Upgrade — Fiduciary Advice | Smarter Way Wealth

From the dictionary

fi·du·ci·ar·y

/fəˈd(y)ōōSHēˌerē/·noun

A person or organization legally and ethically bound to act in another’s best interest — putting the client’s needs ahead of their own.

Two standards, not one

I am a fiduciary — twice over.

I hold two independent credentials, each with its own fiduciary standard and annual ethical certification. Not one. Two.

CFA Institute

Chartered Financial Analyst

Standard: Duty of loyalty, prudence, and care. Client interests above your own.
Renewal: Annual Professional Conduct Statement
Held by David Van Osdol: Charterholder, CFA Institute

Learn more

Key principles

Act with integrity, competence, diligence, and respect.
Place the integrity of the profession and the interests of clients above your own.
Use reasonable care and exercise independent professional judgment.
Maintain and improve professional competence.

CFA Institute Code & Standards →

CFP Board

Certified Financial Planner®

Standard: Act as a fiduciary at all times when providing financial advice.
Renewal: Annual ethics attestation
Held by David Van Osdol: CFP® professional, CFP Board

Learn more

Key elements of the fiduciary duty

Duty of loyalty — place the client's interests above your own and the firm's.
Duty of care — act with the care, skill, and diligence a prudent professional would use.
Duty to follow client instructions — comply with all reasonable and lawful directions.
Disclose and manage material conflicts of interest.

CFP Board Code & Standards →

Fiduciary vs. suitability — what the two standards really mean

Legal standard
Fiduciary
Must act in the client's best interest.
Suitability
Must be "suitable" — a lower bar.
Who uses it
Fiduciary
RIAs, CFP® practitioners, CFA charterholders.
Suitability
Broker-dealers, registered representatives.
Conflicts of interest
Fiduciary
Must disclose and minimize.
Suitability
Must disclose, but can still act on them.
Compensation
Fiduciary
Transparent; fees can't drive recommendations.
Suitability
Commissions and revenue sharing are common.
Loyalty
Fiduciary
To the client, period.
Suitability
To the firm and the client — dual loyalty.
In plain English
Fiduciary
"What’s best for you?"
Suitability
"Is this good enough for you?"

Dimension	Fiduciary	Suitability
Legal standard	Must act in the client's best interest.	Must be "suitable" — a lower bar.
Who uses it	RIAs, CFP® practitioners, CFA charterholders.	Broker-dealers, registered representatives.
Conflicts of interest	Must disclose and minimize.	Must disclose, but can still act on them.
Compensation	Transparent; fees can't drive recommendations.	Commissions and revenue sharing are common.
Loyalty	To the client, period.	To the firm and the client — dual loyalty.
In plain English	"What’s best for you?"	"Is this good enough for you?"

The structural argument

Here’s what most people miss: this isn’t about bad actors.

Even ethical firms with the best intentions have this problem. When you’re overseeing thousands of advisors, you can’t let them freelance. You need structure, process, guardrails.

And even when they get it right — excellent process, fair and balanced products that should do just fine over the long run — those products are basically set it and forget it.

So if you’re paying 1% or more in fees, year after year, and getting (let’s be generous) market returns… you’re not getting ripped off. But you’re not getting value, either.

You probably don’t think of yourself as having a fiduciary duty. That’s a word for advisors and institutions.

But you do. You have a responsibility to your own financial future. And once you see the math — once you see what 1% actually costs over 20 or 30 years — the question becomes unavoidable:

Are you being a good fiduciary for your own money?

That’s why I built this practice the way I did. $100 a month. No percentage of your assets. No set-it-and-forget-it. Let me show you what the difference looks like.

See the fee difference Back to the home page

Being a fiduciary isn’t a credential on a wall. It’s a question you answer every single day — with every dollar you keep, and every dollar you don’t. Now that is adding value.