Zoe Financial Review – Professional Wealth Management Services

Zoe Financial is a wealth management matching service founded by chartered financial analyst (CFA) Andres Garcia-Amaya. 

The best way to describe the company’s service is to compare it to Angi (formerly Angie’s List), but instead of finding plumbers and roofers, the company specializes in matching you with financial planning solutions. 

Zoe Financial was founded in 2018, headquartered in New York City. Although relatively new to the financial planning stage, it hit the ground running. Today, the company matches consumers with more than 2,000 professionals when they need financial advice. 

How Zoe Financial Stacks Up

Zoe Financial is unique in that it’s a financial services matchmaker — an advisor network if you will — rather than a company that provides financial services itself. Facet Wealth is the company’s closest competitor because it has a network of advisors, but it’s different in that it allows for services in-house. Here’s how the two stack up. 

Key Features of Zoe Financial

Zoe Financial is a great option if you’re looking for a certified financial professional to help build and maintain your financial stability. The company offers a wide range of features to help you find the right expert. 

Accredited Financial Advisors

All financial advisors in the Zoe Network act as fiduciaries and don’t accept commissions. That means these experts act in your best interest at all times and cannot be persuaded to sell you products you don’t need in exchange for a kickback on the sale price. 

Every advisor and advisory firm in the network has and maintains one of the following certifications:

• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). CFA’s are investment experts that offer analysis and investment portfolio management services. 
• Certified Financial Planner (CFP). CFPs can help in all areas of finance from investing to tax planning to estate planning. 
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA). CPAs are tax professionals who can help with tax planning, maintenance, and filing. 
• Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). RIAs help with all areas of investing. 

No matter which expert you find through Zoe Financial, you can rest assured their credentials are accurate and up to date. 

World-Class Vetting Process

Not all experts are equal. There are better CFAs, CFPs, CPAs, and RIAs than others. The professional you decide to work with can make a significant difference in your financial well-being. 

The Zoe Network is unique in that financial professionals can’t pay for advertising or placement on the company’s website. Instead, each expert is vetted through a world-class vetting process — one that Zoe Financial says only about 5% of finance professionals are capable of completing. 

All experts must go through the same process whether they’re independent advisors or professionals working for advisory firms. When you use Zoe to find an advisor, you can rest assured you’re in some of the most capable hands available. 

All Areas of Finance Covered

Zoe financial advisors are either general experts or experts in specific areas of personal finance and investing. No matter what you need help with, there’s likely a pro waiting to assist you with your financial situation. 

The company emphasizes the following financial services in its onboarding process:

• Retirement Planning. Find out how much money you need for a comfortable retirement and what you need to do to make it possible. 
• Home Purchase. Are you ready to buy a new home? Zoe advisors can help you through the process of deciding what you can afford. 
• Taxes. The tax code is complex, but the financial advisors on the platform know it like the backs of their hands. 
• Family Planning. Are you planning on having children? Talk to the pros to learn about the financial implications of that decision and how to prepare for them. 
• Investments. Make sure your investment portfolio is balanced and on target to help you reach your goals. 
• Financial Windfall. Did you win the lottery, settle a lawsuit, or claim a large inheritance? If so, Zoe financial advisors are happy to help you learn how to put your windfall to good use. 

Simple Onboarding Process

The onboarding process at Zoe Financial is as easy as it gets. Start by clicking the “Find My Advisor” button on the home page and answering the following questions:

• What Do You Need Help With? Click on your areas of interest — retirement planning, home purchase, taxes, family planning, investments, and financial windfall. 
• What’s Your ZIP Code? Enter your ZIP code to help Zoe Financial match you with an advisor nearby. 
• What’s Your Occupation? Choose your line of work from the dropdown menu. If you can’t find your occupation, click “Other” and type it in. 
• What’s Your Annual Household Income? Slide the bar to your annual household income. 
• What Kind of Assets Do You Own? Click the icon for each type of asset you own. Zoe Financial will then ask you to describe how much of each asset you have. 
• What Is Your Contact Information? Fill in your contact information including your name, phone number, and email address. 

Once you’ve answered the questions above, Zoe Financial will show you the advisor profiles for the experts it believes are your best matches. Simply comb through the profiles and decide which advisor you want to work with. 

Educational Materials

We value financial education — it’s what we’re all about. Most companies that assist you in finding a financial advisor leave the education side of things up to the advisor, but Zoe Financial goes one major step further. 

The company offers a comprehensive educational section on its website that features articles, blogs, white papers, infographics, and videos. They’re all aimed at teaching you how to manage your own finances and when you should bring an advisor on board to help. 

Security

Any time you work with a financial service provider, it’s important to consider security. You don’t want a hacker getting hold of your sensitive financial information. 

Zoefin.com, Zoe Financial’s website, is secured with SSL encryption. That means data is encrypted when it’s transferred between the website and your computer. Even if a hacker were able to intercept the transmission of that data, they wouldn’t be able to read it. 

Advantages of Zoe Financial

Zoe Financial doesn’t provide financial advisory services on its own, which comes with some perks when compared to shopping advisory firms directly. Some of the biggest advantages to working with Zoe include:

• Free to Use. Zoe doesn’t charge you a penny for using its services to find an advisor. Instead, the company makes its money by charging advisors referral fees when you find their services through the Zoe Financial website. 
• World-Class Vetting Process. Zoe advisors have up-to-date credentials, but even that’s not enough to guarantee a spot on the platform. The company puts every service provider through a vetting process and, according to Zoe, only about 5% of advisors complete the process successfully. That means you get the best of the best. 
• Simple Onboarding. Getting started is as easy as answering a few questions about your needs and your assets. The entire process took me under three minutes. 
• Education Focused. The company has robust educational materials in multiple formats, making learning about managing your finances a breeze. 
• No In-House Services. Zoe doesn’t provide its own financial advisory services. It has no need to sell you on one advisor over another. Instead, its focus is more that of a fiduciary. The company matches you with specific professionals that shine in the areas of service you need most. 

Disadvantages of Zoe Financial

There are plenty of reasons to consider searching for a financial expert through Zoe, but the company’s not perfect; no company is. Some of the biggest disadvantages to using the company’s advisor search include:

• High Minimums. You must have at least $100,000 in investable assets or earn $75,000 per year to qualify for services. The average American earns about $56,000 per year and has a total of around $41,000 in savings and other account balances. Meeting the $100,000 in investable assets or $75,000 minimum salary requirement may be a challenge for many.  
• No Clear Fee Structure. The downside to finding an advisor with a company that doesn’t provide advisory services is that it’s difficult to get a clear picture of the fees you might pay. Each advisor on the platform has its own fee structure, which can vary widely from one to the next. You won’t know what you’ll pay until you find your advisor.  
• Onboarding Information. You have to provide some information before you can search through Zoe advisors, including your name, email address, income, and assets. Some users may find the requirement to enter sensitive information before they can compare advisors offputting. 

Final Word

Zoe Financial is a compelling service that shines in many respects. If you’re looking for complete asset management services including tax planning, retirement planning, or estate planning, the company can match you with the perfect service provider pretty quickly. 

However, overall financial planning services can be quite expensive and may not be the right choice for you. 

If you’re just looking for early-stage investment management, consider working with a robo-advisor. Platforms like Betterment and Acorns use a mix of information you provide and algorithms to manage your investment portfolio for you. These platforms are completely hands-off and inexpensive.