For members who joined prior to June 29, 2017, terms become effective upon next membership renewal on or after January 1, 2018.

These terms of membership (“Terms”) are between you ("Member" or “you”) and the Garrett Planning Network, Inc. ("Garrett") and govern our respective rights and obligations. Terms become effective upon Garrett’s acceptance of Member’s Application for Membership (“Application”) and the subsequent notification of approval by Garrett (“Effective Date”), which will occur via a welcome email sent by Garrett to the email address provided in Application. For and in consideration of the covenants and agreements herein and other good and valuable consideration, the parties agree as follows:

A. General Terms of Membership

In consideration for payment of the fees set forth below, Garrett agrees to provide you with certain products and services including, but not limited to the products and services set forth at https://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com/membership-and-prices ("Membership and Prices") to this Agreement applicable to the membership package you have selected. Materials provided by Garrett will be made available in electronic format on Garrett’s website and will not necessarily be provided in hard copy form. Membership and Prices may be updated from time to time by Garrett by posting an update on Garrett’s website and providing you with notice of such update. Membership and Prices as updated will be effective and binding on you 45 days after notice of such update is provided.

Membership Packages:

1. Standard Membership: Standard Memberships include the products and services for the price listed under Standard Membership on Membership and Prices.
2. Established Firm Membership: This package is available only to investment advisor representatives of established firms with a Form ADV that allows you to adhere to these Terms. Established Firm Memberships include the products and services for the price listed under Established Firm Membership on Membership and Prices.
3. Firm Associate Membership: This package is available only to associates of firms if all firm principals are Standard or Established Firm Members. Firm Associate Memberships include the products and services listed under Firm Associate Membership on Membership and Prices.

Payment Terms:

1. Payment information is provided by you at the time of your application, and YOU AUTHORIZE GARRETT (WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU, UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW) TO COLLECT THE APPLICABLE MEMBERSHIP FEES ON THE DUE DATE APPLICABLE FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP PACKAGE, AS SET FORTH BELOW.
2. For Standard Memberships and Established Firm Memberships, an initial payment as shown on Membership and Prices is due immediately upon submission of your Application and includes your first month of membership. If your application is not approved by Garrett, you will receive a refund of your initial payment, less a non-refundable $200 application fee, within a reasonable time period following rejection of your application. Firm Associate Membership is for the price shown on Membership and Prices.
3. Monthly payments are due, beginning one month from Effective Date, on the same calendar day as the Effective Date, and shall be in consideration for membership until the next payment due date.
4. You may opt to pay annually by notifying Garrett of such choice at least 10 days before your next monthly payment is due. Upon payment of an annual payment equal to the then-current monthly payment multiplied by 12 less a 5% discount for annual payments, your membership will continue for a 12 month period unless terminated pursuant to Section E, below.
5. Membership fees may be changed by Garrett from time to time and will be effective and binding on you 45 days after notice of such change is provided to you.

You may identify as a licensed Garrett Member only if you have transitioned to 100% Fee Only Services (as defined in Section B.1., below). You shall have the right to use the Garrett logo and the phrase “Member of The Garrett Planning Network, Inc.” in promotional materials, subject to these Terms. However, if you have not yet transitioned to 100% Fee Only services, you shall not be permitted to identify as a licensed Garrett Member, use the Garrett logo or the phrase “Member of the Garrett Planning Network, Inc.” or have a searchable profile posted on the Garrett website until such transition is complete.

B. Member Agreements

1. You shall provide services on a Fee-Only, accessible, fiduciary basis. For purposes hereof, “Fee-Only” shall mean that you are compensated solely by your client with neither you nor any related party receiving compensation that is contingent on the purchase or sale of a financial product. Notwithstanding the above, a new Member shall have up to 1 year from the date of registration as an investment advisor to terminate any trailing commissions.
2. You shall comply with all federal and state regulations regarding registrations which may apply to your activities as a financial advisor, including but not limited to becoming a registered investment advisor (“RIA”) by registering with the appropriate federal and state authorities. You shall provide Garrett with a copy your firm’s Form ADV Parts 1 and 2 upon application for membership, or, if you are not registered at the time of application, you shall provide a copy of your firm’s Form ADV Parts 1 and 2 upon registration.
3. You shall abide by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.’s Standards of Professional Conduct and the Committee for The Fiduciary Standard’s Fiduciary Oath.
4. Members with an Effective Date on or after January 1, 2007, must meet the certification requirements in Section C, below.
5. You shall provide financial advice on an as-needed basis to individuals from all walks of life, without any minimums as to income, assets, net worth, length of engagement or revenues generated.
6. Your firm shall identify as independently owned and operated and not owned or controlled by Garrett.
7. You acknowledge and agree that Garrett owns all rights in and title to the names The Garrett Planning Network, Inc., Garrett Planning Network, Garrett, the Garrett business model, the Garrett logo and all materials provided hereunder to you including all copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights.
8. You acknowledge and agree that any Garrett proprietary products and materials, including but not limited to marketing programs, templates, audio and video recordings (“Materials”) are unique and not generally available to the general public. You further acknowledge that Garrett owns all right, title and interest and copyrights to the Materials and that all of the Materials contain trade secrets and confidential information for purposes of these Terms.
9. You acknowledge and agree that the Garrett intranet, also known as the Knowledge Bank, and its contents, discussion forums, announcements, and other content is provided for the exclusive use of Garrett Members and under no circumstance shall any information, documents, discussions, or other content from the Knowledge Bank be shared with any party other than Garrett or other members of Garrett. You agree that you will abide by any and all rules and policies related to use of the Knowledge Bank provided from time to time by Garrett, including any rules or policies related to the discussion forums related thereto. You will not, in such discussion forums or any other communication method, in any way disparage Garrett or any member thereof.
10. You may download documents, recordings, and other items from the Garrett Knowledge Bank, provided that any such downloaded material may be used solely by you and only so long as you remain a member in good standing with Garrett. If you employ staff or work with independent contractors you shall be responsible for such employees and independent contractors maintaining Garrett trade secrets and the confidentiality of any document, resource, or information gain through your affiliation with Garrett.
11. You agree not to use the name “The Garrett Planning Network, Inc.”, “Garrett”, the Garrett logo or any materials owned, provided or developed by Garrett outside the use contemplated by these Terms, and to maintain confidentiality of the Garrett business model, intellectual property, trade secrets, Knowledge Bank contents and discussions other than as necessary to render advice to clients.
12. You agree not to represent any Materials owned, provided by or developed by Garrett as your own, except when used as a tool to market your services to clients or render advice to a client.
13. You agree to notify Garrett in writing at least 10 days prior to any material change in your information including address, telephone number, email address, website address or any other information contained on the Application.
14. You acknowledge, agree, and represent to Garrett that you have such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters, including experience as an investment advisor or financial planner, as to be capable of evaluating the merits and risks of providing services as a fiduciary and have not relied on any information provided by Garrett in making the decision to provide services on a Fee-Only, accessible basis.
15. You acknowledge and agree that neither membership in Garrett nor use of any of the Materials guarantees you profitability or clients.
16. You acknowledge and agree that the success or failure of your business is solely your responsibility.

C. Certification Requirements

Members of Garrett must now hold or obtain an approved certification within 5 years from the Member’s Effective Date or the date of Member’s initial RIA registration after becoming a member of Garrett. Certification must be maintained throughout membership. Members accepted prior to January 1, 2007 are strongly encouraged but not required to obtain one of the certifications/designations.

Approved Certifications/Designations for the Members:

1. CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) certification, granted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
2. Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential, granted to CPAs by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

D. Confidentiality

1. Garrett grants you limited rights to use Confidential Information (as defined below) pursuant to these Terms and your membership in Garrett. For purposes of these Terms, Confidential Information shall include (i) the Materials, (ii) techniques, procedures, sales methods, other business methods and practices developed by Garrett, (iii) information and products, including but not limited to, Garrett’s business model, software, training materials, audio and video recordings and other promotional materials, logo or name and products and materials, developed or provided by Garrett, (iv) discussions and materials provided or shared by other members of Garrett and available on Garrett’s intranet site (the Knowledge Bank), (v) these Terms, including amount of your membership fees, provided herein, and (vi) any other information gained as a result of or related to your membership in Garrett, including use of the Knowledge Bank, which are not generally known to the public and are confidential in nature, all of which are and will continue to be of great and unique value to Garrett. Confidential Information shall not include information that (i) is or becomes generally available to the public at large or to other professionals in the same or similar business as Garrett other than as a result of disclosure in violation of these Terms, (ii) is available to you on a non-confidential basis from a source other than Garrett or the Knowledge Bank, or (iii) was known to you on a non-confidential basis prior to its disclosure to you by Garrett.
2. You agree that all such Confidential Information acquired by you or that you will acquire as a result of or related to membership in Garrett will be kept and maintained as confidential, in complete secrecy, except to the limited extent necessary to render advice to clients or as otherwise provided in these Terms. You agree not to copy, duplicate or store on computer files any of the Confidential Information which may be disclosed to you and shall not permit any other person to do so, except that to the extent written materials are marked as “may be duplicated for internal use of members only” or marked with any similar provisions, such materials may be duplicated in accordance with the express terms provided on the materials. The terms of this provision shall survive termination of membership.
3. In the event you breach the Confidentiality provision of these Terms, Garrett shall be entitled, in addition to all other remedies available to it at law or in equity, to equitable relief, including specific performance and injunctive relief to enforce and provision hereof and to restrain you from using or disclosing, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, any Confidential Information. You agree that, in addition to other costs and damages resulting from a breach of these provisions, you shall pay Garrett’s attorneys’ fees and expenses.

E. Termination of Membership

1. Unless terminated as provided herein, these Terms remain in effect UNLESS YOU GIVE WRITTEN NOTICE OF YOUR INTENT TO TERMINATE MEMBERSHIP AT LEAST 10 DAYS BEFORE YOUR NEXT PAYMENT DUE DATE. YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR MEMBERSHIP WILL AUTOMATICALLY CONTINUE AND YOU AUTHORIZE GARRETT (WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU, UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW) TO COLLECT THE THEN-APPLICABLE MEMBERSHIP FEE, INCLUDING TERMINATION FEES IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH 3 OF THIS SECTION, USING ANY ELIGIBLE PAYMENT METHOD WE HAVE ON RECORD FOR YOU.
2. Garrett may terminate your membership at any time upon written notice to you if Garrett determines, in its sole discretion, that you (i) have violated or breached any provision of these Terms, including without limitation any confidentiality provisions of these Terms or (ii) have failed to provide competent service to clients consistent with the requirements of these Terms.
3. If membership is terminated within 12 months of the Effective Date, a termination fee of $1,500 will be charged to you, due upon termination.
4. You must notify Garrett within 5 days if you fail to meet any of the criteria for membership in Garrett as set forth in Sections B and C hereof or otherwise cease to conduct business as a Fee-Only Certified Financial Planner or other qualified professional designation. Your membership in Garrett will be automatically terminated at such time as you fail to meet all such membership criteria or cease to conduct business.
5. Upon any termination set forth above, you agree to immediately cease using and to appropriately destroy any and all Materials provided to you by Garrett, including but not limited to audio and video recordings, manuals, products and materials obtained from Garrett’s Knowledge Bank and any other written or electronic materials. You further agree to immediately cease the use of Garrett logo, the phrase “Member of The Garrett Planning Network, Inc.” and any other name, logo or mark owned by or associated with Garrett. In the event you fail to comply with this provision, Garrett shall be entitled to any and all remedies at law or in equity available to it, including but not limited to injunctive relief as provided in Section D, above, and indemnification as set forth in Section F, below.
6. Upon termination of your membership in Garrett for any reason, you acknowledge and agree that all of your contributions to the Garrett intranet, also known as the Knowledge Bank and its contents, including, but not limited to documents, discussion postings, and other content shall be the property of Garrett and shall remain part of the Knowledge Bank.
7. Upon termination of your membership in Garrett for any reason, you shall not be entitled to a refund of all or any part of membership fees paid.

F. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Garrett, its shareholders, officers, directors, employees, agents, successors and assigns (the “Garrett Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all claims, demands, judgments, orders, losses, damages, costs, charges, liens, debts, fines, or penalties, including attorneys’ fees and consultant fees, arising from or relating to a breach of any of the provisions of these Terms by you, your membership in Garrett or your use of Garrett’s name, logo, products or other materials; provided, however, that Member shall not be required to indemnify the Garrett Indemnified Parties for any claims to the extent such claims arise solely out of Garrett’s or any Garrett Indemnified Party’s gross negligence, willful misconduct or material breach of these Terms. The terms of this provision shall survive termination of membership.

G. Miscellaneous

1. These Terms shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Kansas, without regard to conflict of laws principles. For purposes of any action brought as a result of these Terms, your membership in Garrett or any other action between the parties, the parties hereby consent to, submit to the personal jurisdiction of and waive any objection to, the exclusive jurisdiction of state court in Olathe, Johnson County, Kansas, and the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The parties further consent to and waive any objection that venue of any action brought as a result of these Terms or your membership in Garrett is proper in the above jurisdictions.
2. The parties acknowledge that these Terms set forth the entire understanding and agreement of the parties hereto as to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all previous understandings, discussions or negotiations between the parties, written or oral, regarding such subject matter. You acknowledge and certify that you have carefully read these Terms and understand that only those agreements contained herein are binding on the parties hereto.
3. If one or more of the provisions of these Terms shall be held invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. In the event any provision is held illegal or unenforceable, the parties shall use reasonable efforts to substitute a valid, legal or enforceable provision which, insofar as is practical, implements the purposes of the provision held invalid, illegal and unenforceable.
4. Failure at any time to require performance of any of the provisions herein shall not waive or diminish a party's right thereafter to demand compliance therewith or with any other provision. Waiver of any default shall not waive any other default. A party shall not be deemed to have waived any rights hereunder unless such waiver is in writing and signed by a duly authorized officer of the party making such waiver.
5. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL GARRETT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OR YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN GARRETT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE MATERIALS, EVEN IF GARRETT HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
6. You may not assign or sublicense any membership rights or any of the Materials provided under these Terms without the express written permission of Garrett. Garrett may assign its right under these Terms at any time without your consent.
7. These Terms may be executed in any number of separate counterparts, each of which shall, collectively and separately, constitute one agreement. Delivery of an executed counterpart of these Terms by electronic mail in PDF form shall be as effective as delivery of a manually executed counterpart hereof. The parties hereto also affirmatively consent to acceptance of these Terms electronically. You understand the option to receive a paper version of these Terms by requesting the paper version from Garrett.
8. Garrett may in our discretion change these Terms with 45 days advance notice to you. If any change to these Terms is found invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that change is severable and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining changes or conditions. YOUR CONTINUED MEMBERSHIP AFTER A CHANGE TO THESE TERMS CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHANGES. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ANY CHANGES, YOU MUST TERMINATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP.
9. Any written notice, pursuant to these Terms, by you to Garrett shall be email addressed to staff@garrettplanning.com or postal mail addressed to: THE GARRETT PLANNING NETWORK, INC., 103 E. Van Buren, #140, Eureka Springs, AR 72632