Charleston Financial Advisors, LLC

Charleston Financial Advisors is a two-advisor, fee-only registered investment adviser managing roughly $262 million for about 196 clients, serving individuals (including high-net-worth households), trusts, estates, and institutional entities. The firm provides financial planning (fixed‑fee, project‑based, or hourly) and discretionary investment supervisory and asset management, and may engage independent managers for portions of client portfolios.

The firm emphasizes a broadly diversified, passive asset allocation built primarily with low‑cost index mutual funds and ETFs, uses Investment Policy Statements to set and monitor client risk targets, and rebalances or adjusts allocations as market activity or cash flows require. Charleston also practices asset location to help manage tax outcomes and evaluates independent managers’ philosophy, holdings, and fees before selection.

Distinctive disclosures in the brochure include receipt of economic benefits and support services from custodial partners (including use of Schwab institutional services and access to DFA funds) and an indication that the firm uses endorsements in advertising, a practice uncommon among peers. The firm also offers an account‑aggregation service billed at half the usual rate for held‑away assets, does not perform proxy voting on clients’ behalf, and maintains a $500,000 account minimum that may be waived at the firm’s discretion.