About
Frequently asked questions
What a plan costs, what fee-only means, what the practice will not do, and where a plan hands a question to someone else.
AI-generated illustration. Not a real home or business.
Thirty-five questions, answered in the practice's own words
Each answer is the same sentence the practice uses on the page that covers the subject, so nothing here says more than the rest of the site.
Fees and the first meeting
What does a written financial plan cost?
Every fee is published and is the same for everybody: $2,400 for a written plan, $3,600 for a detailed one, $600 for a one-question plan, $300 an hour for questions after a plan, and $3,000 for a year of planning. The fees are what we charge; we don't negotiate them case by case. A written plan is billed in two halves: $1,200 (or $1,800 for a detailed plan) when you sign the written agreement, and the same again when the plan is delivered, which is within ten weeks of the agreement. No fee is billed more than three months ahead.
Is the first meeting free?
The first meeting costs nothing. It takes about forty-five minutes, at the office or by video. We listen, explain what a written plan would cover and tell you its price. We give no advice or recommendations in it, and you don't have to hire us afterwards. A first meeting is not advice, not a sales meeting and not a look at any insurance policy, annuity or pension option. Nobody asks for statements, account numbers or tax returns, and there is nothing to sign at the end of it.
What should I bring to the first meeting?
Bring nothing to a first meeting but your questions. Documents are gathered only if you decide to have a plan written, and then only the ones the plan needs.
Do you charge a percentage of my savings?
We don't charge a percentage of anything. A fee that grows with your savings would pull a planner toward keeping money invested, when a household may decide instead to pay off a loan, buy a home or send money to family.
Can I just ask one question?
A one-question plan answers one question in writing, after one meeting: how big a reserve to keep, whether to pay down a card before saving, how to save for two goals at once. It is billed once, $600, when the written answer is delivered.
Do you offer discounts?
There is no sale price, no percentage off, no introductory offer and no fee cut for deciding today, because a price cut from a price nobody ever paid is not allowed in New York City advertising. Everybody pays the published fee.
Can I pay on this website?
No payment is taken on this website. A real practice sends a bill with the agreement it comes from, and is paid by check or bank transfer.
Can I stop at any time?
You can end any agreement at any time, in writing. You pay only for the work done up to that day, and anything you paid for work not yet done is refunded within thirty days.
How the practice is paid, and what it holds
What does fee-only mean?
Fee-only means the practice is paid only by the people it works for: no commissions, no ongoing payments from fund companies or insurers, and no referral fees from any attorney, accountant or insurance professional it names. It does not mean conflict-free.
So you have no conflicts of interest?
Every way of being paid has a pull in it. A flat fee can reward doing less work; an hourly fee can reward taking longer; a year of planning can reward keeping you as a client. A real planner names these and tells you how it handles them: here, the scope of every plan is written down before it starts, every hours estimate is in writing, and the year of planning ends by itself.
Do you manage my money or my accounts?
There is nothing to sell here: no insurance, no annuity, no fund, no account. The practice never holds, moves or manages your money; you act on a plan in your own accounts, wherever they already are.
Will I have to move my accounts?
No. The practice holds no accounts and has nowhere to move them to. A plan works with the accounts you already have, and you make any change yourself.
What this practice is, and is not
Are you a registered investment adviser?
In New York, a practice that is paid to advise people about investments must register as an investment adviser: with the New York Attorney General's Investor Protection Bureau, or with the SEC once it manages $25 million or more. Each of its planners must also register and pass a securities law exam or hold a qualifying certification. This demonstration practice is fictional and holds no registration of any kind. You can look up any real adviser, and the people who work for it, at adviserinfo.sec.gov, the SEC's public database, which covers advisers registered with a state as well. A real practice gives you its name exactly as it appears there; this demonstration practice will not be found, because it does not exist.
Are you a fiduciary?
A registered investment adviser owes its clients a fiduciary duty under federal law: a duty of care and a duty of loyalty. This demonstration practice is not registered and owes no one that duty, so it never calls itself a fiduciary.
Are your planners certified?
Real planners in New York must pass a securities law exam, or hold one of a short list of professional certifications that New York accepts in its place, before they may register. The planners described here are fictional and hold no exam result, certification or registration, so no letters follow their names.
Can you tell me how much I will have when I retire?
Nothing here projects what your savings could grow to, how likely a plan is to work or when you could retire. A projection is a guess about markets printed as a number, and on an adviser's website it is treated as performance.
What do you think the market will do?
We will not tell you what the market will do, this year or any year. Nobody knows, and a plan is written so that it does not depend on anybody guessing right.
Do you use AI to write plans?
A person writes every plan. The practice uses ordinary planning software to add up figures, and nothing on this site claims a computer can plan for you.
The plan and after it
What is in a written plan?
A written plan is a short document in plain words: what you told us matters most, what you have and owe, the decisions in front of you in the order they should be made, and who makes each one: you, your employer's benefits office, your CPA or your attorney. Every assumption it makes is written down and labeled as one. A plan written here never promises a result, a return or a date you will be able to retire by, and this website shows no plan's figures, because a sample with figures in it would be a projection.
How long does a written plan take?
It is delivered within ten weeks of the written agreement.
What happens after the plan?
Every written plan includes sixty days of questions by e-mail after it is delivered. After that you can ask questions by the hour, take a year of planning, or simply come back when something changes: a new child, a new job, a death in the family, a move. Questions after a plan are $300 an hour, billed by the half hour. You get a written estimate of the hours before the work starts, and the hours are billed at the end of the month they were worked.
Does the year of planning renew automatically?
A year of planning is $3,000 for twelve months: two meetings, questions by e-mail, and the plan updated when your life changes. It is billed $750 at the end of each quarter, for the quarter just worked, so nothing is paid ahead. It ends after twelve months and never renews by itself: a second year is a new agreement.
What if something is not right?
If something about a plan, a bill or a meeting is not right, tell the office in writing. The office answers in office hours, says who will deal with it, and puts any change to an agreement in writing before it is made. A client of a real New York adviser registered with the state can take a complaint to the Attorney General's Investor Protection Bureau, and a client of one registered with the SEC can take it to the SEC. This demonstration practice has no clients and no regulator.
Where a plan stops
Can you recommend a fund or a 529 plan?
This site names no fund, no plan provider, no account company and no insurer. Choosing one is advice about a particular product, and this website gives none. Everything on this website is general description. Advice is personal: it depends on everything about your household, which this site does not know and never asks. A page here can tell you what a planner would look at; it cannot tell you what to do.
Can you recommend an attorney or an accountant?
If you ask, the practice gives you more than one name for an attorney, an accountant or an insurance professional, and takes nothing from any of them. You choose, and you may already have your own.
Do you review insurance policies?
In New York, being paid to review or advise on an insurance policy, annuity or pension contract requires a license from the Department of Financial Services. A real planning practice either holds an insurance consultant license or leaves that review to someone who does. This demonstration practice holds no license, sells no insurance and reviews no policies. A plan records the coverage you tell us you have and asks the planning questions: who depends on your income, and what would happen if you could not work. Those questions go to your agent, your broker or a licensed insurance consultant, who can answer them about a particular policy.
Can you write my will?
Only a lawyer admitted in New York may be paid to prepare a will, or may give legal advice about one. The plan points out questions for your attorney; it never answers them. A plan lists what you own and how each part would pass to somebody else: by a will, by a beneficiary named on an account, by owning it jointly. It notes where those don't match what you told us you want, and asks you to check your beneficiary forms against what your attorney's documents intend.
Do you prepare tax returns?
The plan lists the questions about which accounts to use and when, for your CPA or whoever prepares your tax return. It is not tax advice, and the practice prepares no tax returns. Only a person licensed in New York may call themselves a certified public accountant or a CPA, and nobody here is one. Where a plan touches a tax return, the question goes to yours.
I work for the city. Can you tell me which pension option to take?
A pension's options are chosen on the pension plan's own forms, and in New York being paid to advise on which option suits a household may need an insurance license. A plan here lists the questions to ask the pension plan and how each answer would change the rest of the plan.
When should I claim Social Security?
When to claim Social Security is one of the biggest decisions in a retirement plan, and a plan sets out the questions each choice raises for your household. The amounts come from your own Social Security statement; the decision is filed with the Social Security Administration, which has nothing to do with this practice.
Can you help me pay off my debts?
A plan can set out the questions about which debts to pay down first. The practice never takes your money to pay your creditors, consolidates debts or repairs credit: in New York that is a separately licensed business.
Meetings, languages and the form
Do you meet by video?
The office is on the second floor at 37-32 61st Street, a block from the 61st Street–Woodside station. Meetings are held there or by video, whichever you prefer; the planning is the same either way.
Which languages do you speak?
Meetings can be held in English, Spanish, Bengali or Tagalog, with the planner who speaks it. Written plans are in English.
Why does the enquiry form ask nothing about my money?
The enquiry asks for your name, an e-mail address, a telephone number if you would rather be called, a topic, the office or video, and a time of the week that suits you. It has no box for a message, and it never asks about your money, your income, your accounts, your health or your family. Please don't send account numbers, Social Security numbers, balances or health details through this site or by e-mail.
Where do you work?
The office is in Woodside, and the practice is built for the neighborhoods around it: Sunnyside, Long Island City, Astoria, Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Corona, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Rego Park and Forest Hills. By video it works with households anywhere in New York State.
Questions this page does not answer
Anything about your own money. That needs a plan written for your household, and a first meeting is where it starts.
Ask for a first meeting
A first meeting costs nothing, gives no advice and asks nothing of you afterwards: about forty-five minutes, at the office or by video. The office replies in office hours.