and by nobody else.
Fee-only financial planning for households approaching or in retirement. A flat annual fee, published below. No commissions, no products sold, and no third party paying us for your business.
- How we are paid
- Flat annual fee, by you
- Commissions
- None, from anybody
- First meeting
- Ninety minutes, no charge
- Standard
- Fiduciary, at all times
Whether this is for you
Stated at the top rather than discovered after a meeting. We are a good fit for a narrow group and a poor one for everybody else.
A good fit
- Ten years from retirement, or newly in it
- Several accounts nobody has looked at together
- A pension or equity package you do not fully understand
- Recently widowed, divorced, or newly responsible for the money
- Wanting a plan rather than a product
Also works well
- Business owners approaching a sale
- Households with one saver and one spender
- Adult children helping a parent get organised
- Anyone who has been sold something and is unsure why
We are the wrong firm if
- You want somebody to pick individual stocks
- You are looking to beat the market
- You want day-to-day trading or market timing
- You are looking for the cheapest possible option
- Your affairs need a full-time family office
The third column is the honest one. We are not the cheapest and we are not trying to be exciting. If either of those is what you are shopping for, we will say so in the first ten minutes rather than the ninetieth.
A plan first, and only then a portfolio
Most of the value is in the decisions, not the investments.
Almost every household that arrives here has the same problem, and it is not their asset allocation. It is that nobody has ever laid the whole thing out on one page: the accounts, the pension, the mortgage, the tax position, what happens if one of you dies, and when you can actually stop working. The plan is that page, and the first year is mostly spent building it properly.
Investments follow from the plan rather than the other way round, and they are deliberately dull: broadly diversified, low cost, rebalanced on a schedule rather than on a hunch. We do not pick stocks, we do not time markets, and we will not pretend either is where your money comes from.
The recurring work is the review. Twice a year, in person, going through what has changed in your life rather than what has changed in the market. Roughly half of what we do in those meetings is tax and timing, and none of it involves buying anything from us.
- Planning first
- Year one is mostly the plan
- Reviews
- Twice a year, in person
- Investments
- Low cost, diversified, rebalanced
- Products sold
- None, ever
Exactly what we are paid
A flat annual fee, in dollars, not a percentage of your assets. Published because the fee model is the most important thing about an adviser and the hardest thing to find out.
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
First meetingNinety minutes. A look at everything you have, and an honest view on whether you need us. | No charge |
Financial planOne-off. The whole picture on one page, with the decisions and the order to take them in. Yours to keep whether or not you continue. | $4,500 |
Ongoing planning and adviceFlat annual fee, billed quarterly. Two reviews a year, unlimited questions between them, and tax coordination with your accountant. | $7,200 a year |
Ongoing, complex householdsBusiness interests, trusts, equity compensation or property in more than one state. | From $11,000 a year |
Hourly adviceFor people who want a specific question answered and nothing more. | $350 an hour |
The fee does not rise because your portfolio does. A percentage-of-assets fee means your adviser is paid more for holding more, which is a poor incentive when the right advice is to pay off a mortgage, delay a pension, or give money away. Third-party custody and fund costs are charged by those providers, are disclosed in full before you commit, and none of them is paid to us.
Book a first meetingWhat we are, and what we are obliged to do
The four things worth checking about any adviser, and where to check them independently.
- Registered investment adviserRegistered with the state securities regulator. The registration number is on our disclosure brochure.
- Fiduciary at all timesLegally obliged to act in your interest, on every recommendation, not only on some of them.
- Fee-onlyCompensated solely by client fees. No commissions, referral fees, revenue sharing or third-party payments of any kind.
- Certified Financial PlannerBoth advisers hold the certification and complete the required continuing education.
- Disclosure brochureThe regulatory filing describing our fees, conflicts and disciplinary history. Sent before any engagement and available on request at any time.
- No disciplinary historyVerifiable independently through the public regulatory database rather than by taking our word for it.
Every claim in this band is checkable by you, independently, without asking us. That is deliberate: an adviser asking you to trust their credentials rather than verify them is an adviser you should verify. On a live site this band carries the real registration numbers and links to the public database.
The ones worth asking any adviser
How are you paid, exactly?
A flat annual fee, paid by you, billed quarterly. We receive nothing from any product provider, custodian, insurer or referral arrangement. Ask every adviser you meet this question and listen for whether the answer contains the word commission.
Are you a fiduciary all of the time?
Yes, on every recommendation. Some advisers are fiduciaries for part of their advice and salespeople for the rest, which is legal and worth knowing about before you sign anything.
Do you hold my money?
No. Your accounts are held at an independent custodian in your name. We have authority to advise and to rebalance, and no authority to move money to ourselves.
What returns should I expect?
We will not answer that, and neither should anybody else. Nobody knows what markets will do. What we will show you at the first meeting is a range of outcomes and what each one would mean for your plan.
What if I only want the plan?
That is a listed service and a completely reasonable thing to want. You get the plan, it is yours, and there is no obligation to continue.
What if I want to leave?
Thirty days notice, no exit fee, and we will transfer everything and speak to whoever you move to. Your accounts were never held by us in the first place.
Book a first meeting
Ninety minutes, no charge and no obligation. Bring whatever statements you have, or none. You will get a straight answer about whether we can help.
Worth bringing
- Recent statements for anything you hold, if you have them
- Any pension or equity compensation paperwork
- A rough idea of what you spend in a year