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Your Financial Lifeguard
Danielle L. Schultz runs Your Financial Lifeguard, a fee-only flat-fee financial planning firm in Evanston, IL, designed to eliminate product-sales conflicts.
Your Financial Lifeguard
YOUR-FINANCIAL-LIFEGUARD is an SEC-registered investment adviser in BRADENTON, FL. The firm has 1 employee and 1 investment adviser.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does Your Financial Lifeguard charge for its services?
The firm operates on a flat-fee retainer or project basis. Unlike most financial advisory practices, it does not charge a percentage of assets under management. This structure removes the incentive to maximize assets gathered and aligns the advisor's compensation with the delivery of planning advice.
Does Your Financial Lifeguard manage investment portfolios?
No. Danielle Schultz provides financial planning advice but does not custody client assets or manage discretionary investment portfolios. The firm's focus is comprehensive planning — retirement projections, tax coordination, cash flow analysis, and estate review — not ongoing portfolio management.
What professional designations and affiliations does Danielle Schultz hold?
Schultz is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a NAPFA-registered financial advisor. She is a member of the Garrett Planning Network, a community of hourly and fee-only planners, and a past board member of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners. All three organizations require a fiduciary standard and prohibit commission-based compensation.
What client segments does the firm typically serve?
The practice has a particular focus on financial planning issues affecting women, the LGBTQ+ community, and creative professionals, in addition to a general individual and family clientele. Schultz has written and spoken extensively on planning challenges specific to these groups.
Where is Your Financial Lifeguard located, and does it work with clients remotely?
The firm is based in Evanston, Illinois, and serves clients in the Chicago area as well as virtually across the United States. The planning model accommodates remote engagement, and the practice has done so for years, predating the widespread pandemic-era shift to virtual advisory work.
How is the firm different from a typical wealth management office?
It does not use the assets-under-management billing model that dominates the advisory industry. By charging flat retainers or project fees, Schultz can serve clients regardless of whether they have assets to consolidate and can focus purely on planning advice. The firm also does not sell any financial products or earn commissions.
Does Danielle Schultz hold any published works?
Yes. Schultz authored a personal finance column for the "Huffington Post" and published the book "The Retirement Talk: How to Have a Meaningful Conversation with Your Parents About Their Money" in 2022. She has also been quoted in "The New York Times," "AARP Bulletin," and "Consumer Reports."
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