The Foundational Planning Phase is the first step of the ongoing retirement planning relationship. It’s designed for households in the early years of retirement who want clarity on how spending, income, investments, and taxes fit together—before long-term patterns are established.

This initial phase establishes the framework that guides everything that follows. Rather than approaching decisions in isolation, we focus on how spending, income architecture, investment positioning, and tax sequencing interact over time.

The Foundational Planning Phase is a structured, time-bound process that establishes the groundwork for an ongoing retirement planning relationship.

Phase 1: Discovery & Goal Definition

We begin by clarifying your priorities, concerns, and how you prefer to make decisions.

This includes understanding how you want income to behave, how you think about stability and flexibility, how you experience uncertainty, and how comfortable you are revisiting decisions over time.

To support this, we use a structured assessment early in the process to surface these preferences—so key decisions are aligned from the outset rather than adjusted later.

This helps ensure that decisions are structured in a way that reflects not just your financial situation, but how you want those decisions to be made over time.

Phase 2: Framework Design & Alignment

Next, we develop and review a coordinated retirement income framework.

Spending, income architecture, tax sequencing, and investment positioning are evaluated together so trade-offs are clear, and decisions are intentional.

Phase 3: Implementation & Transition

Once the framework is established, we begin implementing the agreed-upon structure.

This includes aligning investments and accounts to support income and tax decisions, and transitioning into ongoing coordination and oversight.

Why This Phase Matters

Retirement decisions are interconnected. Income choices affect taxes. Tax decisions influence portfolio outcomes. And investment structure shapes how confidently you can spend.

This initial phase matters because it brings clarity to those relationships early—before small decisions compound into long-term problems. By designing the framework first, ongoing planning becomes more consistent, adaptable, and easier to manage over time.

The Foundational Planning Phase is designed to transition directly into an ongoing advisory relationship.

Once the framework is in place, we continue working together to revisit spending, income architecture, tax sequencing, and investment alignment as markets shift, tax rules evolve, and life unfolds.

There is no separate handoff or re-decision point — this phase marks the beginning of an ongoing relationship.

Ongoing Advisory Relationship

All clients begin with a Foundational Planning Phase to establish a coordinated retirement income framework.

Following this phase, the relationship continues as an ongoing advisory engagement focused on coordinating retirement income decisions over time.

Annual Fee

Fees are based on overall complexity and asset level.

• Typical starting fee: $7,500 annually
• Fees increase with asset size and coordination complexity
• As a general guideline, fees increase by approximately $2,500 for each additional $2 million in investable assets

The scope of service remains consistent across all clients.  Fee adjustments reflect differences in complexity, asset structure, and coordination requirements.

Investment management is part of the ongoing relationship and is implemented to support income and tax decisions—not in isolation.