What we offer
We provide ongoing financial planning, tax planning and investment management for people in or near the "distribution" stage of life (i.e. retired and taking money out of their portfolios). 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
Sorry, but we do not provide hourly services or other limited engagement services such as one-time financial plans. Additionally, we do not provide "advice only" services; i.e. ongoing financial and/or tax planning without also directly managing your investments. We only provide ongoing planning and investment management, where the mutual expectation is the relationship will last at least multiple years, if not throughout all of your retirement
What you get
The starting point of our 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. We're there to be your trusted partner to help you make the necessary decisions and plan changes along the way
The initial financial plan is not a formal document filled with pages of graphs and lists of to-do items. Instead, it's more an interactive presentation and discussion of areas of opportunity, potential tax savings, investing considerations and overall financial recommendations; both now and in the future
Financial and tax 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!
After discussion of your initial plan, we'll work closely with you throughout our relationship. Typical next steps and areas in which we provide ongoing advice are:
- Transferring and/or consolidating investment accounts
- Reallocating investment portfolios
- Setting up and implementing a portfolio distribution plan
- Doing annual income and tax projections that include analysis and implementation of strategies such as:
- Roth conversions
- Minimizing Medicare Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts ("IRMAA")
- Tax loss or gain harvesting
- Charitable giving and gifting
- Establishing when to claim Social Security
- Selecting pension payment types
- Determining if annuities can be beneficial for your plan
- Assessing life and long-term care insurance needs
- Helping with the financial and tax aspects of buying and selling real estate
- Analyzing whether to pay off or refinance an existing mortgage
- Analyzing whether a reverse mortgage may be of benefit to you
- Assisting in updating or putting in place estate documents and beneficiary forms
We 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, discuss any questions or concerns 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 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 exchange traded funds ("ETFs") that track major stock and bond indices. We also often use individual U.S. Treasury securities
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 throughout the distribution stage of their life. We generally only work with people who are in or near traditional retirement...stopping work in their mid-50s or older. We are not experts in helping people in the F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early) process of leaving the workforce younger than in their 50s
Our typical client profile:
- 55 or older
- Single or married
- Children, if any, are independent young adults or adults
- Retired or within a couple of years of retiring
- If still working, not self-employed and not a business owner
- Will have Social Security and maybe a pension
- Owns a home, maybe also a vacation property and potentially one residential rental property
- Doesn't own any private investments such as hedge funds, private equity funds, partnership interests, private loans, commercial land, etc.
- Doesn't have citizenship outside of the U.S., and doesn't own any foreign investments, accounts or real estate
- Has investable assets between $1,500,000 to $7,000,000
- Has a net worth less than $10,000,000
Because we charge a flat annual fee, our service is generally the most cost-effective for those with investable assets in excess of $1,500,000. For investable asset sizes less than $1,500,000, the traditional percent of assets under management fee used by most other advisors may be more cost effective
We generally don't work with people whose net worth is in excess of $10,000,000, as that level of wealth is more likely to lead to higher levels of financial complexity that are beyond the scope of the fee we typically charge
What it costs
| For a couple | A flat annual fee, typically $12,000* per year |
| For an individual | A flat annual fee, typically $10,800* per year |
Unlike many advisors, our ongoing fee is not tied to the amount of your investable assets. The size of your investment accounts is 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
It's our intention that your annual fee will be the amount shown above, assuming it's appropriate for your financial circumstances. However, the more your financial profile differs from the profile of our typical client summarized above, a different level of fee may be appropriate. Your final fee will be agreed upon prior to entering a formal relationship with us
Your annual fee is expected to increase over time with inflation, as measured by CPI-U
On a quarterly basis, fees will be deducted directly from your investment accounts under our management at Charles Schwab
Next step
If you feel Tenon Financial may be a good fit for what you're looking for in an advisory relationship, please click below to:
Provide some info about yourself
* 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