Fees
What this costs, before you ask
Most advisory websites make you book a call to find out the price. I have never understood that. The number is below, along with what it includes and how to tell whether it is worth it.
Annual fee
0.50%–1.20%
of the assets I manage, and the percentage falls as they grow
- Minimum annual fee
- $12,000 per year
- Roughly equivalent to
- About 1.2% on $1,000,000, the top of the range
- Minimum investment
- $1 million in savings and investments
- Commissions
- None. I sell nothing.
How the fee works
My fee ranges from 0.50% to 1.20% of assets under management, with a minimum annual fee of $12,000. The percentage falls as the assets I manage grow.
On a portfolio near $1,000,000 the two meet at roughly 1 percent. Below that the floor is what applies, and if $12,000 would take an uncomfortable share of what you have saved, I will tell you on the first call rather than after you have spent time on it.
Nothing arrives as a bill. The fee comes out of the accounts I manage, which keeps it where you can see it, and you will know your exact number before you decide anything.
A useful way to judge it: if a conversion strategy saves your household a few hundred thousand in lifetime taxes, the fee looks like a rounding error. If your situation is simple enough that it would not, I will tell you, and you should hire someone cheaper.
What the fee covers
- Proactive, multi-year tax planning including Roth conversion sizing
- Retirement income design and an annual withdrawal schedule
- Social Security claiming strategy and Medicare coordination
- Investment management across every account I oversee
- Ongoing adjustments when the tax law changes or your life does
- Estate, beneficiary, and survivor planning alongside your attorney
- Charitable and family gifting strategy
- The many little conversations in between, and on-demand decision-making when life happens
What it does not
- Tax return preparation. That belongs with your CPA, and I work with them directly
- Legal documents. Your attorney drafts them, I make sure they match the plan
- Insurance products. I do not sell any, so I have no reason to recommend one you do not need
Why fee-only matters more than it sounds
As a fee-only advisor, I only get paid by you, never through commissions or product sales. No referral payments either, and no revenue sharing from a fund company. When I recommend something, there is no version of the recommendation that pays me more.
The difference shows up at the moments when it would be easiest to take advantage of you. Rolling a 401(k) over, buying an annuity, deciding whether to keep a pension as income. Under a commission model each of those has a version that pays the advisor well. Here, they do not.
Questions about the fee
As a fee-only advisor, I only get paid by you, never through commissions or product sales. I sell no insurance and no investment products, and I take no referral payments or third-party incentives. My fee ranges from 0.50% to 1.20% of assets under management, with a minimum annual fee of $12,000, and the percentage falls as the assets grow.
The fee covers all of my services: proactive tax planning, investment management, coordinated withdrawal strategies, ongoing adjustments, the many little conversations in between, and on-demand decision-making when life happens. It also covers Social Security and Medicare timing, and the estate and beneficiary work alongside your attorney. There is no separate planning charge and no per-meeting billing.
Yes. I work with households holding more than $1 million in savings and investments, not counting real estate. The $12,000 minimum fee lines up with that: on $1,000,000 it works out to 1.2 percent, the top of my range, and the percentage falls from there as the balance grows. Below $1 million my fee is hard to justify, and a planner who bills hourly or by the project will serve you better. I would rather tell you that now than after you have spent time on it.
Potentially. My minimum annual fee is $12,000, but the exact amount depends on the scope and complexity of your financial situation. My percentage-based fee gradually decreases as the assets I manage increase. In some circumstances, we may instead mutually agree on a fixed annual retainer that is fair to both sides. Regardless of the structure, I encourage clients to focus on the total dollar amount they are paying relative to the value they receive.
Yes, I expect clients to move their assets to me to oversee. To properly coordinate retirement income, tax strategies, risk management, and investment allocation, I need the complete picture and the ability to act on it. Split across two or three advisors, nobody owns the sequence, and the tax planning is the first thing to fall through the gap.
Hiring an advisor should only make sense if the value you receive clearly exceeds the cost. For my clients, that value comes from more than just investment management. It includes proactive tax planning, coordinated withdrawal strategies, and thoughtful decision-making across every part of your financial life. Done well, this can lead to meaningful tax savings, fewer costly mistakes, and better long-term outcomes. But just as important are the intangible benefits: clarity, confidence, and time. You do not have to second-guess decisions, keep up with changing rules, or manage everything on your own. Ultimately, my role is to help you make smarter decisions with your money so you can focus on enjoying your life, not managing your retirement plan. The best way to determine whether it is worth it is to experience it firsthand, which is why the intro call and the retirement strategy session cost you nothing, and you keep the analysis whether you hire me or not.
Let's find out if I can help.
The first conversation is 30 minutes on the phone, and you bring nothing to it. You describe what you are trying to sort out, and I tell you straight whether this is the kind of work I do well.