Clifford M Mortensen II

Protect before you invest

A comprehensive financial plan integrates insurance with investments. We work together to help ensure that you have the proper amount of savings in case of emergency, disability insurance should you get sick or injured and are unable to work, and life insurance to protect your family in the event that you don’t make it home tomorrow. Once you are protected, we will move to invest your money to achieve the different goals you have in life.

Save early & save often

The earlier you start saving, the easier it is to achieve your goals. You have probably heard the saying “pay yourself first” – it works! Treat savings as if it is a bill, like paying rent. Force yourself to do it month in and month out until it becomes a habit. (I will help give you the tools and the structure to make savings more like a habit.)

Diversification is key

When investing, we believe in building a diversified portfolio. We will help you consider the appropriate amount of risk and create a portfolio designed to achieve your goals. 

Be tax strategic

The way in which we get taxed has a huge impact on our wealth building picture. It is important to pay attention to how our savings and investments will be taxed, especially for long term goals like retirement. Managing the impact of taxes throughout each stage of life will help achieve your goals more efficiently.

Down markets matter

Most of us have lived through a severe market decline. During our working years, some can view these declines as buying opportunities. However, during our retirement years, these declines can be more impactful. In order to be well positioned for retirement, I work with you to build at least two years worth of living expenses in safe, non-market based vehicles that we can access during down markets. This will give your other assets time to recover so they can continue to provide the retirement of your dreams. 

Set emotions aside

It is easy to let our emotions take over, especially during market declines. If history has taught us anything, it is that markets recover from downturns. If you have a long term time horizon, the best strategy is usually to stay the course. Traditional investment knowledge tells us to “buy low and sell high.” However, many investors often “buy high and sell low” because they let those emotions take over. We help our clients manage those emotions to help create long term investment success.