Fees
Published fees, the same for everybody, and when each one is billed
Every fee the practice charges, what it covers, when it is billed and how an agreement ends, with three households' first year added up.
AI-generated illustration. Not a real home or business.
Fees
The published fees
| What it is | What it covers | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| First meeting | About forty-five minutes, at the office or by video. No advice, nothing sold, nothing to sign. | No charge |
| Written plan | One household, up to two goals, two meetings and the written plan, with sixty days of questions by e-mail. | $2,400 |
| Detailed written plan | A household with a business, two retirement systems, a home purchase or family abroad: two meetings and the written plan, with sixty days of questions by e-mail. | $3,600 |
| One-question plan | One question, one meeting and a written answer. | $600 |
| Questions after a plan | Billed by the half hour, after a written estimate. | $300 an hour |
| A year of planning | Two meetings, questions by e-mail and the plan updated; billed at the end of each quarter; never renews by itself. | $3,000 for twelve months |
A flat fee is agreed before the work starts, so you know the whole cost of a plan before you sign, and it does not move with how much you have saved. Questions after a plan are the one fee counted in hours, and even those are estimated in writing first.
How each fee is billed
Every fee in the table, said in full: when it is billed, and how an agreement ends.
The first meeting
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.
The fees
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.
When a plan is billed
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.
Questions after a plan
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.
A year of planning
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.
Ending an agreement
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
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.
Billing a plan in two halves means half the fee waits until the plan is in your hands. Billing the year of planning after each quarter means you never pay for months that have not happened yet.
One question, answered in writing
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.
Worked examples
Three households' first year, added up
Each is a worked example of fees, not of a plan: the published fees a household of that kind might pay in its first year. What yours needs is agreed in writing at the start.
A worked example: a household's fees
A written plan, then two hours of questions Two earners renting in Sunnyside, deciding whether to save for a co-op
- Written plan$2,400
- Questions after a plan2 × $300$600
- For the year$3,000
Published fees, added up. The fees are the same for everybody; what a household needs is agreed in writing at the start.
A worked example: a household's fees
A detailed plan, then a year of planning A household in Jackson Heights where one earner works for the city
- Detailed written plan$3,600
- A year of planning$3,000
- For the year$6,600
Published fees, added up. The fees are the same for everybody; what a household needs is agreed in writing at the start.
A worked example: a household's fees
One question, answered in writing A restaurant worker in Elmhurst asking how big a reserve to keep
- One-question plan$600
- For the year$600
Published fees, added up. The fees are the same for everybody; what a household needs is agreed in writing at the start.
What a fee here never is
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.
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.
- 6 RCNY § 5-12 (opens the source in a new tab) When a range of prices is stated, the highest is printed at least as large as the lowest.
- 6 RCNY § 5-91 (opens the source in a new tab) A sale or reduced price is advertised only against a former price at which the goods or services were really offered.
- 6 RCNY § 5-06 (opens the source in a new tab) The conditions of anything offered as free are stated beside the word, never in a footnote reached by an asterisk.
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.