Bob Hoger • Novi, MI
Fundamental Wealth Solutions • Sigma Financial Corporation
Read full biography below

I was raised in Detroit in a close-knit, middle-class neighborhood. My father worked in the insurance business early in his career and later in engineering and design at Detroit Metro Airport, while my mother was primarily a homemaker. My parents were caring and supportive and instilled the value of working hard to achieve your goals.

After high school, I considered a career in law enforcement or legal work, but life took me in a different direction. I started in the consumer electronics industry, selling high-end audio equipment in retail and later as a manufacturer’s rep. It was financially rewarding, and I loved the products, technology, and customer interaction. But I wanted a career with more purpose and flexibility. Seeing a family friend’s professional trajectory in the insurance business sparked my interest. With my father’s encouragement, I made the leap into financial services about 36 years ago, starting with selling employee benefits to the self-employed and small businesses.

Over time, I saw major changes coming to the health insurance industry and transitioned into comprehensive financial planning. I could not be happier about that decision, which enabled me to have an even more direct impact on people’s lives. Our firm, Fundamental Wealth Solutions, is an independent financial-services provider specializing in developing customized retirement strategies—helping clients navigate an important phase of their financial lives.

A major boost to my practice’s growth came when I realized how important planning for college funding was to many families’ overall needs. For nearly two decades, I held free seminars at high schools and libraries on navigating financial aid, reducing college costs, and planning out-of-pocket expenses more efficiently. Those events drew a steady stream of new families, many of whom grew into broader financial-planning relationships.

With demographic trends changing, our firm now has a secondary focus on guidance for retirees in long-term-care planning. The risks and costs associated with long-term care are often misunderstood and underappreciated. Providing education in this area has been another driver of our firm’s growth and a way to connect with new clients.

Our mission is simple: Guide clients in understanding and managing risk factors they may face, and help them successfully navigate retirement. We believe in challenging conventional wisdom in the way we manage what clients have worked hard to save. I believe the distribution phase—the point where clients start drawing on their assets—is the most important stage of their financial journey. When you’re accumulating wealth, you can adjust by saving more, working longer, changing careers, or using a different investment approach. In retirement, the goalposts stop moving. You have what you have, and it needs to last. Risk management, efficiency, and coordination matter more than ever. We strive to build financial plans that are understandable, personal, and aligned with a client’s needs and comfort with risk.

Fundamental Wealth Solutions is built on a philosophy of customized planning. We don’t use cookie-cutter models. Every client’s plan is tailored to their goals, risk tolerance, and family dynamics. We integrate income planning, tax strategies, estate considerations, and risk control into a comprehensive road map. Our ultimate goal is to provide clarity and confidence so clients can enjoy retirement without fear of running out of money. We want clients to be able to answer two key questions affirmatively: (1) Do you have confidence that your retirement income will last through your lifetime? (2) Have you taken the necessary steps to manage your key retirement risks?

The discovery process is essential. I spend more time listening than talking in initial meetings. I want to understand a client’s story—their aspirations, concerns, and what success looks like for them. I try to educate clients along the way. I often use analogies to make complex concepts relatable. One of my favorites compares retirement to mountain climbing: Getting to the summit is hard, but most accidents happen on the way down. That’s why risk mitigation and disciplined income planning are so critical in the distribution phase.

From the start, I’m assessing how we can add value. Once we have all of a client’s data, we measure risk, portfolio overlap, and alignment with goals. We use an analytical tool to compare a client’s actual risk with the level they think they have and want to have, and we run overlap reports to identify redundancy across funds and ETFs.

The heart of the process is a visual income plan. We use a spreadsheet to analyze every account. One side lists assets; the other lists expenses; the center pulls together reliable income sources such as Social Security, pensions and retirement accounts, rental income, or wages. Seeing the entire picture at once is often the “aha” moment. Most new clients have never seen their financial life organized this way.

We use advanced planning tools to integrate their financial puzzle pieces. These tools allow us to model income streams, calculate RMDs, factor in inflation and taxes, and stress-test plans against market volatility. We then develop and share plan recommendations in a follow-up meeting. Clients can see the numbers, the timing, and the logic. It’s a collaborative, iterative process.

Balance is everything. We blend active and passive strategies and offense and defense in seeking less-volatile portfolio growth. For managed accounts, we use sophisticated third-party managers that offer risk-managed active strategies that can work well in coordination with other investment approaches. Using these professional managers ensures that portfolios are monitored continuously and provides continuity for clients if something happens to me.

For retirees, we structure portfolios with defensive buckets—conservative assets to cover near-term needs—while allowing growth assets time to compound. We use analytical tools to align client portfolios with their risk profile. And we incorporate guaranteed income sources, such as annuities, to help cover essential expenses. I think if you’re relying solely on market returns to fund retirement, you’re at best marginally prepared.

I believe wealth management is the art and science of helping clients to conserve their resources through changing market environments—and maximizing those resources whenever possible. Our goal is to help clients develop dependable retirement income streams—and avoid selling longer-term growth investments in a down market.

Retirees face many risks, but three stand out: sequence-of-returns risk, longevity risk, and the unpredictable costs of long-term care. Sequence risk can devastate a portfolio if early retirement years coincide with market downturns. Longevity risk—the possibility of outliving your money—is a growing concern as life expectancies rise. And long-term care is the wild card that can quickly erode wealth. For these reasons, and many more, risk mitigation is at the heart of our investment philosophy.

Four things come up frequently: responsiveness, our holistic and independent philosophy, customization, and clarity. There are no one-size-fits-all models here. We tailor recommendations to the client’s goals, risk comfort, and retirement-income needs. We explain their choices in plain language and try to adapt our presentations to a style that best suits each client. We want to conduct ourselves with uncompromising honesty and integrity in serving our clients’ needs.  

I am also proud of our team. We have an excellent client-support staff and two younger professionals who have grown into larger roles. One has already moved from administration into an advisory position. Their energy and client focus raise our collective game and, over time, will provide continuity for the individuals, families, and business owners we serve.