Mary has prepared my tax returns for the last three years. I am so glad to have switched to…read moresomebody I can rely on to answer my questions, who responds quickly and freely offers her encyclopedic knowledge. She is so efficient, and I have absolute confidence in her.

Mary was very helpful in working through my tax situation and provided excellent advice on how to…read moredetermine my estimated tax requirements and plan for next year's withholding. I would highly recommend her for people needing expert income tax support.

My 2017 New Years resolution is to financially plan for the future. Nicole and the Strategy Squad…read moreteam have adequately prepared me to meet my resolution head on. I had a great consultation with Nicole where I went over my goals, risks, assets, and liabilities. With this information, she was able to provide me with an excellent financial plan, including investment, debt management, and estate planning strategies. Thank you Strategy Squad!! I highly recommend Nicole to those looking to improve their finances.

From the owner: We are great at empowering women, couples, and progressive inheritors of wealth who seek to better…read morealign their money and finances with their values. We offer socially responsible investment portfolio management in partnership with Natural Investments LLC for individuals and families who care about social justice and wish to make a positive impact with their wealth -- in their families, in their communities, and in the world.

Professional and Reliable Property Management I have been…read moreworking with The Cal Agents since 2025 to manage my house rental in the Bay Area, and it has been a consistently positive experience. Key Highlights: 1. Exceptional Team: I've had the pleasure of working with Wilsen, Ahyeza, Chris, Patricia, Jana, Fiona, Nikki, and Ramiro. They are professional, attentive, and easy to collaborate with. 2. Problem Solvers: One of their greatest strengths is that they never shy away from a hard problem. Whether it's a maintenance issue or a tenant concern, they tackle it head-on with a level of responsiveness that is hard to find. 3. Trusted Partnership: When you are looking for a partner to manage an investment property, creating an empathetic and caring relationship with the tenants is the most important factor. They have proven themselves to be reliable stewards of my property. Pro-Tip for Owners: Because they manage a diverse portfolio of both condos and houses, I found that providing clear context on my specific expectations for house-level marketing and maintenance from the start created a great feedback loop. Their receptiveness to this high level of communication is exactly why our partnership works so well; it ensures everyone is aligned from day one. Overall: If you need a team that is responsive and capable of handling the complexities of the Bay Area rental market, I highly recommend The Cal Agents.

So I am in the process of finding an agent or company to rent out a family home. I put the need out…read moreon Yelp and received several responses. I spoke to one agent, then made an appointment to have calls with others. The Cal Agents called me, and in less than a minute I realized it was someone from a Philippine call center. What a slap in the face. Outsourcing is a hot button issue, and I will NEVER share personal information with someone overseas, but also: WHY? Are they too busy for a two minute call to make that connection? Introduce themselves? Answer relevant questions? And perhaps MOST CLOYING: is this the same company that employs those same call centers to make masked cold calls asking to buy our property? HARD PASS.

I foolishly transferred my wife's 401(k) at her previous job to a managed IRA at Morgan Stanley…read more Where it was--Fidelity (if I recall correctly)--her minimal contributions had grown to $40k in one of their managed accounts. Morgan Stanley managed to lose over half of it in the course of 2-3 years! I feel like a blind monkey could have done a better job picking investments. She looks to me for financial guidance, and I totally screwed her by suggesting Morgan Stanley. I still don't understand what happened and my original broker left.

This place is ridiculous. The fees are astounding and the service is dismal…read more WeBull/Robinhood/Fidelity/TD are leaps and bounds above MS. Avoid at all costs - they are simply not up to par with today's fast market.

After listening to a sales pitch by this company, we had some questions so we called the local…read moreoffice. We called & called & called for an entire week only to receive a recorded message saying that "no one is available"? So we followed up with calls to 4 other offices and finally the corporate main number with the same results. WHY would anyone "trust" their assets to people who are never available???? It doesn't make any sense to ask your customers to manage your money only to find that the office is not staffed with fulltime employees. This is NOT the kind of firm we can rely on to be trusted with our investments.

From the owner: We focus on one thing--partnering with you to create a financial strategy for today and beyond…read morethat's flexible enough to change along with you. The ultimate goal? Help you identify what is important so you can achieve your goals--we're committed to being here for everything life brings your way.

The owners here are some of the nicest in the business. They are fair, knowledgeable, patient, and…read moremost of all, respectful. In my multiple visits, I have always had an A+ customer experience. Their margins are fair and oftentimes leagues better than their competitors. If you're not familiar with the market, and you walk in with a little bit of humility, they will educate you appropriately and honestly. They never hide anything and are open about everything. They kept their doors open when silver hit all-time highs and started buying sterling silver as soon as they were able to, which you cannot say about some of the shops around the Bay. They have a great selection of silver and gold, including bullion and numismatic items. Prices are often marked on holders, so you know they are treating everyone fairly. When selling, they never pressure you to make a deal. In all my times visiting, I have always walked out pleased and with a little bit more knowledge on precious metals.

All of my dealings with them have been lovely and pleasant. The couple that runs this shop make me…read morelaugh and I feel like I have know them for years! The lady has great taste. Highly recommend!!

Pedram has been managing my property for some years now. Insurance in California has become a…read morenightmare and we had to jump through so many hoops including replacing all the electrical and a large number of punchlist items all within a 30 day period or we were going to be cancelled. He handled the entire list well before the deadline. A ton of logistics to say the lease!!

My husband and I rented from BEM for 3 years. Pedram and his team were excellent in handling all of…read moreour needs throughout the time we spent with them including an apartment flood. We highly recommend working with BEM for any future residents or landlords in the Bay Area!

Faruk was a pleasure to work with! As we wanted to plan further for our future, our goal was to…read moreidentify 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.

Faruk is a fantastic guy. I feel very fortunate to have crossed paths with him. He has been great…read moreat 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!

I recommended Charles Schwab's Oakland branch to my Chinese friend (who just received a 6 figure…read morewindfall) due to its proximity to Chinatown, hoping for Chinese-speaking staff. However, they couldn't provide a translator, and the staff was unhelpful. I had to open her account online, but she didn't receive a confirmation email after more than a week. She visited the branch today (3/8/2024) and was referred to a central number, only to be sent back to the local branch. They gave her a stack of paper to fill out because her electronic application was not accepted. Frustrated, she went to East-West Bank in Chinatown and received excellent service, opening a 7-month CD with a 5+% rate. I have done almost exactly the same thing for the Fremont branch. The experioence was much better and a new account was successfully opened the same day through a Chinese speaking staffer.

I was with Schwab for 30 years. They helped me out when my Dad died and left me stock. I stayed…read morewith them until I inherited some money. Then I got avg service, and got poor advice. And probably why I'm with Edward Jones now. But I do miss the lower fees....

When I sold my first house, I had savings and was in a position to truly think about financial…read moreplanning and investing, as well as saving. Ella helped me work through my budget, my priorities, and strategies for reaching my goals. She became a friend, as well as a financial guide. Ella took the fear out of financial planning, and helped me re-evaluate my own engrained spending patterns and scarcity mindset. I cannot recommend her highly enough, particularly for ethical and socially conscious investing.

Ella is professional, kind, and intelligent. She is a natural in the world of sustainable…read morefinance-- always thinking of clever ways to take care of the client's needs, save money on taxes, and all while doing it ethically. She's big into sustainable investing, impact investing, social justice, and environmentalism, which also keeping a firm eye on the numbers. I'm a big fan.