We're glad we connected with Faruk. His knowledge and insights have been very helpful and informative. He's patient and takes the time to understand you and your financial situation before presenting recommendations. We would definitely recommend Faruk to anyone interested in planning for their financial future. read more

Faruk was a pleasure to work with! As we wanted to plan further for our future, our goal was to identify areas where we are doing well and can improve upon. From the start, Faruk was personable and clear in communicating his services along with having a genuine interest in what our expectations were from this exercise. Fast forward a month, we have gained invaluable clarity and actionable next steps for our finances. Today, we still reference learnings and information shared by Faruk to help influence any financial decisions we may or will make. 100% would recommend Faruk to any family looking to understand their finances. read more

Faruk is a fantastic guy. I feel very fortunate to have crossed paths with him. He has been great at setting up our investments to be positioned well, even when the market is volatile. He has consistently grown my investments since working with him (not by single digit percentages either). He is very attentive and always takes the time to explain goals/positions clearly. Faruk is also very friendly, approachable, and genuinely cares about my financial goals. I trust his judgment and appreciate his proactive approach. I highly recommend him! read more

Faruk was very personable and sincere and it was truly a pleasure working with him! His data gathering process was very insightful and detailed. The result was a solid financial plan, giving a complete picture from now through our retirement years, with detailed worksheets on projected income, expenses and cashflow and the target rates of return. Faruk was very generous with his time and knowledge as he walked us through the plan, always available to answer questions and go over what-if scenarios. He shared lots of useful tips and information which we would have completely missed out on otherwise. Working with Faruk has provided us with a forward-looking perspective, so we can now have a more informed and targeted approach to investing and also a plan to track our progress. We came away from the whole experience feeling positive and much more confident. We will definitely stay in touch with Faruk for any planning/managed investing services that we may need in the future. read more

Had a great experience with Faruk. He is knowledgeable, empathetic and listens keenly to our needs and concerns. The plan is specific to our lives and our individual goals and we always felt we were in good hands. read more

Faruk really helped us see a path to retirement. He listened to our needs and personalized a plan to help us achieve our goals. We feel much more confident about our financial future after working with Faruk, we highly recommend him! read more

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I waited far too long to work with a CFP, but my increasingly strong desire to retire a bit early forced me to start. At first, I tried to contact someone recommended by a coworker/friend, but this recommended advisor never returned my call. That's kismet, folks, because that's when I turned to reviews in my community, and that's how I found Faruk. Who am I to argue with the universe, especially when it turns out Faruk is absolutely the correct choice for me? Faruk is well-credentialed, with an impressive track record and an incredibly kind soul. I am usually very uncomfortable discussing my finances with anyone, much less someone who is an expert with money, as I'm pretty sure my money habits could use some serious tweaking. Faruk put me at ease, by first telling me about himself - even personal things, like learning the piano, or painting - and established rapport and common ground for a friendly, respectful and trust-based business relationship. His analysis of my retirement portfolio, along with my lifestyle and goals, was thorough and insightful, and gave me the confidence I so badly needed to pull the trigger on my retirement. I've decided to have Faruk also manage my funds as I make the (now educated) leap into my retirement future. This future includes starting a small business, and Faruk has provided me resources for that, as well. I'm very happy to have met Faruk, and I'm looking forward to working with him! He's taken a great load off my shoulders. I highly recommend you reach out to him! read more

Currently working with Faruk and appreciating his expertise, thoroughness and patience,

Faruk is absolutely the best! He is extremely knowledgeable about money management and retirement planning but when we needed services outside of his expertise he also gave great recommendations and referrals He goes out of his way to make sure that his clients are well taken care of. When we had a time sensitive deadline to meet, he even met with us after work hours to make sure we were making a good financial decision. If you're looking for an honest, down to earth financial planner then look no further. read more

Faruk is a great listener and is diligent in his follow up. He exceeded our expectations and made us feel comfortable, even though we gave him our entire financial situation. He did not offer to sell us anything and was generous with his time. read more

Faruk did an excellent and detailed job designing my financial plan and answering all my concerns. More importantly I was confident that I could trust him which can be challenging to find in the financial industry. read more

I'm in late my late 40's and *finally* sought out a financial planner to help me make the most of my remaining earning years. I found Faruk on Yelp. It was kind of scary sharing my private info with a stranger, but I checked out Faruk's background and he's legit. He also used a third-party app to sync/analyze my accounts, which gave me an extra feeling of security. Purchasing a financial plan was worth the cost. It freed up head space worrying about whether I can afford to retire. It's worth paying for a financial plan to take the mystery out of your financial future. A financial plan gave me a sense of control, a plan to achieve my goals, and peace of mind. I chose Faruk because he is independent (fee-based) with no institutional conflicts of interest. When we met via videoconference, he gave me 100% of his attention. He was very down-to-earth, took the time to listen and get to know me, and seemed genuinely excited about helping me achieve my financial goals. One tip... I requested a budget as part of my financial plan. If you are looking for that too and you bank with a small credit union (or maybe any credit union), I recommend documenting your own spending (create a monthly spending history if you will) and sharing that with Faruk. The third-party app did a great job crunching my "big bank" credit card spending, but not my small credit union checking account spending. Better data in = better data out. read more

My husband talked me into working with a financial planner and I'm glad he did. We have been managing and planning for the future on our own and I relied heavily on my husbands advice for investments and how to do a 401(k). While I manage to pay my bills on time I have never been good at planning ahead and never really put much thought into retirement. Admittedly, I'm not as financially savvy as I probably should be at my age. We set an appointment with Faruk and he really got to know us. At our initial meeting he set clear expectations about what to expect about the process. He asked some very good questions to really get to know what our goals are and to know us and our situation. This made me feel that he really wanted to understand who we are so that the plan would work for our mindset and lifestyle. There was a lot of collaboration and I was always comfortable asking questions when I didn't understand something. Faruk checked in regularly to make sure we were good with his approach and level of service (which by the way was very thorough and he was very responsive). Faruk provided us some valuable suggestions on how to improve and really get the most bang for our buck when investing or even something as simple as starting a 529 for our boys. He even provided us with an alternate scenario if we just tweaked a couple of areas to show how much more we would benefit from some small changes. Overall I am happy with the experience and would highly recommend his services to anyone. Even if you think you have a good handle on your finances it's worth it to get a fresh set of eyes on how you are doing and working towards your financial goals. You could learn something new just as we did. read more

Faruk is extremely knowledgeable and works with you on creating a financial plan and investment strategy that aligns with your goals. His advice and recommendations have proven positive and I wish I started with him sooner. Having struggled with numerous other planners and losing money over the years, I knew it was time to seek out someone who truly understands the value of investing in various asset types, while being understanding and open to ideas and working as a team. This is where Faruk shines and goes above and beyond to get results, while keeping the end goal in mind. Thanks Faruk and the Index Gurus team, excited about a long and prosperous relationship, Harprit read more

We are so happy we came across Faruk and Index Gurus, as he totally delivered on our financial plan needs. From the get-go, he was warm and straight-forward about what to expect, and worked to get to know us and understand our background, motivations, goals, and wishlists. We appreciate how thorough his information gathering sessions and online portal questionnaires were to ensure the most tailored and accommodating financial plan recommendations. He was always available to answer questions throughout this process. Faruk then delivered an actionable and understandable financial plan, explaining his reasonings and answering our various sets of questions both live and after the fact. You'll be in great hands with Faruk - definitely plan to partner with him for future needs! read more

Do you think that financial advisors are only for the wealthy? Think again! Faruk owns and runs Index Gurus, and he is here to advise customers of all financial levels and ages. He is kind, patient, and generous with his time. You can hire Faruk to take care of your investments long term, or instead for a one time fee where he will examine your entire financial portfolio and help you achieve your long term goal (retirement, purchasing a home, etc). This is what we did, and we are extremely grateful to him for all the advice he has given us. He in fact went above and beyond our agreement and helped us purchase our house without a realtor and did not ask for anything in return. Fantastic! read more

My wife and I are a mid/late 30s couple with a goal of retiring early. I fancy myself somewhat of a numbers guy and I've always been a planner and a saver and up until this point have been handling retirement planning on my own with various free online resources, etc. All the calculators I used indicated we were in good shape, but I still worried there were things that I was missing. As our incomes grew and we maxed out our 401(k) contributions I wondered if we were doing enough to support the lifestyle and duration of retirement we wanted. The problem with calculators is they're also one-size-fits-all and as we are getting older and the amount of runway we have left to accumulate wealth is getting shorter, I wanted a professional second set of eyes. We came across Faruk thanks to the stellar reviews on Yelp. I poked around at other financial planners in the Contra Costa area and along with the excellent reviews, Faruk's fee was one of the most reasonable. Many planners don't have that level of transparency on their website and that always gives me pause when a service-oriented business doesn't have transparent pricing. In terms of working with Faruk, it was a very comfortable process. I'm not sure if this is a result of the pandemic, but everything was done via e-mail or video conference. This was very convenient as Faruk always worked around our schedule and we were able to get stuff done without having to deal with heading out somewhere, which was especially appreciated as parents of a toddler. Faruk always responded to our e-mails quickly. Faruk is thoughtful and thorough in his questions, which gave confidence that our bases were covered. At the end of the day, Faruk did essentially confirm that the things we were already doing were indeed going to get us where we wanted to go, which was a relief on it's own and our primary objective. He didn't stop there though, he showed us what else we could accomplish with a couple of small tweaks to have an even more comfortable retirement and a bigger budget for traveling, ability to support others, and emergency funds, etc. He also helped us factor in things we hadn't considered such as what the cost of healthcare looks like in retirement and aspects of our estate planning we missed such as how to deal minimize probate impacts, etc. Basically he helped us figure out how we could have our "nice to have, but not need to have" in retirement. He also had some helpful suggestions on alternative brokerages versus the ones I was using for our taxable account and 529 plans to save on expenses. Throughout the process Faruk constantly checked in to make sure he was addressing our needs and concerns. I'm the type of person that wouldn't complain/speak up at a restaurant if my order was messed up (unless it was really bad), so his openness and constant reinforcement of being there for us made us feel comfortable to ask questions regardless if we thought they were dumb questions or couldn't quite articulate it properly he walked us through it. While I have no other financial planner experience to compare against, I would not hesitate to recommend Faruk to help with retirement planning. In fact I wish I had done so sooner because I think we'd be in an even better position today. Thank you Faruk! read more

My wife and I were looking for someone independent to do a review of our overall financial health and retirement plan. We are about 15 years from retirement and wanted to make sure we were on track. Faruk was able to interview us and then analyze the data we loaded into his analysis tool. We ran into a hiccup based on a problem with his software which caused a bit of worry, but he very quickly acknowledged the problem and committed to resolving it and re-presenting our recommendations. In addition, he went the extra mile by speaking directly with my wife's benefits office to fully understand her complex retirement benefits and present a few different timing scenarios. Faruk did all the right things to get us the data we were looking for and we can strongly recommend his services. read more

Wow. Where do I start!? I hired Faruk to do a broad overview of our financial planning and what areas we could tweak. He made several awesome suggestions that will benefit us tremendously in the long run. His follow through is wonderful and I appreciate him always being punctual. Thank you so much, and appreciate all you did for us. read more

Faruk @ Indexgurus has been my financial advisor for over 5 years and he's been fantastic. He's always available for questions and takes the time to make sure that my financial portfolio is well positioned for success. I highly recommend Faruk Jaffer for your financial planning and management. read more

Going with Faruk with Index Gurus will guarantee you a thorough and comprehensive service for your financial planning needs. I went from completely confused to a solid working idea of what I needed and what was available to me to comfortably plan my retirement and future large purchases. The other reviews on this site will also lend testament to Faruk's excellent advertised service. What I'd like to focus on is Faruk's aftercare mentality-he doesn't leave you hanging and lost and he's committed to the continuing financial health of his clients. Just days after we completed our service agreement, my employer suddenly dropped a contract change upon my inbox and I had absolutely no background to navigate the new terms and conditions. Faruk guided me through that black box of mystery and helped me understand the nuances of what was being changed, as well as advice on how to navigate that minefield. He responded to last minute desperate calls and late night emails (contract had a ridiculous timeline) and through it all, he was the voice of reason and perspective. It is that care and commitment that makes his service outstanding. I think any CFP worth their salt will give you good guidance for future planning, what makes Index Guru distinct is Faruk's genuine care that his clients succeed in all financial aspects. read more

I started working with Faruk in September 2020 for my retirement planning and investments. I find him very knowledgeable, has good interactive software, and always wanting to ensure my retirement goals are met. We went through 2 to 3 iterations till we got the plan which worked for me. He ensured that my goals are met by showing what is possible and what is not. He worked patiently with me till the plan was finalized. I would highly recommend Faruk for both retirement planning and investment work. read more

With retirement 2-3 years away (hopefully!) I wanted to find a financial planner versus using my 401(k)'s managed service because I didn't feel I was getting the personal service with the managed service. I had heard a fee-based financial planner was the way to go, and it made sense - if your portfolio increases, so does their fee, and vice versa. So, they are more interested in you making money than selling you a product and getting a commission which was how it was with the first financial planner I chose. I normally wouldn't look for something as important as a financial planner on Yelp (a restaurant, yes, but a financial planner??), but after reading Faruk's reviews and checking out his credentials, I was impressed. We talked after the first of the year and he told me what he could do for me. I decided to give him a go and I'm glad I did. I've been pleased with the results I'm getting, even in what's been a volatile market. I'm not the type of person who can just turn everything over to someone and say "go at it." I want to be involved and understand my investments. Faruk is a good communicator and he's very bright. He makes himself available, responds to emails promptly (big plus), is not pushy (another big plus), makes good recommendations and explains things so that I can understand them (I'm at the remedial level when it comes to investing). And in addition to all of this, he's a really nice guy. I always look forward to our check-ins. I'm not a millionaire, my portfolio is probably "modest" at best, but he gives me the kind of attention I feel I'd be getting if I had millions - if I could give him 6 stars I would. Having a financial planner you trust with your all-important retirement assets is invaluable at any age, and I highly recommend Faruk. read more

I had a positive experience working with Faruk. I wanted to ensure I had my finances in order, particularly around retirement and saving for a home purchase. I decided to work with Faruk b/c he has a strong educational background, many years of financial planning experience, and he is professional and a great listener (which was clear from our first meeting/consultation). I was pleased with the financial report that he created - it is very thorough - and the recommendations and scenarios he presented were realistic. I think what stood out to me is that he really cares about your success and what makes you happy and genuinely wants to help you. He is generous with his time and knowledge and he's also very responsive via email. I'm glad I worked with Faruk b/c he helped me see where I currently am financially and what steps I can realistically take to reach my financial goals. The one unexpected benefit is that getting my finances in order has helped me gain a bit more confidence and now I'm ready to work on and improve other aspects of my personal & professional life. Thank you Faruk! read more

Like a lot of people who work in health care these days, I have been considering retiring early-very early. I consider myself an informed investor/saver but I didn't just want to assume that I have enough to retire on. I needed a plan. There are a lot of financial analysts in the bay area to choose from. What I didn't want is someone who was going to hard sell me on a new investment. Faruk delivered exactly what I needed. He provided me a very comprehensive plan (98 pages worth!) based on my financial specifics. His findings have given me the confidence to retire early and sleep well. Faruk is a very sharp guy and also a super nice person. Highly recommended. read more

I was looking for a financial advisor for a while and came across Faruk from Index Gurus and Im so glad I went with him. He is a very personable person, passionate about his work, great follow through and did a really good job explaining finance jargon especially regarding stocks, ESPP and RSUs. Not only is he great in the financial world but he also has a lot of other resources that can help or assist in any other goals. Im glad I have him in my corner as I navigate through life. read more

Faruk was everything other Yelp reviewers promised. He is both personable and knowledgeable. He took the time to understand my personal situation and recommend strategies that aligned with my goals. He especially differentiated himself from other financial planners but going the extra mile with his concrete suggestions. I would highly recommend him to anyone who wants some outside help with a financial plan/check-up. read more

We were looking for unbiased and independent review of and advice on retirement planning and after some research and an initial phone call felt that Faruk/Index Gurus would be ideal for our needs and decided to consult them. We were not wrong - Faruk was thorough, insightful, knowledgeable, friendly and took the time to understand out needs and concerns and then come back with a very detailed plan, recommendations and analysis of multiple different scenarios that exceeded our expectations. In addition, he provided useful insights into investing for a better future and estate planning. Thanks to Faruk we are more confident of and have a better roadmap for our retirement. We definitely recommend Index Gurus for retirement planning and financial matters. read more

After finding Index Gurus through universally great reviews on both Google and Yelp, I thought it appropriate to add my thoughts. As my husband and I are getting ready for a move to another country, we thought it wise to seek out a CFP to help ensure that our own assumptions about our financial picture were sound. Not only did Faruk confirm what we thought, but presented findings in a clear, easy to understand manner. On top of that, Faruk takes the time to talk through any questions or concerns that we have without making us feel as uneducated about this things as we are. After this experience we planning on engaging Index Gurus to help manage our portfolio. Highly recommended! read more

I've been an Index Gurus customer since 2006. The service is great and the advice I've received has been top-notch. The quarterly management fee is extremely reasonable. The performance of my investment portfolio has improved greatly since moving to Index Gurus. I highly recommend Faruk. read more

Faruk is an excellent financial advisor. He is smart, levelheaded and sincere. I absolutely love how he puts his client's interest first and provides customized advice. He is not pushy and doesn't try any unnecessary gimmicks. He is knowledgeable and uses a long-term sustainable approach towards investing. I feel that I'm in safe hands with Faruk. Strongly recommended! read more

I reached out to Index Gurus regarding tax implications when exercising and selling incentive stock options. Faruk scheduled a call with me immediately. He was able to provide me with sound advice and answered all the questions I had. I will definitely go back and highly recommend them. read more

My spouse and hired Faruk to review our finances to help solidify a plan for retirement, as well as to recommend changes in our portfolio. My spouse also owns his company so we were looking to see if there were things we could do for costs savings there. Faruk took the time to meet with us to understand our goals as well as answer many questions we had to start. He then took a very comprehensive look at our assets and income and asked clarifying questions along the way. Ultimately he came up with a few suggestions to maximize our savings as well as produced a very thorough report on our portfolio as well as a plan for retirement, ultimately running through a few scenarios. Faruk was amazing to work with. He was very professional, personable, but also very supportive and encouraging. Until we met with Faruk we didn't feel that we knew when we could retire comfortably and heard many different stories along the way. However, now that we have worked with Faruk we have a workable retirement plan with confidence on goals and timing. I would totally recommend his services, and we plan to go straight to Faruk when we have financial questions in the future or need further services. read more

After a strong recommendation from a family member who touted Faruk's breadth of knowledge and experience and pointed out he has already seen payback on the fees, decided to contact him even though we currently have an advisor. That one went from independent to selling securities so we thought best to get truly independent advice. Exceeded our expectations in his preparing a thorough plan including attention to all our goals, plans, concerns and current financial health including things like life insurance, review of best social security collection options, how to change our investment strategy, etc. So glad we did this, well worth the time and expense and look forward to an ongoing consulting arrangement. read more

Faruk is Amazing! He is reliable, a great communicator, and when the world is falling apart in the stock market, he provides the level of confidence and security that you need. He has a cool head to make sure that your emotions don't always get the best of you, and teaches you why things will be ok based on how you learn. He provides great detail on your investment strategy, and is always open to feedback,. I have also known him as a friend for many years, and he is just overall a good person with good morals, and ethics. I would recommend Faruk to anyone, and know that you have found a smart advisor, with great character. read more

Faruk is a wonderful financial adviser. He cares about your well-being -- not just financially, but your whole being. He listens to your financial concerns, goals and objectives. He has made some wise investment choices for us, based on what we feel comfortable with in terms of risk. He also helped us with our financial retirement plan, and Faruk has given us peace of mind. We wanted to retire earlier (within the next six years, but I didn't think it was possible)! He told us what we needed to do to make it possible, and the steps we need to take are feasible/reasonable. We are now on the road to early retirement, thanks to Faruk! :) read more

I have been exceptionally pleased with the way this company and especially Faruk has handled my retirement monies. I would highly recommend their services. read more

I heard about Faruk through my friend Erik below. Since subscribing to their facebook I've been able to learn more than what other financial advisers share on their social media - how many more boring articles about buying a home or saving for retirement can one read! It's nice to know that you have a financial expert like Faruk at Index Gurus who value a more critical approach to knowledge, investments, and economics in general. Highly recommended! read more

While working at my last job in technology, I had some questions about investing. Through word of mouth and friends I met with Faruk of Index Gurus. Faruk is knowledgable, approachable, and above all honest about his thoughts. He clued me into some mutual funds which were exactly the style I was looking for, value investing mutual funds. read more

I needed some help with my retirement & my tax shelters. The staff was knowledgeable and helpful but the company president Faruk insisted on seeing me through my issues. Faruk patiently listened to my situation and goals and then delivered a diverse series of options. read more