Services
Comprehensive planning, delivered as one connected system.
Ongoing planning engagements cover the same eight domains, including insurance, annuities and Medicare. Depth and frequency vary by level; the standard of advice does not.
Retirement income planning
We model the withdrawal sequence across taxable, tax-deferred and tax-free accounts, pressure-test it against poor early returns, and give you a paycheck strategy you can actually live on.
Social Security & Medicare timing
Claiming ages, spousal and survivor coordination, and the IRMAA brackets that quietly tax high-income retirees. Small timing decisions, six-figure consequences.
Tax strategy & Roth conversions
Multi-year bracket management, conversion windows before RMDs begin, charitable strategies like QCDs and bunching, and coordination with your CPA at filing time.
Investment allocation review
We evaluate what you already own for cost, overlap, tax efficiency and fit against the plan and then tell you what to change and what to leave alone.
Insurance, annuity & Medicare review
Life, disability and long-term care needs quantified from the plan itself, plus Medicare enrollment, Part D and supplement selection. If coverage is warranted, we can place it; if it isn't, we say so.
Estate & legacy coordination
Beneficiary audits, titling review, trust funding checks, and a working relationship with your attorney so documents and accounts finally agree with each other.
Business owner planning
Entity and compensation structure, retirement plan selection, buy-sell funding, and the exit that turns a business into retirement income.
Education & family goals
529 funding paths, gifting strategy, and how to help the next generation without putting a hole in your own retirement.
Ways to work together
Three levels. One standard of advice.
Not everyone needs a plan maintained year-round. Some people need one clear answer about retirement income or an insurance policy. Start where your actual question is, and move up only if it earns its keep.
Consultation
One-time engagement
For a specific decision about retirement income, Medicare, or a policy you already own. Focused advice, not continuous planning.
- Retirement income and withdrawal review
- Social Security and Medicare timing
- Insurance, annuity and long-term care needs analysis
- In-force review of policies and contracts you own
- Written summary with recommended next steps
- Comprehensive plan built from scratch
- Ongoing plan maintenance and reviews
Basic
Ongoing planning, annual
For households with a straightforward picture: W-2 income, standard retirement accounts, and a clear runway to retirement.
- Comprehensive plan built from scratch
- Retirement income and withdrawal sequencing
- Social Security and Medicare timing analysis
- Investment allocation and cost review
- Life, disability and long-term care needs analysis
- Beneficiary and account titling audit
- One annual review meeting
- Client portal and secure document vault
- Roth conversion strategy
- Business owner and equity comp planning
Core
Ongoing planning, annual
For people with moving parts: a business, equity compensation, rental property, or a retirement date inside the next five years.
- Everything included in Basic
- Multi-year tax projection and bracket management
- Roth conversion strategy through the gap years
- Business owner, entity and exit planning
- Equity compensation: RSUs, ISOs, NQSOs
- Rental and alternative asset modeling
- Estate coordination with your attorney and CPA
- Two review meetings plus a year-end tax session
- Unlimited email and scheduled call access
- Priority scheduling for time-sensitive decisions
Every level is a flat fee. We quote it in writing, and it is confirmed and agreed before any work begins, it does not change when your account balance does, and there are no hourly surprises. We walk through the number on your Retirement Snapshot, once we both understand which level actually fits. Investment management, and any insurance or annuity products you choose to purchase, are separate services with separate compensation, all three are set out in how we are paid.
Side by side
What changes between levels.
Consultation answers a defined question. Basic and Core cover the same eight domains; depth, frequency and access are what separate them.
| Included | Consultation | Basic | Core |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retirement income & withdrawal strategy | Included | Included | Included |
| Social Security & Medicare timing analysis | Included | Included | Included |
| Insurance, annuity & risk needs analysis | Included | Included | Included |
| Existing policy & contract review | Included | Included | Included |
| Written summary with recommended next steps | Included | Included | Included |
| Comprehensive plan built from scratch | Not included | Included | Included |
| Investment allocation & cost review | Not included | Included | Included |
| Beneficiary & titling audit | Not included | Included | Included |
| Client portal & secure document vault | Not included | Included | Included |
| Ongoing plan maintenance | Not included | Included | Included |
| Multi-year tax projection | Not included | Basic | Advanced |
| Roth conversion strategy | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Business owner & equity compensation planning | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Rental & alternative asset modeling | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Estate coordination with your attorney & CPA | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Year-end tax planning session | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Review meetings per year | One-time | 1 | 2 + tax session |
| Email & scheduled call access | During engagement | Scheduled | Unlimited |
Questions
Before you commit.
The things people ask on the first call, answered here instead.
What does it cost?
Every level is a flat annual or one-time fee, and we quote it in writing before any work begins. We do not publish the figures here because the right level depends on your situation, and quoting a number before understanding it tends to produce the wrong answer for both of us. You will have the exact fee in hand by the end of your free Retirement Snapshot, with no obligation to proceed.
Why is the planning fee flat rather than tied to my balance?
Because the plan has to be free to recommend things that shrink your invested balance. Paying off a mortgage, buying an annuity, gifting to a child, leaving money in a 401(k), a fee tied to assets quietly argues against all of them. Pricing the plan flat and separately removes that pull, and it means clients with smaller balances get the same quality of plan as clients with larger ones. If you also hire us to manage investments, that advisory fee is based on assets and is disclosed separately, precisely so you can see where each conflict sits.
How do I know which level I need?
That is what the Retirement Snapshot is for. Bring your statements and your questions, and we will tell you which level fits, including telling you the lower-cost one when that is the honest answer, or that you do not need us at all.
Can I start with a Consultation and move to ongoing planning later?
Yes, and many people do. A Consultation is a sensible way to test whether you like how we work before committing to an ongoing relationship.
Do you manage my investments?
We can, if you want us to. It is a separate and optional service from planning: we charge an investment advisory fee based on the assets we manage, quoted and agreed in writing before any account is opened. You are equally welcome to take the plan and implement it yourself, or keep the advisor you already have. Plenty of clients do, and the plan is identical either way.
Do I have to buy insurance to become a client?
No. Planning fees and product purchases are completely separate. Plenty of clients never buy a policy through us. When we do recommend coverage, it is because the plan shows a gap, and we show you the math behind it.
Can I switch levels later?
Yes. Most clients who start with Basic move to Core in the two or three years before retirement, when tax and income decisions get dense. You can move up at any time, prorated, or step back down at renewal.
Do you work with clients outside Colorado?
Yes. Planning is conducted virtually and we serve clients nationwide, with in-person meetings available in the Denver metro area.
Protection & guarantees
Plan first. Product second. Always in that order.
Annuities and permanent life insurance are among the most oversold products in this industry, and among the most useful when they are placed correctly. Both things are true.
We only recommend a product after the plan identifies a specific problem it solves: an income floor that Social Security and a portfolio can’t reliably cover, an estate liability that arrives at the worst possible time, a business that needs funding to change hands. If the plan doesn’t show the problem, we don’t propose the product.
The same discipline applies to Medicare. Enrollment timing, Part B and Part D penalties, and the choice between Advantage and Medigap are planning decisions with lifetime consequences, not a form to rush through in your sixty-fifth year.
What we place
Coverage we design and shop.
Independent across multiple carriers. We are not captive to one insurer’s shelf.
Term life insurance
The efficient answer for most income-replacement needs. We size it to the actual liability (mortgage, education, years of income) and let it expire when the need does.
Permanent & indexed life
For estate liquidity, special-needs funding, business continuation, and legacy goals with a genuinely permanent horizon. Priced honestly against the alternative of investing the difference.
Fixed & fixed indexed annuities
Principal protection and a contractual income floor. We compare guaranteed rates, participation caps and surrender terms across carriers before recommending one.
Income riders & SPIAs
Converting a portion of the portfolio into a paycheck that arrives regardless of what markets do. Sized as a floor, not as the whole plan.
Medicare & long-term care
Enrollment windows, IRMAA brackets, Advantage versus Medigap plus Part D, and the LTC question modeled three ways (traditional, hybrid, or self-funded) so you can see the real cost of each path.
Existing policy reviews
In-force illustrations on policies you already own. Sometimes the answer is keep it. Sometimes it is a 1035 exchange. Sometimes it is that the policy is quietly about to lapse.
The test we apply
If the plan works without the product, you don’t need the product.
Before any recommendation, we run the plan with and without the contract. You see both projections. If the guaranteed version doesn’t materially improve your outcome in the scenarios that worry you (a bad first decade, a long life, an early death, a care event), then it is not worth what it costs.
That test kills more proposals than it approves. We think that is the point.
Compensation
How we are paid, stated plainly.
Three revenue streams, three different disclosures. You should always know which one is in play, and none of them is hidden inside another.
Planning fees
A flat fee, quoted in writing and paid directly by you. This is the only compensation involved in building and maintaining your plan. It does not change when your account balance does, and you never have to move an account to become a planning client.
Investment advisory fees
If you choose to have us manage investment accounts, that is a separate advisory service with its own fee, based on the value of the assets we manage. It is quoted and agreed in writing before any account is opened. Because this fee does rise with your balance, it is a conflict of interest, and we disclose it as one. Planning never requires it, and declining it changes nothing about the plan you receive.
Insurance & annuity commissions
If you purchase a policy or contract through us, the issuing carrier pays a commission to the writing agent. That is a conflict of interest. We disclose the product, the carrier, the compensation structure and the alternatives in writing before you apply and you are always free to place the coverage elsewhere and stay a planning client.
Can I get insurance or Medicare help without ongoing planning?
Yes. That is what the Consultation is for. You get a needs analysis and a carrier comparison on a one-time basis, without the ongoing planning relationship.
Are you independent, or captive to one carrier?
Independent. We shop across multiple carriers and present the comparison. Product availability varies by state and by your health underwriting.
What if I already own an annuity or a life policy?
Bring it. We will order in-force illustrations and tell you what you actually own, including whether the surrender period has ended and whether a replacement would genuinely help you or just generate a new commission.
Will you ever tell me not to buy?
Regularly. It is the most common outcome of a protection review.
What you actually get
A plan you can log into, not a binder.
Ongoing planning clients get a live model on institutional-grade software, updated as things change. That means you get far more than a meeting summary.
Live cash-flow model
Income, spending and taxes projected year by year through life expectancy.
Scenario comparison
Retire two years earlier. Sell the rental. Fund a grandchild. See it side by side.
Account aggregation
Link outside accounts so the plan reflects your whole balance sheet, not a slice.
Secure document vault
Wills, trusts, policies and tax returns in one encrypted place your family can find.
How engagements run
Three weeks from first call to first action list.
Planning should have a start, a finish, and a clear handoff into ongoing work.
Initial consultation
Your situation, your questions, and whether we're a fit. No cost.
Data & goals
Secure document upload, account linking, and a working session on what you want the money to do.
Plan delivery
We walk the model together on screen, run scenarios live, and adjust in the room.
Implementation
A prioritized action list with owners and dates, then into the ongoing review cadence.
Next step
See what your plan actually says.
Bring your statements and your questions. We'll tell you what we see, and which level of service would actually cover it.