FAQ

(1) People with above DIY-level complexity and who want advice they can trust.

(2) People who want advice but don't want someone to manage their investment assets.

(3) People who want a second opinion from their current advisor.

(4) People with advanced equity compensation questions/planning needs (this might go without saying because of all of the site’s content).

The biggest drivers of value are different for every client. That said, the easiest areas for us to find value are (1) we reduce/eliminate the need for an advisor who bills investment accounts, (2) save tax dollars by tax planning and reviewing previous tax returns (likely reducing charge hours by your CPA), (3) improve outcomes from the equity compensation you receive.

We try hard to quantify the value/savings we’re providing each of our clients as we work together. Our hope is that your net worth increases faster than it would have had you continued to not engage with us.

No, but it's pretty common. If you've done a detailed plan or feel you have a good grasp on your current plan, we can jump right into ongoing.

If you only repeat one-time engagements you’ll have less access to us between engagements and won’t have as much assistance implementing recommendations. That said, we aren’t going to stop you from engaging with us!

The difference between the lower and higher fees ultimately comes down to the total time we need to spend to provide you with correct advice – the total time we spend completely depends on the complexity of your situation.

We won’t leave you wondering and will tell you upfront which fee will be applicable after you describe your situation to us.

Fee-Only means that your advisor only receives revenue from the client. There are no commissions or odd backdoor payments from vendors. A common misconception is that fee-only advisors don’t charge based on assets under management (AUM) – this is incorrect. Most fee-only advisors still charge a percentage of AUM.

Advice-Only means that the advisor does not charge asset management fees and does not directly manage client investment accounts. It still can technically mean there are commissions from vendors they recommend, so it’s still important that someone is both fee-only AND advice-only (assuming true advice-only is what you’re looking for).

We totally could and sometimes it may even be easier. The problem is that we would cease to be a truly advice-only firm. By not managing investments for clients at all, we’re able to reduce potential conflicts of interest and focus all of our efforts on you and the advice we’re giving you.

We meet with clients regularly and checking in on investments is something that’s done at least once or twice a year. We also establish feeds into our planning software to review balances and holdings.

No, but we’re great at planning for taxes. Perhaps someday we’ll offer tax filing, but for now we just refer you to our vast network of reliable tax preparers.

Let us know and we’ll stop billing. Since we bill monthly, it’s helpful if we have a 30 day notice, but we’re understanding. We’d also appreciate any and all feedback you have for us.

This one depends on how much of the engagement we’ve completed. Usually we bill based on the percentage that’s complete - just let us know and we can have a conversation.