If you’ve ever watched one of our videos and thought, “I don’t know why, but I feel like I can trust these guys” — you’re not alone. We hear that from clients all the time. For a while, it puzzled us too. But we’ve come to understand what’s behind it.
In over 400 videos covering Medicare, IRAs, Social Security, estate planning, and more, we’ve never directly talked about the fiduciary standard. Yet it’s been there in every recommendation we’ve ever made — quietly burning in the background of everything we do.
Today, we’re bringing it front and center.
What Is a Fiduciary?
A fiduciary is someone who is legally or ethically obligated to act in your best interest — not their own. When a financial advisor operates under a fiduciary duty, their primary obligation is to you: your goals, your needs, your financial wellbeing.
“At the end of the day, our duty is to put your interests ahead of ours. When we’re having to make a decision about one thing over another, it comes down to: is this in your best interest?” — Tom Griffith
This might sound like a baseline expectation for any advisor. Surprisingly, it isn’t — and understanding the difference could significantly impact the quality of the advice you receive.
Two Sources of Fiduciary Duty at Cardinal Advisors
1. SEC Registration Under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
Both Hans and Tom are SEC-registered investment advisors under Brookstone Capital Management, an RIA (Registered Investment Advisor). Under federal law, this registration carries a fiduciary duty whenever they are providing financial advice — specifically around investments, securities, product selection, and risk management.
Key obligations under this standard include:
- Duty of Loyalty — Always place client interests ahead of personal or firm interests
- Avoid or fully disclose conflicts of interest
- Never use client information for personal gain
- Duty of Care — Conduct thorough research and due diligence on every recommendation
- Full and fair disclosure — Compensation, affiliations, disciplinary history, and incentives
- Non-misleading marketing — All video and written content is reviewed by compliance
- Ongoing service — Revisit recommendations periodically and maintain proper records
2. CFP® Board Ethics Standards (Voluntary — and Broader)
Both Hans and Tom are Certified Financial Planners (CFP®). Earning a CFP® requires years of study, a rigorous experience requirement, and passing one of the most difficult exams in the financial industry. Maintaining it requires adherence to the CFP® Board’s Code of Ethics.
The critical difference: the CFP® fiduciary standard applies at all times when providing financial advice — not just investment advice. That means it covers all seven areas Cardinal Advisors serves:
- Investments & income planning
- Social Security strategies
- Medicare planning
- Long-term care
- IRA and 401(k) advice
- Estate planning
- Tax strategies
This voluntary standard expands the fiduciary duty far beyond what the law requires — and it’s one of the reasons Cardinal Advisors is equipped to give truly comprehensive retirement planning advice.
Who Is NOT a Fiduciary?
Not every financial professional operates under a fiduciary duty. If your advisor is registered with FINRA (not the SEC), a stockbroker or registered representative, or a “financial advisor” who earns primarily through commissions, they are likely held to a lower standard called suitability — meaning the advice must be appropriate for you, but not necessarily the best option available.
There is also a “best interest” standard that falls between suitability and fiduciary duty, but it still does not require the advisor to prioritize your interest over their own.
The simplest thing you can do? Ask. Don’t ask “are you a fiduciary?” — ask: “Are you acting under a fiduciary duty when giving me advice?” That’s the right question.
Note: If an advisor is a CFP® — even if they are also a stockbroker — they are still bound by the CFP® fiduciary standard for all financial advice they provide.
What This Looks Like in Practice: Two Real Examples
Example 1: The Rule of 55 and the 401(k) Tom Didn’t Manage
A retired military client came to Cardinal Advisors after watching videos online. He had a military pension, a private sector pension, retirement savings, and was retiring at age 56.
The natural next step would have been to roll over his 401(k) to an IRA, which Cardinal would then manage — earning fees in the process. But Tom paused.
Because this client was retiring in the year he turned 55, he qualified for the Rule of 55 — a provision allowing penalty-free withdrawals from a 401(k) without waiting until age 59½. If the funds had been rolled into an IRA, that access would have been lost, and any withdrawals before 59½ would have triggered a 10% penalty on top of ordinary taxes.
Tom’s recommendation: leave the money in the 401(k). Cardinal would help him manage distributions and navigate the tax implications — without charging management fees on that account.
“It was in his best interest to leave the money in the 401(k). Not in ours.” — Tom Griffith
Example 2: The Annuity Tom Talked a Client Out Of
A risk-averse client was drawn to the income guarantees that annuities provide. She had roughly $150,000 in savings and wanted to put $100,000 of it into an annuity.
Annuities can be excellent tools — and Cardinal Advisors recommends them regularly when they fit a client’s situation. But in this case, locking up two-thirds of her savings into an illiquid product wasn’t in her best interest. She needed more accessible funds.
Tom’s recommendation: put less into the annuity, keep more in liquid investments. Cardinal walked her back from a product that would have earned the firm a commission — because it wasn’t the right fit for her.
How Cardinal Handles Conflicts of Interest
No advisory firm is free from all conflicts of interest. Insurance companies pay commissions. Vendors offer trips, bonuses, and incentives to steer advisors toward their products.
Hans’s approach: when vendor representatives call, the conversation gets redirected immediately — “Talk to us about the benefits of your company for our clients. Let’s just talk client-based — what is inherent in your product that’s going to make it the best choice for our customers?”
The bonuses, the trips, the incentives? Cardinal doesn’t even read that material. The goal is to keep those incentives out of the decision-making process entirely. When a commission is unavoidable — such as when an insurance product is the right recommendation — it is fully disclosed to the client, with clear explanation of why the product meets their needs.
Why We’ve Never Talked About This Before
It can feel self-serving to lead with “we’re fiduciaries and maybe those other guys aren’t.” That’s exactly why we haven’t brought it up in over 400 videos.
But we want you to understand what’s always been there underneath the surface of every Social Security recommendation, every Medicare enrollment walk-through, every Roth conversion analysis. This standard — the fiduciary duty — is what makes it possible for viewers who’ve never met us in person to say, “I feel like I can trust you.”
It’s not just a legal obligation. It’s the foundation of everything we do.
Work With a Fiduciary Financial Planner
At Cardinal Advisors, we serve clients in all seven key areas of retirement planning: investments, Social Security, Medicare, long-term care, IRAs and 401(k)s, estate planning, and taxes. Every recommendation we make is held to a fiduciary standard — by law and by choice.
If you’d like to schedule a consultation or have questions about your retirement plan, visit us at cardinalguide.com.
