We’re so excited to share Commas new look!

The value of Commas comes from the relationships we build and the work we do with clients every day—and we felt it was time for our digital presence to better reflect the depth of that work, the experience of our advisors, and how we partner with our clients in pursuit of their goals.

This new space brings greater focus to the real-life financial decisions many of the people we work with face long before retirement. It’s designed to make financial planning feel more accessible, more collaborative, and more human without sacrificing the rigor, care, and expertise our advisors bring to the table. It’s all about what it’s actually like to work with Commas: 

• Approachable expertise rooted in deep experience, translating complex financial concepts into clear, actionable guidance
• Authentic partnerships built on collaboration, trust, and transparency
• A human-first approach grounded in real relationships with advisors who understand your goals—and often the stage of life you’re in

A New Chapter for Commas

As part of Truepoint Wealth Counsel, Commas has continued to evolve as a distinct service offering designed specifically for individuals and families who are actively building wealth, navigating complexity, and planning with intention well before retirement. Through Commas, we’re able to deliver planning that feels relevant, practical, and aligned with the realities of life before retirement, while maintaining the same high standards, depth of analysis, and long-term thinking that define all of Truepoint Wealth Counsel’s work. 

Who Might Benefit from an Introduction to Commas

Jordan Patrick, Sr. Financial Advisor with Commas, has been named as one of five new firm employees to join the Truepoint Wealth Counsel shareholder group. The addition of Jordan, along with Truepoint colleagues Josh Borges, Bill Felix, Bridget Hughes, and Michelle Stevens, brings the group to forty total employee-owners.  

“Our shareholder group at Truepoint is excited to welcome five more teammates as shareholders in the firm,” said Truepoint Wealth Counsel CEO and shareholder Steve Condon. “The shareholder opportunity we provide enables us to attract and retain exceptional talent, which in turn ensures the competence, stability and continuity our clients deserve.” 

Jordan earned his bachelor’s degree in finance at Georgetown College before going on to receive his MBA in finance and an Executive Certificate in Financial Planning from Xavier University. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.

Jordan joined Truepoint in 2017 as a member of the financial planning team, before going on to serve in a dual role as both a Truepoint Wealth Counsel and Commas advisor. The entire team celebrates this unique milestone as Jordan is the first of the Commas advisor team to join the shareholder group.  

“I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Jordan since he joined our firm as an associate on the financial planning team,” said Nate Johnson, Co-Chief Client Officer and shareholder. “Over the years, he has worked hard to become a thoughtful, caring advisor to his clients, while developing a unique perspective across both of our brands and each of our service offerings. We are thrilled to have him join the shareholder group and look forward to his contributions and leadership in the years to come!” 

In recent years, the wealth management industry has seen numerous independent firms relinquish control to larger external entities, resulting in a dwindling presence of truly independent and locally controlled firms. In contrast to this, our team perseveres in our efforts to remain independent and employee owned. 

Filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is one part of the exciting—but stress-inducing—college application process. Over the years, we’ve learned that many people don’t fully understand the FAFSA or its purpose and those misunderstandings can cost them. 

Here are the top three misconceptions about the FAFSA. 

1. Only people who expect need-based aid should fill out the FAFSA. 

Many people incorrectly believe that the FAFSA is only used for determining qualification for federal grants and loans. As a result, one-third of college students fail to submit a FAFSA, which means they could be leaving money on the table. 

Yes, the FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for the federal Pell Grant and Stafford Loan programs, but it’s used for other awards, too. 

First, state governments use information from the FAFSA for their own financial aid programs. Additionally, some colleges use the FAFSA to calculate their own estimate of a student’s need—and even to determine eligibility for certain scholarships. 

In short, the FAFSA is free to fill out, and it could help you uncover some funding sources. Don’t neglect it. 

(Pro tip: You can even use the FAFSA’s forecasting tool before your child’s senior year. This can help you know what to expect before application season even starts.) 

2.  You can put off filling out the FAFSA until the last minute. 

Don’t delay. Some schools award aid on a first-come, first-served basis. And even though the federal government gives you until June 30 to submit the FAFSA, most schools have earlier deadlines. So, you are better off completing it as soon as possible. 

Although the FAFSA takes about 45 minutes to fill out, it’s often not as onerous as people fear. If you don’t have a financial advisor to assist you, make sure to gather the necessary documents before you begin — like your tax returns, bank statements and 529 account paperwork. 

In addition, there are other resources to help you. Check out the IRS import tool, which automatically populates your FAFSA with data from your tax returns. There’s also a new mobile app for the FAFSA, making the process more accessible than ever. 

But remember to double-check the information before you submit it. 

3. Once you’ve submitted the FAFSA, the financial aid process is over.

Not so fast. You’ll need to fill out the FAFSA for each year that your child attends college (and potentially graduate school, too). The form should auto-populate after your first submission, making subsequent updates much easier. 

Around three weeks after you submit the FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR), which provides information about your child’s eligibility for federal aid, including your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC represents the amount your family is expected to pay per year for college. Your child’s need is calculated by taking the Cost of Attendance (COA) for each school and then subtracting your EFC. The result is your child’s need to attend that particular school. 

Most private schools also require an additional form, the CSS Profile, for financial aid. The CSS asks more detailed questions and looks at more sources of wealth than the FAFSA. It typically computes a higher EFC (and, therefore, a lower level of need) than the FAFSA. Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS costs money to complete and to send to schools. 

Finally, you will receive a financial award letter from each college your child is accepted to, detailing what kinds of aid they were awarded. Among other issues to consider, make sure to understand which awards are renewing (meaning your child will receive the money every year) and which are non-renewing (meaning it’s a one-time award). 

Don’t forget: you can appeal.

Keep in mind that you can appeal financial aid decisions, especially if your family’s situation changes. For example, if a serious health issue arises or your employment changes, you should update each school on your new situation. 

As most parents are painfully aware, college costs are outpacing income growth. Make sure to use the FAFSA and other tools to maximize your child’s chances for financial aid. 

Getting organized is often the first, most important step toward financial peace of mind. A Commas advisor helps you gain a clear financial picture by organizing your accounts, clarifying your goals, and creating a tailored plan to achieve them.

“I think one of the most valuable things we do is is help people get organized, which sounds a little simple but in reality, people’s finances are messy and they come to us with all kinds of problems that they aren’t sure how to solve and all kinds of accounts that they aren’t sure how to use. It’s hard to put a a specific numerical value on that. We talk about investments and returns and dollar amounts and things like that, but just getting organized is a huge value for most people and I think that also then leads into: it’s easier to to understand what you’ve got going on with your personal finances and therefore easier to talk about it. Talk about it with your spouse, with your partner, with your kids, with your parents. It just makes your financial life a lot easier when you’re organized.”

Whether you’re detail-oriented or just want to delegate, trust is key. Find an advisor you can rely on to provide advice that is valuable to you.

“Different people value different things about their financial advisor. Some people really value their financial advisor because they’re paranoid. They’re paranoid that they’re not getting everything right. They’re missing some investment angle or some tax efficiency strategy or financial planning strategy and they want to get everything right because they don’t want to leave money on the table. And we can help with that being experts in the field, we help with that.

Other people value their financial advisor because they don’t want to deal with it. They either don’t have the time or the expertise or really the interest in managing their own finances and they just want it outsourced to somebody that they can trust. And so whether you are the paranoid type who wants to make sure you’re doing everything you can do now to set yourself up for later, or the person who just doesn’t want to deal with it, I would say the major overlap between those two people is the level of trust. You want to find somebody that you can trust is going to give you the right advice.”

At Commas, we take the time to understand you as a person so that we can have a long lasting relationship. Your financial plan evolves as you navigate through life, and we’re here to support you through every change.

“We’re here to have a long lasting relationship. This isn’t transactional. We don’t see you as a number, we see you as a client. We’re building relationships. We want to get to know you. We want to know all your hopes and dreams and values and a lot of the time when we get to know you on a deeper level, we’re able to have conversations that meet you where you are and that are more understanding to the client.

A lot of us are in the same boat, everybody has their expertise. This happens to be ours and so we just want to be the sounding board that you can always come back to.”

Finding the right financial advisor is a crucial step in securing your financial future. Here are a few things to consider from Commas advisor Josh when searching for a financial advisor:

1️⃣ Align your needs with their services. Make sure your advisor’s offerings match your financial goals.

2️⃣ Understand how they’re incentivized and how that impacts you.

3️⃣ Take your time to find the right fit, and don’t hesitate to interview a few advisors to ensure a strong rapport.

“I think one of the first things you should consider is: Are the services that they are going to offer you aligned with what you need? A lot of financial advisors do a lot of different things. Some do financial planning, some focus only on investments, some sell products, like insurance. Those are all technically financial advisors but what are you looking for and just making sure that you understand your own goals and expectations going in and that the advisor you’re ultimately going to work with is aligned with that.

Another thing to look for in an advisor is: how are they incentivized? How are they getting paid? And then taking that a step further: what does that mean for you? If your advisor is getting paid on a commission to sell a product, not to say that that’s bad, but you just have to consider that their incentive is going to be to continue to sell products. If your advisor is getting paid for a financial planning fee, they’re probably going to be more incentivized to continue working on that financial plan for you into the future.

Finally, and honestly the most important thing is just finding someone you’re comfortable with. Someone you can trust. That might take a couple meetings to figure out. You might have to interview two or three different planners or advisers to figure out who is the best fit and I think that’s fine. Actually, as much as I would love for everyone to just come in and say they want to work with me right away I would encourage people to ask around because not everyone is a great fit for every advisor so I think just having a conversation or two with someone and getting a feel for, “Can I be comfortable, can I trust this person, do we have a good rapport?” Because at the end of the day you know you want it to be something where it’s a weight lifted off your shoulders.”