Over a year ago my father passed on. Following his passing my mother inherited his 401k. She did…read morenot know much about it and lets me manage it. But unfortunately I wasn't 100% on what we had. I felt overwhelmed. I figured I needed some additional help on what to do. I approached Martin at Woodfield Financial Advisors. He broke it down and told me what needed to be done in easy to understand steps. Martin gave me the advice and confidence I needed to fully understand what I needed to go forward.

During 40 years of total association and trust with WFA associates, I have never been disappointed…read morein any of their decisions through all of the various market fluctuations. The best in my book.

I found the team at Guidant in Palatine to be extremely helpful after my husband's death, as I was…read morefaced with transferring, updating & investing our finances & retirement accounts. They spent countless hours investigating for me, meeting with me, speaking with my investment companies to complete all the necessary actions required. I felt like they were family/ They took the time to explain their investment strategies, etc to educate me. They charged me NO fees for any of these hours, the only fees involved are for the investments they make. I highly recommend this group to anyone needing investment assistance.

Fidelity has focused more recently on creating in-person branches closer to where there customers…read moreare: this location serves the greater Western Chicago Suburbs (Schaumburg area). Walking in, it reminded me of a small bank: a queue of people waiting in line, really young staff helping them, when there is nobody in line, nobody at all manning the greeting area at certain times Waiting in a queue to just check in for a scheduled appointment and not having a dedicated greeter directing traffic for people walking in: two things that your neighborhood bank would do better than here. For a company like Fidelity, it just felt really off..rather cheap. We had a scheduled appointment, and got to walk back through locked doors and there is a large area of offices and conference rooms and that was fine. The prospective meeting was beneficial and we learned that Fidelity (at least in the Chicago area) is now being very clear about providing personal support: only if choose to use them to actively manage your assets (paying a percent of assets as commission). Perfectly fair, and something that probably has to be done to be competitive with other financial compaies.

New location is very nice. Preferred parking is available as well…read more Always amazing excellent service provided at this location. Advisors are always quick to check you in for appointments with your own portfolio advisor and to help with pick up/drop off items.

Deceptive Practice I…read morereceived an invitation to attend a retirement seminar / dinner. (I've received many in the past.) I replied SAME DAY and was told that they were full. The sales rep then tried to switch me into moving my accounts to them. Not so much as a presentation or fulfillment of an invitation. Why would I trust them? And why would anyone else?

Working with Lisa, Terry, & Nicole is such a pleasure! Such a cohesive team and they are always…read moretimely in addressing my needs. They are completely transparent as well, they make me feel like I'm a part of the family.

The Horner Group is trying to escape its horrible reputation by changing its name to Lakeshore…read moreCapital Group. Beware!! Our experience with them has been awful and they are terrible fiduciaries. Don't let them do your taxes either!

It's tax time once again. My wife's uncle, a CPA, did it for us for free for the past decade, but…read morehas now retired and left us to figure it out for ourselves. So I looked at my options. 1. Get one of those "EasyTax" software programs for $30-$40 and try doing it myself but missing key deductions or entering something wrong and misstating my taxable income. That route will only lead to scandal, fraud, significant fines, financial ruin and ultimately land me as Bernie Madoff's cell mate. Even my kids will be too ashamed to visit daddy in jail. 2. Get it done online with H&R Blockhead, but filing it electronically and having the "Signature Service" with a professional review will cost me $80. Should it cost so much if I still do it myself and some faceless individual spends 5 minutes rubber-stamping it? 3. Have Horner Tax Advisory Group do it for $49 and know that a real person did it correctly, thus averting a potential fraud investigation caused by my own financial ignorance. It was a no-brainer for me. Located about 2 miles west of Arlington Racetrack in an office park off of Hicks Road & Euclid, this is a good place to know about. I think most of their clientele may be wealthier individuals with more complex returns than a regular guy like me with no extraordinary portfolios or investments to untangle each year. Their waiting area has pebble-studded waterfalls trickling down in a relaxing way as I pondered my net worth and taxable income for the past year. The background music is a selection of 60s and 70s classic rock tunes, indicating the average age of the people coming here. I didn't have to wait long, as I got called into a private office. I met one of their accountants for a brief interview about my financial situation. He looked over my paperwork I collected with my W-2's, bank interest , IRA statements and property taxes paid, plus all the other bits and receipts I had compiled for 2008. In about 20 minutes, he sorted out the things he needed and gave me back the rest. I signed a paper allowing them to file it electronically and set up an appointment for the return visit. Roughly 1-1/2 weeks later I returned and this time I got to meet Randy Horner, the president of the firm. He took the time to go over my tax return line by line and explained how he came up with the numbers. Then he went over my Illinois return as well. It all made sense to me. I was enlightened. The heavens opened up and I saw a vision of President Barack Obama, IL governor Pat Quinn and Uncle Sam dancing in delight and clapping their hands in approval that I made the right choice and would be getting well over $2500 coming back to me. With the stroke of a pen, I authorized the direct deposit and I was on my way. So what's your choice going to be, folks?

Been with the Wintrust network of banks for a few years now. I started in Chicago with Wintrust and…read morethen floated my accounts over to Palatine Bank & Trust. This isn't really the banks fault as much as it's a corporate issue / computer structure issue. Whenever I want to transact business inside I have to get Northshore Bank paperwork filled out. It adds on a minute or two of bureaucracy. I could open new and local accounts but it's a very hard task to do with direct deposit from the government. Changing government direct deposit is beyond a headache and beyond bureaucracy clogged. So I just keep using my accounts as extended network. The bankers at PB&T don't care. The PB&T bankers are some of the best people in the community. They are an always welcoming and friendly staff and always engage in the community, even if that engagement is something as simple as letting someone with anxieties about the COVID pandemic talk it out for a few minutes over the bureaucracy of a transaction. There's banks I've been to that have personnel who are cold, unwilling to talk and just want to get business done and shove the next person up to the window. There's banks that have gotten so impersonal that you walk in stick your card in a reader punch your PIN and then the "teller" gives you your money or deposits things. I won't mention the competitor name but they're a national big box bank and frankly I feel like ALL of the big box banks have gotten to a point of fully objectifying clients and treating them like nothing more than walking bags of money to transact with. PB&T some of the bankers recognize me when I walk in and greet me, other times I meet a new banker and make a new connection. But those connections only become stronger. PB&T is truly a bank that makes every effort to connect with clients, support them and overall be a friend to the client rather than just a bank. I can't say this about any other bank, historically Harris Bank pre merger had this kind of connection but since the merge they too have gone to big box bank psychology. There are few banks in the world that a person can comfortably say one of my friends happens to be my bank branch. This is one of them. I strongly recommend you move to PB&T if you are banking elsewhere. Not only is PB&T a truly client oriented bank but the entire Wintrust network puts the client first. I had an overdraft happen, I fixed it the same day and they didn't charge me a dime. I had an overdraft happen at my previous bank fixed it the same day and still got charged $45 AND got told I couldn't get a reversal done even though I fixed it the day of the overdraft. I could go on and on with reasons for you to bank with PB&T but I think the best way for you to see the bank in action is to drop in and see for yourself.

I have been a customer at this bank for at least 15 years. The personal service is the best.read more

Excellent staff, very knowledgable and dependable. Very patient to answer my questions and concerns.read more

Be aware that Tom Flowers is an insurance salesman motivated by commission sales, not a financial…read moreplanner or a fiduciary as he represented himself to us to be. Therefore, there is a conflict of interest in that his interest is earning the highest commissions regardless of whether the product he is selling the customer is best for them. We were "sold" complex annuities that were not at all in our best interest, costing us tens of thousands of dollars. Also be aware that there is a high fee (minimum 1.5%) for assets under management for relatively poor performance, high expense ration funds and no tax guidance. That fee was misrepresented to us as well. We were advised brokerage firms like Vanguard had a variety of "hidden fees" yet refused to detail what those "hidden fees" actually were. We were also "guaranteed" the fee for tax preparation would be $79 per year provided we were customers of the firm, yet that also was a misrepresentation. After it became apparent we were not "buying" the bs anymore, we never heard from them again. Don't let the "treating you like family" allow you to drop your guard and trust them because they are not at all trustworthy.

I had to come into this branch to drop off a form, and I was surprised that it's part of a business…read morepark building where the guard makes you sign in first. But when I told him where I was going, he was pretty nice about it and didn't make me fill out my car license plate number (which I didn't know off the top of my head and would have had to have gone back outside to go get it off my car). It's probably mostly required for people who are visiting the entire day, not for someone be like me who was only popping in and out for a few minutes, so I just signed my name and time of arrival. I didn't have any issues finding guest parking in the very full lot, so don't know if I was just lucky that day or what. The guard was surprised when he asked if I had difficulty finding guest parking, and I said I didn't. The receptionist at the Schwab front desk was really nice and reviewed my form after taking it from me, to make sure everything was filled out okay. She told me they would send it on to Operations that day and I should hear back in a few days, and if not, then I could follow up by calling the number she gave me on their business card. I liked how there were bowls of candy laid out, but I was too embarrassed of looking like a piggy at 9:30 in the morning, so I didn't take any. :/

Had an account in Barrington, IL was switched to Schaumburg, IL with my knowledge. Quarter meeting…read morewas always a battle because, my work finish time is 5pm, advisor and Schaumburg office account person was complaining about out 5:15 pm 30 minute phone call. Numerous last minute schedule changes due to family issues...Do they want to be advisors to my schedule or not??? Sick and tired of this whining bunch of so called advisors. Oh, and by the way, having so many "accounts" with little growth even though the market had been breaking records. So long Schwab, and hello to another group.

Howard and his staff have been our go to accounting firm for longer than I want to admit -- but we…read morewill always use them for their knowledge, straight-forward no-nonsense approach, and friendly family atmosphere.

I have worked with Howard Kaufman for over 10 years, initially as an administrative contact in the…read morearea of a business corporate financial association with him as our corporate CPA and later, as I began to realize his broad experience in the financial arena, appointed him as my personal financial advisor, as well. I have the greatest confidence in Howard and his expertise in this area. There had been times in past years when I had been afraid to open any quarterly or annual reports on my holdings and with his guidance and suggestions I no longer have that fear. I have 100% confidence in his handling of my accounts and recommend him very highly. Sue Larsen Mt. Prospect, IL