

Your choices:

One-time retirement/life/investing/FIRE plans – your roadmap to the rest of your financial life and goals
One-time tax planning/review to prepare a strategy for this year and future years
Virtual, private education/mentoring on investing, FIRE, retirement planning, and many other personal finance topics
Ongoing, year-round financial guidance – we do this cooperatively with you and mentor you
Pralana Retirement Calculator file review/analysis
One-off meetings/projects for a very low hourly charge

Your benefits:

Keeping our costs, and fees in the funds we recommend to you, ultra low, so that every possible dollar goes toward your investment growth.
Keep your financial plan simple and easy to understand, a simple living document not a one-time huge file.
Ensure that your investments are in line with your own personal risk tolerance, income needs, and timeline, so you can sleep well!
Make sure you don’t pay a dollar more than you need to for taxes
Not casting you aside because you don’t have $500,000 or $1,000,000 to get started.

We are veteran-owned! See the common questions/answers on this page, our FAQ page, and our Rates page for further detail. We look forward to working with you!

Answers to a few questions

We’ll answer your most common questions below. For any we don’t address, head to our FAQ page or use the fields at the bottom of this page to reach out.

What's with the name?

Emancipare is Italian/Latin/Spanish, meaning to emancipate, liberate, or free (it’s also a spell to release bindings in the Harry Potter series). It’s pronounced Ee-mon-chip-ar-ee, but you can say it however you like. It aligns nicely with our goal – to free everyday folks from financial stress, from jobs they don’t like, and to be free and enjoy the one life we’re given.

What is flat-fee?

Most advisors use a complicated algorithm to calculate your charges, and it usually means the more you have, the more you pay. It’s not fair to charge you more just because you have more. They shouldn’t need a calculator to determine your fees, and they shouldn’t change every day based on market conditions or your growing wealth. We charge a simple-to-understand inexpensive fee.

What does fee-only fiduciary mean?

Fee-only means that we don’t receive money from commissions, or loads, or other places. We only work for you and aren’t affected by the bias that those other sources of income can bring (such as behind-the-scenes payments to advisors from the funds they recommend to clients). Be careful! Similar terms such as “fee-based” or “fee-offset” aren’t the same, and mean there could be hidden biases and sources of income. Fiduciary means that we’re obligated by law to always put your interests first.

What are your creds?

Our credentials are below, and please read this blog post for more detail. Take note, we’re coming from a place of true altruism – helping people out of dire financial circumstances, and then to build wealth. So, we started out with the areas of study, experience, and credentials in those areas. It means we can guide you from zero to hero, from dire to aspire, from down in the dumps to a maybe a deluxe apartment in the sky!

Licensed/Registered Investment Advisor Representative
AFCPE® Accredited Financial Counselor®
Ramsey Master Financial Coach

Also, be aware that folks who aren’t actual licensed and registered financial advisors may have titles that “sound” like they are – investment counselor, coach, associate, etc. But really they’re not state or SEC vetted and registered. Some are insurance salespeople. They’ll to sell you things that “sound” like investments, but are actually very expensive, complex, and risky insurance products like deferred/variable/indexed annuities, QLACs, whole/universal/indexed/variable life insurance, and so forth. A real investment advisor is required to provide you with their Form ADV, which is approved by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission and/or state regulators.

If you're so smart, why aren't you retired?

Actually, I’m financially independent, and don’t need to work. I get up every day and live life on my own terms – doing things I love and enjoy. That’s what ‘retirement’ should be like for everyone, and my strongest desire to make it happen for you, whether you’re in your 40s, 50s, 60s or beyond. Everyone should spend every day on their own terms, doing things they enjoy. Imagine that utopia! We are granted but one short life, as far as we know. For me, this is what I love – helping people achieve financial freedom and independence – setting them free, emancipation – Emancipare!

Do you do strategic tax planning?

Yes! We’re not a CPA, so we don’t prepare taxes. But we help you plan the immediate and long-term strategy that you can implement or hand off to your CPA. Tax preparers are typically only focused on this year. That’s expensive, when it’s at the expense of the rest of your life!

Where are you located?

We’re based in Bethlehem, PA, USA and available for in-person meetings in the Lehigh Valley area. We’re also available throughout the United States via video conferencing, telephone, text, and email.

How can you be so inexpensive?

We practice financial discipline, carrying no debt and very little overhead. We have no fancy offices or expensive vehicles for you to help pay for. We align ourselves with partners who have a similar altruistic strategy, and use the latest technology to streamline our operations.

How much does it cost?

Don’t you hate it when businesses are evasive about their fees? We aren’t! Cost is dependent on the type of services you may need. In addition to investment planning and management services, we offer workshops and hourly rates for special projects. See our Rates page for details.

How does this work?

It’s just a few simple steps to your financial goals!

1. Receive and review the ADV informational form for 48 hours.
2. Fill out the short ‘hello’ questionnaire.
3. We meet to do a fun risk tolerance exercise.
4. Sign the digital agreement, if you decide to work with us.
5. Receive and pay the invoice for your requested plan.
6. Fill out the main financial questionnaire or provide the info we need.
7. We create the plan and review it together.
8. We meet quarterly (or any time you need us) to review results.

What's the catch?

The catch is that we’re a small firm and we pride ourselves in personal, white-glove, concierge type attention to our clients. We always answer your calls, emails, texts promptly, even on nights and weekends. We can only take on so many clients before we start a waiting list and you get left out, so join us today!

The Emancipare Difference

We are an inexpensive, ethical, honest, flat-fee, fee-only fiduciary financial advisory. Please review the table below that compares us to typical advisors. See our Services and Rates page for more details, and to get started.

Emancipare ⇒	Others
Advice-Only, Flat-Fee, Fee-Only, Fiduciary	Conflicts of interest? Complex AUM fees? Commissions? Loads?
$897 Life/Retirement/FIRE plan ($299/month x 3)	$2,250 retirement plan
$1,194 Total Financial Makeover ($199/month x 6)	$2,500 comprehensive financial plan
$2,988 Ongoing Comprehensive Financial Guidance ($249/month)	$5k-$10k, complex, high fees 1% of assets and up example: $500,000 @ 1% fee = ~$417/month!!, $1m = ~$834/month!
$199 private, virtual personal finance/investing courses	They don’t teach, it would put them out of a job!
$199 hourly fee (no meter, includes prep and up to 1 hour meeting)	$250+ hourly fee
Simple, understandable, passive investing recommendations	Complex investing, many funds
Education as a priority	No client education
Fewer clients, quick response	Large client rosters
Advice-only, keep your assets under your control	Tiered, complex, expensive asset management fees
No minimum net worth/assets	$250,000 to $500,000 minimum
Awesome client portal and tools you can use on your own	Stodgy, expensive, old-school client tools for advisors/planners only
Sources: Kitces Fee Trends, Kitces Report 2021

Areas of Expertise

Below are just a few of the areas that we commonly help with. See our Services and Rates page for more details, and to get started.

Classes

We offer private, virtual or in-person courses on many topics in personal finance, investing, and retirement management/planning. We do this so you can take the wheel if you’d like, and not be tethered to the hip to an advisor the rest of your life.

Financial Planning

We offer a comprehensive financial plan for all phases of your life. Examples are near-term (debt payoff), mid-term (new home, child education), or longer term (comfortable retirement).

Tax Strategy/Planning

Your CPA is backward-looking – optimizing the past year’s taxes. We do tax planning, which is forward-looking, and saves you money over your lifetime, not just the current year!

Retirement

Whether you’re planning an early retirement, FIRE lifestyle, traditional retirement, or already in retirement, let’s get your plan dialed in.

Ongoing Comprehensive Guidance

For a low flat-rate per month we provide ongoing, year-round guidance. We mentor you as we go, explaining why each fund should be in your portfolio and why we feel you should make changes. Our philosophy is passive investing in just a few diverse low-fee ETF funds.

General Advice

None of the above suit your needs? Consult with us at our low hourly rate for other financial needs or questions.

Our goal is for you to reach your goals. That is our mission. We keep our client list small so that we can give everyone the attention they need and deserve, at any time they need it. Let’s get started!

September 2022

AUM Revolution!

Bill Hines2023-01-02T15:10:56-05:00September 15, 2022|

Update: The below blog post was written in 2022. As ...

Emancipare’s Get Smart With Money Review

Bill Hines2022-09-28T09:30:40-04:00September 8, 2022|

As long-time financial counselors at our company Money Coach Group, ...

September 2021

My Why

Bill Hines2021-10-28T09:17:36-04:00September 20, 2021|

Hello World! This is the first blog post from Emancipare, ...

Previous 12

Our Partners and Platform

Our partners are carefully chosen to match our core values – secure, easy to use, inexpensive, honest, ethical, fun, high-tech!

Altruist is our low-fee custodian/trading platform/client investment portal. Track your investment progress, see your holdings, make deposits and withdrawals, and see transaction history in the beautiful app or webpage.

Riskalyze is our fun, visual tool for gauging your individual risk tolerance – a step most advisors skip or just fudge! Sleep well at night with investments that align with your personality and goals.

Holistiplan – incredible tax strategy/analysis!

Pralana Retirement Calculator – the tool that ties all the moving pieces together into a cohesive plan!