Five Star award winner W. John Dulmage, CFP®, EA

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Contact Me

W. John Dulmage, CFP^®, EA

Principal Advisor

Financial Pathways

75 Gilcreast Roaad Suite 200

Londonderry, NH 03053

Office: 603-821-1450

wjdulmage@financial-pathways.com
www.financial-pathways.com

Professional Approach

Most financial planners and investment advisors focus on your investment portfolio and its performance against various indexes. While your investment portfolio is very important, it’s only part of the picture. Your overall net worth is a much better measure of your financial well being and your ability to achieve your goals.

John Dulmage uses a holistic approach to net worth management and growth. Its most basic premise is that there are three major categories of assets – interest-earning, real estate, and equities – and that each category has a fundamental function or purpose.

The purpose of the interest-earning category, which includes cash and bonds, is capital preservation. These investments protect against deflation and ensure that you will have a reliable cash flow while keeping this part of your portfolio safe.

The real estate category includes your personal residence, real estate that produces income (rental property, for example), and nonproductive real estate (including vacant land and second homes). The function of real estate is to protect against inflation sometimes through appropriate leverage of your investment by mortgaging the property. Of course it also fulfills the function of personal use and enjoyment.

Equities produce profits during times of prosperity. They are the growth engine of your net worth.

Once you understand the function of each asset category, you see how questions like “Should I invest in stocks or bonds now?” are fundamentally flawed. Under John's approach, Functional Asset Allocation, the three asset categories don’t compete against eachother on performance or yield. The better question is “Do I have the right investments in each asset category, and am I properly balanced across all three categories so that I can achieve my goals and worry less about my finances?”

John can help you answer those questions.

Because John holds the Enrolled Agent Designation from the IRS and pays attention to all aspects of your financial life, he knows when you can realize tax savings by:

• Restructuring your investment portfolio,
• Shifting income to dependents in lower tax brackets,
• Maximizing retirement plan contributions,
• Identifying all the deductions that apply to your small business,
• Using charitable gifting strategies more effectively,
• Amending prior-year tax returns,
• Or implementing other tax-saving strategies

See Accomplishments

This award was issued on 9/1/23 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 12/12/22 through 6/30/23. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 1,017 New Hampshire-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 89 (9% of candidates) were named 2023 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 979, 87, 9%, 9/1/22, 12/20/21 - 6/17/22; 2021: 943, 96, 10%, 9/1/21, 11/30/20 - 6/25/21; 2020: 928, 91, 10%, 9/1/20, 12/9/19 - 7/1/20; 2019: 928, 85, 9%, 9/1/19, 11/19/18 - 7/10/19; 2018: 955, 74, 8%, 9/1/18, 12/26/17 - 7/17/18; 2017: 739, 89, 12%, 9/1/17, 12/27/16 - 7/6/17; 2016: 666, 158, 24%, 8/1/16, 2/6/16 - 7/19/16; 2015: 853, 166, 19%, 9/1/15, 2/6/15 - 7/19/15; 2014: 1045, 189, 18%, 9/1/14, 2/6/14 - 7/19/14; 2013: 1049, 204, 19%, 9/1/13, 2/6/13 - 7/19/13; 2012: 743, 170, 23%, 9/1/12, 2/6/12 - 7/19/12.

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Business Experience:

Prior to Financial Pathways John had a very successful sales and management career at Xerox Corporation and other Fortune 500 companies. John is a CFP® or CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. He is licensed by the State of New Hampshire as a Life, Accident & Health and Property & Casualty insurance consultant. He holds the Enrolled Agent (EA) and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) designations.

He is a member of National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP). In addition, John is a Registered Investment Advisor, a Registered NAPFA Advisor and a member/co-owner of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP). ACP members are the pioneers of a whole system approach to financial planning; planning that focuses on the person, not a product. The approach is a higher standard of financial planning, one that makes the advisor your advocate. This approach also has a much higher Tax Focus than is found in most financial advisories. ACP has the highest credential and continuing education requirements for its members in the financial planning industry.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria-required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria-considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance . Wealth Managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.