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When DIY Financial Planning Starts to Feel Too Complicated: 7 Signs It May Be Time for Help

When DIY Financial Planning Starts to Feel Too Complicated: 7 Signs It May Be Time for Help

September 22, 2026

I’ve talked with a lot of successful people who are very comfortable managing things on their own. They built the business. They negotiated the promotion. They saved the money. They picked the investments. And for a long time, that approach worked just fine. Then something changed. Maybe retirement started getting closer. Maybe the kids are […]

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You Worked Hard to Build It. Now Let’s Make Sure Your Financial Plan Works Together

You Worked Hard to Build It. Now Let’s Make Sure Your Financial Plan Works Together

September 8, 2026

One of my favorite conversations with clients usually starts with a sentence they never expected to say. “Jim, I think retirement is actually becoming real.” They’re often in their early or mid-50s. They’re still working full-time and still enjoying what they do. But the question is no longer about getting the next promotion or increasing […]

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3770 South Lindbergh Boulevard, Suite 102
St. Louis, MO 63127

Call: 314-729-9500

© 2025 Stonebridge Disclosures | Form CRS
Stonebridge Financial Group, LLC (“Stonebridge”) is a Registered Investment Advisor (“RIA”) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Stonebridge provides investment advisory and related services for clients nationally. Stonebridge will maintain all applicable registrations, notice filings, and licenses as required by the various states in which Stonebridge conducts business. Stonebridge renders individualized responses to persons in a particular state only after complying with all regulatory requirements, or pursuant to an applicable state exemption or exclusion. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation.

Participant Services

Our status as independent retirement plan consultants enables us to provide your plan participants with what they value most—investment guidance to help them feel confident about the decisions they are making to pursue their retirement goals.

Participant education

We will work with your participants to:

  • Explain the importance of retirement planning and the options available under the plan
  • Determine their unique investment objectives, tolerance for risk, and time horizon
  • Recommend an asset allocation model suited to their personal needs or goals, based on the investment options available under your plan

Vendor Search & Plan Benchmarking

With us as your partner, you can choose from a virtually unlimited universe of providers—free from proprietary vendor or product pressures and conflicts of interest. We will help you select the provider that most appropriately fits the specific needs of your firm and your participants.

Managing vendor due diligence

Our customized Request for Proposal (RFP) process includes:

  • Gathering data and pricing
  • Analyzing costs, services, and investment choices
  • Facilitating finalist meetings

Ongoing monitoring

Once your plan is in place, you can expect:

  • Monitoring of participation levels and performance
  • Fee benchmarking and analysis against other vendors and plans
  • Guidance on areas of improvement

Plan Design

We take the time to understand your objectives and design a retirement plan program that provides your employees with the greatest value and, to the extent possible, reduces your administrative responsibilities.

Specific areas we focus on include:

  • Employer contribution strategies
  • Evaluation of qualification and eligibility issues
  • Compliance with legislative changes
  • Support services to help simplify plan administration
  • Optimal use of safe harbors, such as 404(c) and QDIA

Investment Expertise

As your experienced partner, we will help you establish an investment strategy that fits the distinct needs of your firm and your employees. Our investment process includes:

  • Investment Policy Statement

    We assist you in developing an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that sets guidelines for making investment decisions.

  • Investment Selection

    It's important to construct a well-balanced investment lineup that offers broad diversification across asset classes. We make investment recommendations based on a rigorous quantitative and qualitative evaluation process.

  • Continual Monitoring

    We conduct periodic investment reviews to check that performance and expenses remain consistent with plan objectives.

Why We're Different

Stonebridge Financial Group is:

  • Independent of all service providers.
  • Able to deal with virtually any service provider available to your company.
  • Capable of servicing your current retirement plan programs if you want to retain your product provider but replace your current broker with our services.

Stonebridge Financial Group works exclusively for our clients. Many of our clients find they can upgrade the performance of their plan, without the trouble of changing providers. They simply add our services to improve investments, assist employees and manage fiduciary risks.

Others find they have outgrown their current provider. When that happens, we will conduct a comprehensive market search using specific technology, and then apply our decades of experience to assure the right fit for you. After narrowing the field, we coordinate presentations from the best available. Having us on your side makes the search process much easier, as we make sure you get the straight story about the limitations of potential providers as well as their strengths.

You can engage STONEBRIDGE FINANCIAL GROUP in three ways:

  • Pay us a fee

    As investment advisory representatives, we can work on a fee for service basis.

  • Replace your current broker

    Often the compensation already embedded in your 401(k) investments is sufficient to pay for our services with no increase in costs to you. Some plan sponsors are not aware that commissions are being paid to a broker or agent because they are receiving little to no service in return.

  • Change 401(k) providers

    And appoint us as your representative in the process.

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