A written plan, $2,400 or $3,600
Retirement planning
Every source of income you will have, in the order you can draw on it, and the decisions in front of you, written down in plain words.
What we will not claim
No insurance policy is reviewed here, because New York licenses that work
What New York keeps for licensees when a policy or a pension option is on the table, and what a plan does instead.
AI-generated illustration. Not a real home or business.
What you will see advertised
“Bring your policies in for a free insurance review, and we'll find you a better one.”
Quoted in order to be refused: this practice never says it, and the rest of this page says why.
In New York nobody may be paid to review or advise on a policy, an annuity or a pension option without an agent's, broker's or consultant's license, and the title insurance advisor is reserved too. This practice holds no license, reviews no policy, and writes your insurance questions down for someone who does.
What the rules say
Each read against its source in October 2026.
- Unless licensed as an insurance agent, broker or consultant, no one may be paid for examining, reviewing or evaluating any insurance policy, annuity or pension contract, plan or program, or give advice about one (Ins. Law § 2102).
- No one who is not licensed may hold themselves out as an insurance advisor, insurance consultant or insurance counselor (Ins. Law § 2102(b)(1)).
The sources, to read in full:
What we say instead
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.
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.
- We do not review insurance policies, annuities or pension options.
Why planners' websites say it, and why it doesn't hold
Most households have a policy or two they half understand, and an offer to look them over, and perhaps find something better, sounds like an afternoon well spent. The look seems to cost little, and the planner seems to be on the household's side.
In New York nobody may be paid to look over a policy or advise on one without a license as an agent or broker or consultant, and nobody without one may take the titles the second rule above lists. A look at a policy that ends with a better one can be the start of a sale, and the seller is the person who did the looking. Whatever the look is said to cost, the question that matters is who is paid if anything changes.
What a planning practice can honestly say, and do
What a practice without a license can honestly do is say what it leaves out of every first meeting:
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.
And it can show where insurance sits in a plan, as questions, beside the plan that meets it most often:
Part of every written plan
Insurance in your plan
Who depends on your income and what would happen if you could not work, written down as questions for a licensed professional.
What to ask any planner
Put them to any planner before you sign anything. A plain answer tells you something, and so does a vague one.
- Are you licensed to advise on insurance in New York, and under which license?
- How are you paid if I change a policy on your advice?
- Will you put the reasons for any change in writing, beside what I would give up?
- Who answers questions about my pension options, and on whose forms?
- What would it cost me to leave the policy I have?
The other things this site will not claim
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.