One-Time Meeting
80-Minute "Ask Me Anything"- No investing required
- Get answers to your top questions
- DIY investors welcome
Investment Management
Includes Ongoing Advice & Planning- Flat annual fee, paid quarterly
- Tax-aware retirement income planning
- Ongoing investment management
- Advice on non-investment topics, as well
Can I Retire?
Detailed Retirement Projection- Important details below
Investment Management: What’s Included:
Ongoing investment management means more than portfolio monitoring — it’s a continuing relationship built to help you make smart, confident financial choices.
In addition to handling the paperwork and operations related to your investments, we’ll focus on the big picture:
- Which accounts to draw from, and when (taxable, tax-deferred, or Roth accounts)
- Social Security claiming strategies coordinated with other income sources
- Strategic positioning of investments to manage lifetime taxes
- Ongoing Roth conversion strategy to manage taxation over time
- Tax review and management of tax brackets in retirement
- Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) planning
- General retirement readiness (“Can I retire?”)
- Spending projections and adjustments to help you enjoy life as markets change
Flat Annual Fees
Especially for those with substantial assets, flat-fee investment management can reduce certain conflicts of interest and is often more cost-effective as your wealth grows.
Currently, the flat annual fee structure for ongoing investment management clients is:
| Asset Level | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Less than $600,000 | $5,000 |
| $600,001 to $1 million | $7,500 |
| $1,000,001 or more | $11,000 |
Financial Planning Only
Get the advice you need without any need to invest money or transfer assets. Currently, the only option available for one-time advice is the QuickStart or Launcher meeting.
QuickStart meeting: $685 for 80 minutes dedicated to whatever you want to discuss. This is a popular option for quick tips, second opinions, and specific questions on a handful of topics. Learn more about this one-time meeting option.
Launcher meeting: The same format as a QuickStart meeting, but with more accessible pricing. To qualify, you must have less than $150,000 in assets. This is ideal for somebody starting their first job, saving for retirement for the first time ever, getting back on their feet after a speed bump, etc.
One-time project (Can I Retire?):
A one-time retirement readiness projection for a person or couple who wants to know whether retirement is feasible. Price: $6,000, with half paid up front.
We’ll focus on questions like:
- Do you have enough saved?
- When can you retire?
- How much can you spend?
- Are your goals realistic (or can you spend even more than you hoped)?
- When does it make sense to start Social Security?
- What investments make sense for the long-term?
- Highlight selected tradeoffs and risks.
- Which accounts should you spend from?
- What can you do to improve your chances of success?
- What if things go better (or worse) than expected: market returns, inflation, taxation, Social Security changes, etc.?
What about taxes and Roth conversions?
Taxes matter, and they are included in the projection. We’ll estimate how taxes may affect your spending, including Medicare IRMAA surcharges when relevant.
If I see that Roth conversions or a particular withdrawal strategy may be worth exploring, I’ll flag that for you. I’ll also suggest a framework for dealing with the potential tax issue in current and future years, and lay out my best guess of roughly how much to convert in the coming years. You’ll need to verify the amounts each year with the framework.
Unfortunately, I can’t accurately predict the right year-by-year Roth conversion strategy down to the correct dollar amounts each year. Those strategies require ongoing attention, updated tax information, and regular review because markets, tax laws, income, spending, and life circumstances change. I do all of that (and more) with ongoing clients, but it doesn’t work with one-time projects.
If your main question is whether you can retire, when you can retire, how much you can spend, how things might unfold, and what tax strategies might make sense, this service may be an excellent fit. If you’re already certain you can retire comfortably and you just want to know “How much should I convert?”, this is not the right fit. I could tell you how much I think you should convert in the next year or two, but if (and when) things change, you’ll need a full refresh.
Hourly rate: Typically $375 per hour, although I usually quote a flat fee. I rarely offer hourly engagements anymore, so please consider one of the other options on this page.
Employer-Sponsored Plan Consulting
To help your business or nonprofit with 401(k) plans (or similar), there are several options.
Contact me for more information.
Are you a fiduciary?
Yes, Justin Pritchard, CFP® works as a fiduciary financial advisor with all clients of Approach Financial, Inc. This applies whether you use a one-time advice offering or ongoing investment management services.
Do you offer flat-fee financial advice?
Yes, you can pay a flat fee for financial planning services or advice with Justin Pritchard, CFP®. For one-time projects, you simply pay a one-time fee for service. For ongoing investment management, you pay an agreed-upon quarterly fee. See the price list above for current flat fee amounts.
Do you cap or limit your investment management fee?
Yes, I set a maximum annual limit on your investment management fee. That limit will generally be shown explicitly on your Investment Advisory Agreement so there's no question about what you'll pay.
Do you offer one-time servces?
Yes, you can meet with Justin Pritchard, CFP® on a one-time basis for financial advice. You can read all about that offering here.
Do you have experience with retirement planning?
Yes, my primary focus is retirement planning and investment management. That includes planning for income, estimating and managing taxes, choosing a Social Security strategy, managing investments, and more.
Why would I want to pay a flat fee for financial advice or investment management?
Flat fee advice can potentially help you save money and avoid surprises. For investment management, a flat annual fee is typically not directly tied to the amount of assets, so as your assets grow, the flat fee may stay the same. For one-time projects and investment management, you know exactly how much you'll pay ahead of time, so you can decide if it's worth it.
Do you provide tax advice?
Yes. The advice I give takes your current and projected future tax situation into account. We can evaluate Roth conversions, which accounts to withdraw from, how Social Security taxation might affect you, and more.
What services are included with investment management?
Ongoing investment clients get financial planning and continuous financial advice. Guidance includes tax strategies, retirement planning, retirement income and withdrawal planning, logistics of retirement income, trading and rebalancing, Social Security strategy, and more.
Is your flat fee better than AUM pricing?
If you have significant assets, my flat-fee pricing can cost less than traditional AUM. You can avoid paying infinite AUM costs on large balances, so you might benefit from a flat fee when it matters most. AUM might be a better fit for those with more modest balances.
The Details
Please note that I can describe Approach Financial’s fees here, but other service providers (like custodians, 401(k) recordkeepers, and third-party administrators) may have additional charges. Any underlying investments may also have fees and expenses, although I typically use relatively low-cost (primarily passive) ETFs and index funds. Don’t worry—that information is all available before you commit to anything. For complete details, it’s critical that you read the following:
- My firm’s ADV
- Disclosures from any service providers you may contract with
- A prospectus or other disclosures from any potential investment
Payment methods:
- Financial planning: Pay electronically from your checking account or use a credit or debit card.
- Investment management: The funds typically come out of your investment account quarterly (in arrears)—and you receive a notification every time that happens.
If you choose investment management: The annual fees are negotiable and are pro-rated and paid in arrears on a quarterly basis.
- Flat-rate investment management example: A client who pays a flat $9,000 per year would pay quarterly. The quarterly fee is calculated by the following calculation: Flat Fee ÷ 4 = Quarterly Fee. For example, a $9,000 annual fee would result in a quarterly charge of $2,250. Fees are typically deducted directly from client accounts.
No increase in the annual fee shall be effective without agreement from the client by signing a new agreement or amendment to their current advisory agreement. Please review your account statements and invoices to stay informed on how much you’re paying. Compare reports that you receive from your custodian to any invoices, and verify that you receive quarterly statements from your custodian.
The financial planning hourly fee, flat fees, or one-time fees may be higher than normally charged in the industry, and similar services may be offered by another adviser at a lower fee.