Creative Planning Legal, P.A.

Well organized but bureaucratically incompetent for handling specific accounts rather than giant portfolios. Excellent portfolio management (ie. investing and goal matching, at least short-term), but piss-poor account level management (ie. making sure liquidity matches planned, hard-deadline customer needs). If they're managing 7+figures of your assets, they might give you the time and attention you need. I gave them mid-6 figures for a few quarters and every step along the way, plans that I thought we had established 6 months before were NOT coordinated and I had to ask 'where is the money I expected on such-and-such date'. The reply included "we need information XYZ from you first" which they had never asked for without prompting, I had already supplied when we set the account up, and they previously determined was irrelevant need in the first place. Another time, they initiated the sale of assets on the day I expected payment, rather than several days before it so there was cash available. Lack of liquidated assets that were communicated/planned/scheduled MONTHS ahead of time ultimately put me in a pickle to come up with a quarterly payment on time. Instead of an inquiry about what went wrong and why I changed management (to which they might offer apology), I got a bill. They did an excellent good job at besting expectations in spite of volatility. I wish I could have justified staying with them but really felt burned by simple tasks falling through on their end. They were really bullish about trying to pull all of my assets under their management, which I commend them for but am ultimately glad I did no succumb to. (My agent/handler/point-of-contact also seemed to accept anything Peter Mallouk said as gospel, which gave the thing a bit of a cultish "words-of the-prophet" vibe. But that's ok...it's just a bit weird if i can be honest...this is my opinion rather than an absolute. )

Do not reccomend them for insurance purposes. Had a horrible experience getting life insurance when my records were pulled by underwriting they also pulled records that were not mine. They did not go to bat for me when I told them this and even seemed to question me even though I have copies of all my own records and am a health care provider. After having my physician write a letter saying these records were not mine this finally got resolved with no thanks to them. My family members health records also got disclosed to us which felt like a huge HIPAA violation. After my husband and I got this sorted out with no help from them, all we asked for was an apology and they failed to even provide this. Can not express my disappointment in our advisor Kirk Beard or the director in insurance Kathy Bexten enough. If I could give them zero stars I would.

After 5 years of doing business with CP, we had to leave. The portfolio performance was not what we had expected compared to other brokers we were working with over the same time period. But more important was the lack of customer service. As I transitioned my funds to another broker, I was given incorrect information about transfer fees. When CP notified TD Ameritrade that they were no longer representing me, it triggered a new set of account numbers and CP did not notify me of this. It caused a great deal of problems and time transferring funds to the new broker. It took weeks and multiple executives to make a decision on how to reimburse me for $200 in fees. These guys need to get their act together.

My husband and I have been Creative clients for nearly 20 years and highly recommend them. They have helped us navigate our portfolio through the tumultuous markets, got us organized so that our insurance and estate plan were updated and coordinated, and have helped us settle my Mom’s estate. They also helped us sign up for Medicare and Supplements. They make it easy to get things done and keep me informed. Excellent wealth management!

To anyone reading this and thinking about working with this company, my advice would be to avoid this company. I used this company for about four years. It was a mistake, but I learned the lesson. William Falk was my advisor. I was charged management fees each quarter of 1%. It became pretty obvious during covid lockdown and afterward that the whole investment strategy is investing in low risk index funds and letting them sit. They showed me a bunch of bogus future charts not based on reality, gave me a binder, and told me my future was good. Really wasn't a fan of the company and felt the fees were not earned or deserved. I've been managing my own funds now and done far better. And paid no fees. Additionally, they didn't properly remove their access to my accounts and it has caused issues during the ameritrade/charles schwab transition.