What we offer
We provide ongoing planning and advice about all aspects of your finances. This includes discretionary management of your investments and ongoing tax minimization planning. Additionally, we can coordinate the preparation and filing of your income tax returns through Tenon Tax Preparation, a separate company that's under common ownership with Tenon Financial
What you get
The starting point of our ongoing service is the creation of your financial plan, which is the roadmap for future decision making. However, as life happens, financial markets do what they do and tax legislation changes, your financial plan will inevitably evolve. With our ongoing planning & investment management service, we're there to be your trusted partner to help you make the necessary decisions along the way
After completion of your initial plan, we'll work closely with you throughout our relationship. Typical areas in which we provide ongoing advice are:
- annual portfolio withdrawal strategies
- Roth conversions
- establishing when to claim Social Security
- selecting pension payment types
- transferring and/or consolidating investment accounts
- reallocating investment portfolios
- determining health insurance options
- establishing a spending plan
- consolidating debt
- refinancing a mortgage
- buying or selling real estate
- amending insurance coverage
- updating estate documents and beneficiary forms
- changing income tax withholding elections
Financial planning is a process, not a product. It's a close ongoing relationship between us involving regular Zoom meetings, calls, e-mails, etc. The ultimate goal is for us to help you make the best possible decisions around your finances to allow you to live your best possible retirement!
We'll typically have two formal meetings per year to update your plan, refine your portfolio withdrawal strategy, determine each year's tax planning objectives and actions, review estate plans and wishes, discuss any questions you have, etc. While the goal is to have the two official meetings each year, you're not limited to only working with us every six months...we're here for you as life happens! We're accessible by Zoom, phone or e-mail as life unfolds and financial decisions need to be made
Additionally, you'll have continuous access to your own personal finance portal through eMoney, our financial planning software. Your eMoney portal allows you to aggregate info from all of your various banking, investment and lending accounts into one single view. You'll be able to see and track your net worth, investment holdings, cash flow projections and various other financial reports
We'll also provide ongoing discretionary management of your investable assets, through accounts held in custody at Charles Schwab. We use a straightforward, passive and fee-conscious investing approach that ensures your portfolio will remain diversified, low cost and properly allocated for your risk tolerance and financial profile. We typically invest using a combination of Vanguard exchange traded funds ("ETFs") that track major stock and bond indices
We also focus on long-term tax minimization throughout our financial planning and investment management processes. Additionally, we can coordinate the preparation and filing of your tax returns through Tenon Tax Preparation, a separate company that's under common ownership with Tenon Financial
For whom is this service best
This service is best for anyone in or within a few years of retirement who's looking for a trusted fiduciary partner to help with ongoing financial, tax and investment decisions
Our service is generally the most cost-effective for those with investable assets of $1,000,000 or more. It's not the right fit for those with net worth in excess of $10,000,000
What it costs
| For a couple | A flat annual fee, typically $10,800* per year |
| For an individual | A flat annual fee, typically $9,600* per year |
Your fee will be agreed upon prior to entering a formal engagement with us. Fees will be deducted directly from your investment accounts under our management at Charles Schwab
Unlike many advisors, our ongoing fee is not tied solely to the amount of your investable assets. The size of your investment accounts is generally a poor gauge of the complexity of your financial life and therefore a poor gauge of the amount of time and resources necessary to provide you proper planning and advice
Most advisors whose fees are based on assets under management charge between 0.8% to 1.5% per year. On an account size of $1,000,000, the annual fee would normally be between $8,000 to $15,000 per year. And the larger the account, the higher the fee...even if it isn't any more work!
Next step
At the moment, we're unfortunately not taking additional requests for introductory calls. However, you can find a list of other retirement-focused advisors who offer flat fees on the Advisor Referrals list
* The fee may be higher if you are a business owner, have a highly structured legal estate, own private or illiquid investments, own multiple rental properties or otherwise have a lot of complexity in your financial life. We will quote you the final fee after having an introductory call