No. The Foundational Coordination Phase is the onboarding process for the ongoing advisory relationship. It helps establish priorities, identify opportunities and constraints, and create a foundation for our ongoing work together.
The work completed during onboarding carries forward into future planning discussions and ongoing coordination.
Yes. Investment management is included as part of the ongoing advisory relationship.
The Foundational Coordination Phase focuses on understanding your current retirement structure, identifying planning priorities, and coordinating spending, income, taxes, and investments before implementation begins.
Mark Sharp Retirement is a boutique financial planning firm focused on helping retirees and near-retirees coordinate spending, income, taxes, and investments over time.
The firm is intentionally structured around ongoing planning rather than one-time recommendations.
We work best with retirees and near-retirees who value clarity, coordination, and a long-term planning relationship.
Clients tend to be less interested in chasing maximum outcomes and more focused on understanding what their resources can realistically support.
Clients come to us at different points.
Some engage several years before retirement to gain clarity around spending, timing, and income sustainability. Others reach out after retiring, when income decisions and tax coordination become more immediate.
In both cases, the common thread is a desire for an ongoing, structured planning relationship rather than reactive, one-off decisions.
Mark Sharp Retirement is a virtual-only financial planning practice.
We work with clients nationwide using video meetings and secure digital tools. This model works best for clients comfortable using technology as part of an ongoing relationship.
Communication is designed to be clear, predictable, and efficient.
We primarily use scheduled video meetings, secure messaging, and shared planning materials. Meeting cadence is established in advance and adjusted as needed, with additional touchpoints when life or circumstances change.
No. While the firm is based in Oregon, we work with clients throughout the United States.
Because services are delivered virtually, location is less important than fit and comfort with remote collaboration.
Retirement planning decisions tend to unfold over time.
While clients may come to us around a specific decision, our work is structured around an ongoing planning relationship rather than standalone or hourly engagements.
Retirement income coordination focuses on how spending, income, taxes, and investments work together to support retirement over time.
It coordinates spending needs, investment structure, and tax considerations so your resources can support your lifestyle over time—not just early in retirement, but across decades as circumstances change.
Clients stay informed and engaged without needing to manage the details themselves.
Our role is to handle coordination and follow-through while keeping you involved at a level that feels appropriate and comfortable.
Retirement income coordination follows a structured annual rhythm that includes scheduled reviews, tax-planning checkpoints, and ongoing portfolio oversight.
Adjustments are made when they’re warranted—based on changes in your life, markets, tax rules, or priorities.
Retirement decisions continue long after retirement begins.
The initial planning work establishes a foundation, but spending needs, income sources, tax opportunities, market conditions, and personal priorities all evolve. Decisions about Social Security, Roth conversions, charitable giving, Medicare-related tax thresholds, required minimum distributions, and portfolio withdrawals often occur years apart, yet each decision can affect future options.
Ongoing coordination helps ensure these decisions continue to work together as circumstances change rather than being made in isolation.
Continuity is an important part of a long-term advisory relationship.
Key decisions, assumptions, and coordination records are documented and maintained so support can continue if I am temporarily unavailable. Arrangements are also in place to help ensure clients remain supported should an unexpected situation arise.
The goal is continuity and stability—not disruption.
Success isn’t measured by short-term performance or market comparisons.
Instead, progress is reflected in whether spending, income, taxes, and investments remain aligned as circumstances evolve.
As a boutique firm, clients work directly with the advisor responsible for their planning.
The focus is on depth, continuity, and thoughtful decision-making rather than scale or volume.
As assets, responsibilities, and life circumstances evolve, the planning relationship adapts with them.
The scope of coordination may change, but the planning approach and cadence remain consistent.
Tax decisions don’t happen once a year — they’re integrated into retirement income planning throughout the year.
We monitor withdrawals, Roth conversions, charitable strategies, and bracket utilization as part of your overall income strategy. After your tax return is completed, we review it together to ensure alignment with prior planning assumptions and to recalibrate projections for the year ahead.
While tax return preparation and filing occur separately, we coordinate closely to help ensure your tax reporting reflects deliberate retirement income decisions rather than reactive outcomes.
Tax preparation focuses on reporting what has already happened.
Tax planning focuses on influencing what happens next.
Our role is to coordinate retirement income, investment decisions, and tax strategy throughout the year—so your filing reflects intentional decisions rather than reactive outcomes.
Yes. Tax return preparation and filing are separate from the advisory relationship. You may prepare your own return or work with a CPA or other tax professional. When appropriate, we can coordinate with your tax preparer to help ensure that tax reporting remains aligned with the retirement income decisions being implemented throughout the year.
We review your completed tax return and prior-year results to confirm bracket utilization, retirement distributions, Roth conversions, charitable strategies, RMDs, and IRMAA exposure. We then recalibrate projections and make forward-looking adjustments for the current year.
This meeting is strategic—not mechanical.
We focus on retirement-related tax coordination, including withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversions, IRMAA management, and charitable giving strategies. Tax return preparation and specialized tax compliance work, such as business entity, multi-state, estate, and trust filings, fall outside the scope of the advisory relationship. When appropriate, we coordinate with your tax preparer to help ensure those filings align with your broader retirement income strategy.
Retirement planning works best when strategy, monitoring, and time-sensitive decisions are separated throughout the year. Our annual rhythm ensures clarity, prevents overwhelm, and reduces reactive decision-making.
Many retirement decisions involve multiple professionals. When appropriate, we coordinate with your tax preparer, attorney, insurance professional, and other advisors to help ensure everyone is working from the same information and understands how decisions in one area may affect others.
Our role is not to replace those professionals. Rather, we help connect the dots between spending, income, taxes, investments, and other planning considerations so that recommendations and actions remain aligned over time.
The level of coordination varies based on your circumstances and may include sharing information, reviewing recommendations, participating in conference calls, or helping identify questions that should be addressed with other professionals.
You don’t need to have everything perfectly organized before getting started.
We guide you through a structured onboarding process that typically includes recent account statements, tax returns, and basic information about income sources and goals.
Yes. Mark Sharp Retirement operates as a fiduciary.
This means advice is provided in your best interest, without commissions or product-driven incentives.
I hold several professional designations that support an integrated planning approach:
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CFP® — comprehensive financial planning and fiduciary standards
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RICP® — retirement income planning and long-term decision-making
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WMCP® — portfolio construction within a broader planning framework
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Enrolled Agent (EA) — advanced knowledge of federal tax law and retirement-related tax strategy
Together, these credentials allow income, investments, and taxes to be coordinated rather than handled in isolation.
Fee-only planning means advice is provided without commissions or product sales.
Clients pay directly for services, which helps reduce conflicts of interest.
Fees reflect the level of coordination and responsibility involved, with investable assets serving as the primary guide.
Because each household's circumstances differ, fees are discussed as part of the planning process to ensure clarity and transparency. For additional information, including typical fee ranges and service options, please visit the Services & Fees page.
Start with an introductory conversation.
We’ll discuss your situation, priorities, and questions, then determine whether the advisory relationship is a good fit for both of us.