Frequently Asked Questions — E.P. Wayne Financial Group
E.P. Wayne Financial Group is an independent financial advisory firm with an office in Forest Acres, serving Columbia, South Carolina — providing financial planning, investment management, and retirement planning for individuals and families, and group retirement plans for businesses.
Answers to Our Most Common Questions
Real answers to real questions.
What is E.P. Wayne Financial Group?
We’re an independent financial advisory firm. We help individuals and families with financial planning, investment management, and retirement planning — and we help businesses set up and run group retirement plans. Every engagement starts with your goals, not a product.
Do I need a financial advisor?
Not everyone does. If your finances are straightforward and you’re confident managing them, you may not need one. An advisor earns their place when decisions get complex — retirement timing, tax strategy, investment management, or coordinating all three. The first conversation is usually enough to tell which camp you’re in.
Who will I work with?
You’ll work directly with Ed Peagler — the firm’s founder — not a 1-800 number. Every recommendation comes from him; every decision is yours to make.
What kind of clients do you work with?
We work with individuals on personal financial planning and wealth management, and with business owners and their businesses on employer and group retirement plans. After our first conversation, if we can help, we’ll work with you — there’s no minimum to open a commission-based account, so no one is turned away for having too little to invest. Advisory accounts require a $10,000 minimum to open.
Are you a fiduciary?
Yes — in our advisory accounts, we’re held to the same fiduciary standard any fee-only advisor is held to, legally obligated to put your interests first. In our commission-based accounts, we’re acting as your broker, and federal Regulation Best Interest requires our recommendations to be in your best interest under a different legal standard. Since you choose the account, you choose the role — and we’ll make sure you know which role we’re in before any decision is made.
How are you compensated?
Two ways — your choice. In an advisory account, we’re compensated through an annual fee based on the account’s investment objective and the amount of assets under management — regardless of the number of transactions.
In a commission-based account, there’s no annual management fee; a commission or product charge may apply per transaction — set by the sponsoring company or brokerage firm.
Financial planning, plan creation, plan reviews — whatever the industry uses and packages up as a service to charge for — it’s all part of the relationship with us, regardless of the account type our clients choose. None of it is a standalone service, and there’s no separate fee for it.
Where are my investments held?
At LPL Financial, as custodian. LPL is one of the nation’s largest independent broker-dealers — your advisor is E.P. Wayne Financial Group, and LPL is where the accounts are held and where your statements come from.
Where is your office located?
Our office is right behind Trenholm Plaza in Forest Acres — 17 Calendar Ct, Suite 4, Columbia. We meet in person, by phone, or by video — whichever works best for you.
What happens in the first meeting?
We talk about you — your goals, your situation, what’s on your mind. It’s a conversation, not a sales pitch. You’ll leave knowing whether working together makes sense and what it would look like. No cost, no obligation.
What should I bring to our first meeting?
Nothing required — just yourself. Recent statements or tax returns help if you have them handy, but the first conversation is about your goals, not your documents.
How much do I owe you?
Nothing. Every conversation is on us — the first meeting and every one after it. We’re only compensated through an account relationship: the advisory fee, or commissions per transaction. If all we ever do is talk through your situation, you owe us nothing.
Timely Questions
Shaped by current markets, tax law, and the calendar. Reviewed monthly — answers change when the facts do.
Should I convert my IRA to a Roth?
It depends on your tax picture. Roth conversions make the most sense in lower-income years — you pay tax now at today’s rate so withdrawals come out tax-free later. The key questions: your current bracket versus your expected future bracket, whether you can pay the conversion tax from outside the IRA, and your time horizon. It’s a year-by-year decision, not a one-time yes or no. General information, not tax advice — your tax professional should weigh in.
When should I take Social Security — 62, 67, or 70?
There’s no universal right answer. Claiming at 62 means a permanently reduced monthly benefit; each year you wait up to 70 increases it. The right timing depends on your health, other income sources, tax situation, and whether you’re still working. We model the lifetime trade-offs with clients instead of guessing.
What are the 2027 income tax brackets?
The IRS hasn’t released the 2027 brackets yet — they’re typically announced in October and take effect the following January. We’ll post the official figures here when they’re out. What doesn’t change: brackets are marginal, meaning different portions of your income are taxed at different rates — moving into a higher bracket never taxes all of your income at the higher rate.