Establishing the Starting Point for the Ongoing Relationship
Before retirement decisions can be coordinated over time, we first need to understand how your financial resources are currently structured, what they need to support, and which decisions require attention first.
The Foundational Coordination Phase is the first 60–90 days of the ongoing advisory relationship. During this period, we gather and review your financial information, identify opportunities and constraints, establish initial priorities, and determine how your investments should support the retirement structure being developed.
By the end of this phase, we have a shared understanding of where things stand, what needs attention, and the direction for the work that follows.
How It Works
Phase 1: Information Gathering & Discovery
Understand where things stand.
We begin by gathering the financial information needed to understand your current retirement structure, spending needs, resources, and priorities.
This includes completing relevant profiles and assessments, reviewing financial documents, and meeting to discuss the decisions and concerns that brought you to the relationship.
The goal is to establish a shared understanding of your starting point and the questions that require attention.
Phase 2: Analysis & Initial Coordination
Evaluate what needs attention.
We then evaluate how your spending, income sources, taxes, and investments currently fit together.
This work identifies important opportunities, constraints, tradeoffs, and decisions that may require attention now or in the years ahead.
Time-sensitive matters that arise during onboarding may also be addressed during this phase.
Phase 3: Foundational Coordination Summary
Establish the initial direction.
During the Foundational Coordination Summary Meeting, we review the key observations from our analysis, discuss the decisions and tradeoffs that matter most, and establish priorities for the work ahead.
The result is a clear starting point for ongoing coordination: what requires attention, what can wait, and how the major retirement decisions should be approached.
This direction also provides the context for the investment work that follows.
Phase 4: Investment Guide Review
Align investments with their responsibilities.
We then develop your Investment Guide, translating the retirement structure established during the coordination process into account-specific investment recommendations.
During the Investment Guide Review, we explain the recommended portfolio structure, what is changing and why, and how each account is positioned in relation to spending needs, income requirements, tax considerations, and its intended responsibility.
If we manage your investments, we implement and coordinate the recommended changes. If you manage your own accounts, the Investment Guide provides the account-specific recommendations for you to implement.
Transition to Ongoing Coordination
The Foundational Coordination Phase establishes the initial structure and priorities for the relationship. It is not the end of the planning process.
Once the foundational work is complete, the relationship moves into the annual planning rhythm. That is where earlier decisions are carried forward, implementation is reviewed, and new decisions are addressed as circumstances change.
Some matters may require attention soon after onboarding. Others may not become relevant until later in retirement. The ongoing process provides a structure for deciding what needs attention now, what can wait, and when earlier decisions should be revisited.
From that point forward, the work continues through recurring reviews of spending, income, taxes, and investments, with additional attention given to time-sensitive decisions as they arise.
See How the Annual Planning Rhythm Works
annual Advisory Fee
The ongoing advisory relationship begins at $7,500 per year.
Fees may increase as the amount and complexity of retirement resources increase. As a general guideline, the annual fee typically increases by approximately $1,250 for each additional $1 million of investable assets.
The scope of the relationship remains consistent. Fee differences reflect the amount of ongoing coordination required rather than different levels of service.
When investment management is included, it is part of the ongoing advisory relationship and is not subject to a separate asset-based management fee.
about the Foundational Coordination Phase
Is the Foundational Coordination Phase a standalone service?
No. It is the onboarding phase of the ongoing advisory relationship and transitions directly into the firm's annual planning rhythm.
What is included?
The phase includes information gathering, document review, discovery discussions, analysis of spending, income, taxes, and investments, identification of initial priorities, and the Foundational Coordination Summary Meeting.
It also includes development of an Investment Guide and an Investment Guide Review Meeting to explain the recommended portfolio structure, what is changing and why, and how each account is positioned for its intended responsibilities.
How long does it typically take?
Most Foundational Coordination Phases are completed within approximately 60–90 days. Timing may vary based on complexity, account transfers, investment implementation, and how quickly required information is provided.
Begin the Ongoing Advisory Relationship
Every ongoing relationship begins with the Foundational Coordination Phase to establish the starting point, identify what requires attention first, and create the direction for the work that follows.
Meeting requests are reviewed before an appointment is confirmed.
Request an Introductory Meeting