The Financial Planning & Investment Group

We’ve worked with Lisa Saxton for going on 5 years now. She does a great job for us. How? She listens to us. She understands our goals. Together we’ve figured out how much risk we’re willing to accept. She checked in with us to see how we were doing when the market hit a rough spot. She’s wicked smart. She knows the financial industry. She values our continuing relationship. We trust her and that’s what matters most.

Karen spent the time to get to know my situation and always has been careful to look for what was best for me. Her resources were more than helpful and stay readily available to her and her clients.
Jan brings another good flavor to the team and shows how he is paying attention to details that would otherwise be missed. his work saved a great deal in taxes by noticing the mistake in the way a competing institution handled the transfer of my Ira. He spent a chunk of his afternoon on the phone between me and the institution to make sure they understood the mistake just in the nick of time. He was right and they agreed it was their mistake. Indeed I am now using his notes to correct the IRS.
Karen and Jan are supported in the office by great talent. I would recommend this team for a trusting relationship. They are not there to simply collect a fee, rather they really believe in seeing clients to a better situation.

We have been clients of Jan and Karen for approximately 5 years now. We credit our biannual visits/​discussions/​recommendations for helping us become home owners in San Diego, for our retirement accounts staying on track throughout market fluctuations, and for the necessary, regular financial discussions a husband and wife need to have. Jan, Karen and team are friendly and professional.

My Wife and I have been with Ameriprise since before we were married (over 10 years now!). At first, we were referred to another advisor in Sorrento Valley but a year later, our accounts were moved to Jan and Karen — the best thing that could have happened to us! We have moved out of state and still have our investments with them because we have more than just a customer/​service provider relationship — we really trust them.
We would recommend Jan and Karen to anyone, including our closest friends.

I would never hire a financial advisor unless they came highly recommended by a respected friend or colleague. And they did. Deciding to work alongside Jan and Karen was the best financial decision I ever made. Karen’s attention to the details of financial planning is second to none. My initial consultation with her was so thorough, thus ensuring she understood, and *I* understood how we should plan for my retirement. Jan is superb as my financial advisor truly keeping my life goals as a priority. He explains in depth and in laymen’s terms the financial market and how to best manage my portfolio based upon my current and future needs. Both are super friendly, not in the least intimidating. If we lived closer I think we could be friends! If I have one negative comment to say, it’s that I regret I didn’t find them sooner!!!

My husband and I have been with Jan and Karen since 2004. We were simply looking for help with managing our then quite small 401Ks when we first met them. Not more than a year later, our 401ks were substantially growing, we had a living trust, enough life and disability insurance to protect us and a plan to save enough money to add a second story to our small home. We now have been enjoying our second story addition for 7 years, we have college funds for our three kids, enough insurance to feel secure and safe in any event and are comfortable with our future retirement.
We have not one complaint or reservation about working with Jan and Karen. It has probably been one of the most valuable and important financial investments we have ever made. Jan and Karen TRULY care about our family. They have taken the time to get to know us. They have gained our trust over the years and protected our money with down turns, and made us money during upturns. Every meeting with them provides a plethora of information and resources.
After seeing what they did for us, several of our family members have become clients of Jan and Karen and are just as happy as we are.
They make things understandable and explain every option. It is very easy to ask questions and get honest answers. They have a resource and contact for everything from tax preparation, to estate planning, to college planning.
You cannot go wrong here. It’s a great investment.

My wife and I have been clients of Jan and Karen since 2003. We feel we are in excellent care and it’s extremely useful to have a second opinion on whatever it is we’re thinking of, be it a refinance, solar panels, new car or anything else. We would not have been in a brand-​new house if it weren’t for their consistent advice over the years!

Many people are «afraid» of saving and are hesitant to seek the help of financial advisors. We all have different specialties in our lives and finance is NOT my specialty. My sister in law recommended Jan & Karen so we joined up with them back in Sept 2007. My partner and I both have money saved in the «usual» places, but Jan and Karen «specialize» your savings and really know where and how to invest your money. We talk about planning for our future, our financial goals and we meet every 4 months. Jan & Karen are thorough and they are able to define and explain «money stuff» in a relatively understandable manner! We completely trust Jan & Karen with our finances and enjoy doing business with them. Thank you Jan & Karen for all you have done for us!!!

I’ve been with Pretorius and Purvis since about 2005 as well. I was impressed when a friend who used Jan and Karen invited me to her housewarming party and she turned to them at the party and said, «Thank you for helping me find the money to buy this house.»
I like how they are there to answer questions about investments, budgeting and goal planning. We go over all of these things at our annual meetings. They are responsive to my calls and emails the day I contact them.
Jan really knows what he’s doing when it comes to investments. My group at work loves to compare their rates of return each month with their 401K investments. I am the only person in my work group who ended up with a positive rate of return for the year 2011. Every other person in the group ended up negative. I didn’t have to give this a thought: Jan knew what to do with the money and did it. He more than pays for himself when I consider my investment growth versus the Ameriprise fees.
I highly recommend Pretorius and Purvis.
Anne Woods

I have been going to Jan and Karen since 2000, when I was referred by a collegue. I had an Ameriprise advisor that was definintly not impressed with, so was expecting the same. At that time we were all part of American Express.
I was so delighted with the service, and they have become friends. We meet semi-​annually, but they are available anytime for consultation. I am not a financial planner, and knew social security would not be enough, so they helped me pay off debt, and keep my money safe during the market meltdown.
I would definitely recommend their services to anyone, and as I told Jan, he’s the first person in this business that I’ve met that was worth the money I pay them.

Jan and Karen have been our advisors since 2005 and we loove them! They are like friends to us. Ameriprise is known to be expensive, but they really help us out and never pressure us into doing things we don’t want to do. They saved us from losing lots of money during the downturn in the economy. To me, they are worth every penny to make sure our investments are on track and to keep me from stressing about it all.
I was originally referred to Ameriprise by a friend. His advisor was a family friend, so I trusted him. I was with him for about a year before I moved out here. My old advisor referred me to someone here in San Diego who would not return my calls or emails, so I was about to give up on Ameriprise.
Then, I was referred to Jan Pretorius. I made an appointment and went in to visit him at the La Jolla branch. I then discovered he had a partner with him, Karen Purvis. He likes to take care of retirement and 401 (k) stuff and she likes to take care of expenses, insurances, your financial goals, etc.
Eventually, they moved out into their own office at the Morena Blvd location. They acquired a paraplanner, Tracy, who is just as great. When we go in for our twice a year meetings, we are greeted by name and everyone is super friendly.
During our visits, we track our spending and savings, mostly with Karen. We focus on how on track we are with our goals and talk about making changes if needed. Jan will then talk about the market and our 401 (k) and changes he’s wanting to make, etc. I love not having to deal with all that! They’ve even made calls to try and help us out with things during our meetings and put the call on speaker phone for us to hear. Every once in a while, they will try to sell us the idea of something new, like life insurance. But, in the end, it is all our decision and have never ONCE felt pressured by them. I’ll admit, we’ve gone against their recommendation before. They return all emails and calls usually in the same day.
This office is very personable. They send us chocolate for Christmas, they sent us a wedding gift off our registery, and they call us for our birthdays. Seriously, I couldn’t imagine using anyone else as our financial advisors. Based on other reviews of Ameriprise, it all depends on who you get as an advisor. We got lucky. They do a terrific job and anyone interested should call them up for a free consultation.