In the last 20 years, TMG has been featured or quoted in most of the major financial or business trade publications.  We have also been listed in several “Top Advisor” lists, including Medical Economics Magazine (Top 150 in 2004), Bloomberg Wealth Manager (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), Worth Magazine (Top 60 in 1994, Top 250 in 2001, Top 250 in 2002), Washingtonian Magazine (Top 156 in 2002), and Ticker Magazine (Top 5 in 1999). Below you will find a partial list of our media mentions by type, and a link to a quote where it is available.

Television
CNBC’s Power Lunch 
PBS’s Morning Business Report

Magazines:
Boomer Market Advisor
Medical Economics Magazine
Newsweek
US News and World Report
Worth Magazine
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Bloomberg Wealth Manager
Mutual Funds Magazine
Ticker
Readers Digest

Newspapers
The Wall Street Journal
New York Times
The Washington Post
USA Today
Investors Business Daily
Los Angeles Times
Barron's-Online
The Boston Globe-Online
Washington Business Journal
Washington Times

Industry Journals
Financial Planning
Journal of Financial Planning
Schwab
Dow Jones Fee Advisor
The Journal of Investing
National Association of Personal Financial Planners
Financial Product News
International Association for Financial Planning Newsletter
The Business Review
Investment News
Medical Economics
Sales and Marketing Management
Journal of the American Association of Individual Investors

Books
The Invincibility Shield for Investors
Stochastic Modeling: The New Way to Predict Your Financial Future
Secrets of the Wealth Makers

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Newsweek Magazine

• “Rolling the Market Dice”, March 3, 2003, by Jane Bryant Quinn. “Friends and investors, it’s time to decide. How much of your money should be in stocks and how much in bonds or cash? Economists are sharply divided on the economy’s real health.… So what to do? … Settle on what percentage of your money to keep in stocks (ideally, mutual funds), bonds and cash, says planner Cal Brown of the Monitor Group in Fairfax, Va. But don’t buy and hold like a dummy. Periodically, sell a portion of the asset that rose the most and invest more in those that lagged. Imagine your joy if you’d sold some stocks in 1998 and switched that money into bonds. Ah, hindsight.”
•  “How Good is Your Plan?”, June 21 1999, by Jane Bryant Quinn.  “… Half the time your mix of investments will succeed; half the time it won’t.  Do you want to take that risk? Or would you rather aim for a little more certainty? Financial Planner Lynn Hopewell, of The Monitor Group in Fairfax, VA., says that his clients typically want plans with an 80 or percent chance of success … ‘Financial Engines is heading in the right direction,’ he says.  ‘People had better pay attention, it’s the coming thing.’ … ”

 

Wall Street Journal

• “When Good Savers Make Bad Investments”, July 7, 2004, by Jeff D. Opdyke. “There are two sides to Curtis Hensyl’s portfolio.  The 30-year-old Savannah, Ga., bachelor does all the right things when it comes to saving.  But he is doing many of the wrong things when it comes to his investments …” Opdyke consults The Monitor Group’s Cal Brown on Hensyl’s portfolio, “Based on Monte Carlo analysis — which measures the likelihood an investor will reach a specific goal — Mr. Brown calculates a 99% probability that the Georgia resident will have enough money to retire when he wants.  Yet Mr. Hensyl needs to better harmonize what Mr. Brown calls a ‘hodgepodge of uncoordinated investments and strategies.’”
• “Back to Basics”, March 8, 1999, by Glenn Ruffenach, a feature story about TMG’s founder, Lynn Hopewell.  “To find out how investing might, or should, change in later life, we turned to Lynn Hopewell, a certified financial planner in Fairfax, VA. Mr. Hopewell, age 61, is widely regarded as the dean of retirement counselors in the U.S. (Said) Mr. Hopewell: ‘The biggest mistake that older investors make is the same mistake that all lay investors make:  There’s no plan.  And not only no plan, but no knowledge of how to create one.’ … ”

 

New York Times

• “Fixed Annuities: New Twists and Old Gnarls”, March 1, 1998, by Linda Corman. “’Even a very modest cost (on a fixed annuity) makes the tax-deferral privilege too expensive,’ said Lynn Hopewell, president of The Monitor Group, investment advisers in Fairfax, VA.  For someone in the 36 percent tax bracket, he said, it would take 27 years for a $100,000 fixed annuity with a 6 percent return and a 1.25 percent annual fee to surpass a similar investment that is taxable but has no fee … ”

 

USA Today

• “Check Home’s Title to Make Sure All Owners are Protected”, September 16, 2003, by Sandra Block.  “ … But without proper planning, the trust may not serve its intended purpose, says Cal Brown, a financial planner for The Monitor Group in Fairfax, VA.  If the home is held through tenancy by the entirety, for example, the home will automatically transfer to the surviving spouse unstead of to the trust, he says…”

 

Washington Post

• “Benefits, Beyond the Fringe”, October 7, 2003, by Albert Crenshaw.  “ … When someone like Miller, a financial professional with a career in banking and related fields, is uncertain about how to value a pension, it brings home the problem that many workers face in evaluating insurance, retirement and other things that used to be called fringe benefits but today are essential to most families’ economic security … Glenn G. Kautt, president of The Monitor Group in Fairfax, suggested that the worker should lay out the offerings on a paper or computer spreadsheet, putting the benefit category – for example, medical insurance – on the left and then listing the costs and benefits going across … ”

 

CNBC's Power Lunch

• “Finding a Financial Planner”, December 18, 2003, with Bill Griffeth: “Finding a good financial planner is not easy, especially if you want the one who can meet your specific needs.  Glenn Kautt is president of The Monitor Group, Inc. and they have put together a list of questions to ask yourself and the advisor … The website is www.findaplanner.org, … it lists a series of questions that you can ask a potential planner … They should be able to provide all that information shouldn’t they?” Glenn Kautt: “Every planner that is qualified will have information about who they are, what their background is, how they work, how they’re compensated, and the services they can offer … if they can’t find that information instantly, it’s time (for you) to moonwalk outta there … if you deal with someone who says they’re a financial planner, that doesn’t mean they’re competent … if they are either unwilling or unable to get that basic certification (Certified Financial Planner, CFP), it probably means they’re not going to do a very good job.” 

 

Washington Business Journal

• ”For Different Situations, Different Types of Property Titles”, August 8, 2003, by Cal Brown of The Monitor Group. “ … Behind every business owner (or owner of commercial property) is a personal situation that needs protection from potential creditors or estate taxes.  Below is a primer of factors that people – married couples in particular – should consider to be sure they’ve selected the best way to own and title their property …

 

Worth Magazine

• “The Top Two Fifty”, September 2001, by Melissa Phipps. “Zeroing in on the nation’s best financial advisers is a rigorous process. We cull nominees from a vast pool of new recommendations and past members of our list. We then ask the candidates to complete an extensive questionnaire detailing their credentials, professional distinctions, and compensation structures … Readers in search of a financial adviser would do well to contact any member of our list …”

 Financial Press

Financial Planning

• “The Shape of Things to Come”, July 2004, by Richard J. Koreto. Koreto: “Let’s look at another issue affecting planners like all of you.  What about big firms—the banks and insurance companies—who are trying to position themselves as true independent advisers? Are they a threat?”

  Kautt: “The large RIA’s aren’t providing planning, and that’s constant across the board.  Here’s a real case.  Yesterday, a prospective client, who is a physician, called me.  A year ago, he engaged a large trust company. ‘I have a closer personal relationship with you than with my representative, who has contacted me only three times this past year,’ he said to me.  Now there’s no ‘wow’ in that service.  He said, ‘When I need to consider my future, I’ll be calling you.”

 

Medical Economics

• “Financial Problem Solved: Should I convert to a Roth IRA?", problem solver Glenn Kautt. “Problem: I'm 45 and have about $360,000 in a tax-deferred IRA. How do I decide whether to keep it in the regular IRA or convert to a Roth? … I suggest using a more realistic, albeit more complex, calculation: a computer processing method known popularly as a ‘Monte Carlo simulation’ which a financial adviser can run for you … When I ran the simulation for you, I found that converting to a Roth IRA isn’t necessarily wise.  There’s only a 54% percent chance that you’ll do better with a Roth …”

 

Investment News

• “Q & A: Lynn Hopewell”, August 31, 1998. Intro: “Lynn Hopewell is one of the nation's most prominent advisers. Not only is he one of Charles Schwab Corp.'s largest financial planning players in the mid-Atlantic region, he has taken a leadership role in the industry and frequently is quoted in articles on financial advice throughout the country. He runs his practice in a meticulously logical, businesslike way, with a clear eye toward promoting it as a business and taking full advantage of technology wherever it's available … ”

Question: “Do you think a lot of people out there who need investment advice aren't getting it?”

Answer:  “There are tons of people who aren't getting it.  … The average person's in no position to know how to invest competently. So they make a lot of mistakes … ”

Journal of Financial Planning

• “Decision Making Under Conditions of Uncertainty: A Wakeup Call for the Financial Planning Profession”, April 2004 by Lynn Hopewell, CFP®, EA
• “Real Option Analysis: The Profession's Next Cutting-Edge Tool”, February 2003, by Glenn Kautt, CFP®
• “Should Planners Recommend Trusts as IRA Beneficiaries?” October 2003, by Cal Brown, CFP®, and Thomas Campbell, J.D.
• “The Financial Planner as Decision Maker”, October 2002 by Glenn Kautt, CFP®, EA