Frequently Asked Questions

Damian’s great-grandfather (Ted’s grandfather) grew up in the far reaches of northern Italy in the Valle Vigezzo at the base of the Alps. In the immediate aftermath of World War I, he embarked on a ship set for the US at the age of 16 - alone, with no knowledge of English, or a plan. As a child, Damian would get to ride on his great grandpa’s knee as he sang a nursery rhyme about a horse that would traverse the Alps in winter to supply the small, isolated villages. Years later, that tale would stick with him both as a reminder of a man that refused to give up on his dreams and a seemingly insignificant horse that enabled so many to do the same. So the short answer is Cavalot means “horse” in the local dialect around Toceno, but it represents our mission to help you discover your dreams, identify the best routes to take and provide the expertise to navigate you there.

While not as common as it used to be, financial advisors in the past were often paid on commission for the sale of products. This created a potential conflict of interest where clients were sold investments to make money rather than because it was in the their best interest. Fee-only changes that. By paying a fee for service, it aligns the client with the advisor so that the client's best interests always come first. Learn more here.

While wealth is generated in many different ways including business ownership, inheritance, prudent investing and many other avenues, we have found that there are 3 core components of managing wealth.

1. Financial Planning to Allocate Wealth
2. Investing to Grow Wealth, and
3. Tax Planning to Keep Wealth

No. While many of our clients do share one or more of these characteristics, it is not a prerequisite to engage our services. If you are looking for someone to help you solve any type of financial issue we would be glad to meet and see if we can be of help. If not, we have an extensive network of financial professionals that we would be happy to refer you to.

We have two physical locations in California: Truckee and Redding. We also operate virtually which enables us to take clients from around the country regardless of their location. Meetings are held either in-person, via web conference or phone depending on your preference.

Note that depending on your state we may not be licensed to operate in your particular area, in these instances we can often recommend another advisor that may be able to assist you.

We can only manage accounts that are held outside of your workplace - IRAs including Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE. Taxable accounts including individual, joint or trusts and custodial accounts (UGMA, UTMA) and a few other less common options. 

We are unable to manage any investments in a qualified plan, meaning no 401k, 403b, 457, ESOP, etc. We can however offer advice and recommendations on these accounts in our financial planning services, see the above graphic for more information.