Flat-fee financial planning for DIY investors: A clear retirement roadmap.
Answers to your questions, in plain English, so you can make informed financial decisions.
Good financial advice starts with looking at all aspects of your financial life. This allows me to bring all the pieces of your financial puzzle together in order to make recommendations based on the big picture.
The Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services engagement can provide a complete financial design, including specific investment recommendations, tailored to your unique situation.
Comprehensive financial planning services
The Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services engagement can include all of the services listed and more.
Cash Flow Services
Tax Planning
Calculate year-ending tax projections and identify strategies to reduce your tax bill.
Cash Flow Planning
Introduce you to tools you can use to help track where your cash goes and how to arrange your money to have cash flow and savings organized automatically. Learn how I approach cash flow planning.
Retirement Planning
Review your retirement plan and go over the different retirement planning philosophies and funding methodologies in order to help meet your goals and objectives.
Estate Services
Estate Planning
Review your estate planning documents, note any questions or concerns I have, and, if needed, help prepare you for a meeting with an estate planning attorney.
Investments Services
Portfolio Analysis
Illustrate an inventory of your investments and share with you my planning philosophy to help you understand how it applies to your financial situation.
Investment Recommendations
Determine a personalized investment plan and, if needed, make further adjustments to your allocation based on your goals and objectives to provide you with specific recommendations.
Retirement Income Recommendations
Share the role and function of a bond ladder in your investment plan, explain how it relates to retirement cash flow, and provide you with specific recommendations.
Insurance Services
Insurance Review
Review the insurance policies you have to help you develop an insurance portfolio that covers true economic risk.
The ultimate goal of the Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services engagement is to help you streamline your complicated finances so that everything makes sense when viewed together.
Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services process: What to expect
The Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services process is designed to be simple, transparent, and tailored to your needs.
Introductory Conversation
We’ll discuss your planning priorities, assess mutual fit, and explain my services and pricing. To provide a flat-fee quote, I’ll share a link to my secure data-gathering software to collect key information.
Quote Delivery
You’ll receive your flat-fee quote by email. If helpful, I’m happy to schedule a call to answer any questions before you decide to move forward. When you’re ready, I’ll send a client agreement for review and e-signature.
Getting to Know You
After reviewing your information, we’ll meet again to better understand your financial life, values, and aspirations. This helps me craft recommendations you’re more likely to implement. I’ll share these insights before our next conversation.
Recommendations Review
We’ll review your personalized recommendations together and answer any questions. You’ll leave with clear, actionable guidance—ready to move forward with confidence.
Hourly Financial Advising Services
As life evolves, you’re always welcome to return for hourly advising support tailored to your updated goals and circumstances.
Financial planning tailored to your level of complexity
We’ll define the scope together—so you only pay for the financial advice you want.
You’re in the driver’s seat. We’ll focus on what matters most to you and define the scope of our work together—nothing more, nothing less.
The pricing ranges below reflect comprehensive financial planning services based on overall complexity, with advice tailored to your unique situation.
Level One
Complexity: Low
Scope & Depth: Foundational and Core Strategy. Best for straightforward financial situations. We build a solid foundation by focusing on your primary retirement projections, baseline tax strategy, core asset allocation, and wealth-protection guardrails.
Fee: $2,250 – $4,500
Level Two
Complexity: Low to Moderate
Scope & Depth: Retirement and Lifestyle Mapping. Best for those navigating retirement transitions. I coordinate multi-account environments, optimize Social Security claiming, Roth conversion strategies, and withdrawal sequencing, and model life changes like home purchases or financial windfalls.
Fee: $3,375 – $6,750
Level Three
Complexity: Moderate
Scope & Depth: Career and Benefit Optimization. Best for integrating complex benefits. I optimize specific levers like pension elections, pre-65 healthcare planning, Roth conversion strategies, career pivots, and equity compensation such as stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs).
Fee: $4,500 – $7,875
Level Four
Complexity: Moderate to High
Scope & Depth: Advanced Equity and Compensation Strategy. Best for sprawling financial frameworks. I provide deep strategic layering for complex compensation (including equity awards and deferred compensation plans), proactive Roth conversion modeling, and multi-account optimization.
Fee: $5,625 – $9,000
Level Five
Complexity: High
Scope & Depth: Holistic Legacy and Cash-Flow Engineering. Best for the highest volume of moving parts. I provide comprehensive cash-flow engineering, advanced Roth conversion strategies, high-concentration equity strategies, and intricate legacy and estate design.
Fee: $9,000 or more
One half (50%) of the fee is collected upon execution of the agreement, and the remaining balance is due upon presentation of your recommendations.
The price of the Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services engagement will be established before you agree to work with me.
After this engagement, future financial reviews can be a fraction of the initial cost through Hourly Financial Advising Services engagements.
Frequently asked questions on Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services
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How’s the Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services fee determined?
The fee is a flat rate established before you decide to move forward. It’s based solely on the scope and complexity of your financial planning needs, so you only pay for the financial advice you need.
How does your flat-fee structure compare to traditional AUM (percentage-based) fees?
Most financial advisors charge an ongoing assets-under-management (AUM) fee—typically 1% of your investment portfolio—regardless of how much work they perform for you. On a $1.5 million retirement portfolio, that 1% fee costs you $15,000 every single year. This fee compounds as your accounts grow, quietly eroding your wealth without a clear, corresponding increase in the level of service or advice provided.
In contrast, I offer a transparent, one-time project fee for the Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services engagement. You pay strictly for the time, analysis, and strategic design required to build your financial roadmap, rather than an ongoing percentage of your assets. My advice-only financial planning model is designed to be the least conflicted advisory approach available. Because I do not manage your investments or receive commissions, I have no financial incentive to steer you into insurance and annuity products or specific investments. My goal is simple: to provide objective, expert strategy for a straightforward flat fee, leaving your life savings exactly where they belong—with you.
Is the fee paid all at once?
No. Half (50%) of the fee is collected when we begin working together, and the remaining balance is due when your personalized recommendations are presented.
Payment is processed through a secure, independent third-party system and can be made using ACH (bank transfer) or a credit/debit card. Unlike most financial advisory firms, I also accept credit cards—giving you the option to earn miles, points, cash back, or other card rewards. This flexibility means you won’t need to delay getting started. The sooner your financial roadmap is in place, the sooner you can begin putting it to work. For your security, I never have access to your payment information.
What happens after the Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services engagement is complete?
After the Flat-Fee Financial Planning Services engagement is complete, you can access ongoing financial guidance through Hourly Financial Advising Services, helping you stay on track as your life evolves.
Does this plan require me to move my investments to Milestones Financial?
No. You keep full control of your investments and accounts. While I provide detailed recommendations, your assets can remain wherever you choose—Vanguard, Fidelity, or Schwab. This is a core part of my advice-only financial planning model.