Ongoing financial and tax planning, with investment management, for a flat annual fee
What we offer
We provide ongoing financial planning, tax planning, and investment management for pre-retirees, early retirement seekers, and retirees. Additionally, we can coordinate the preparation and filing of your income tax returns through IronFjord Tax Professionals¹, a separate company that's under common ownership with IronFjord Wealth Management.
What you get
The starting point of our service is the creation of your financial plan, which is the roadmap for future decision making. However, as life happens, financial markets do what they do and tax laws change, your financial plan will inevitably evolve. We're there to be your trusted partner to help you make the necessary decisions and plan changes along the way.
The initial financial plan is not a formal document filled with pages of charts and generic content that looks impressive but isn’t useful. Instead, it's more an interactive presentation and discussion of areas of opportunity, potential tax savings, investing considerations and overall financial recommendations; both now and in the future.
Financial and tax planning is a verb, something you do over time, not a noun or a static deliverable. It's a close ongoing relationship between us involving regular in-person or virtual meetings, calls, e-mails, etc. The ultimate goal is for us to help you make the best possible decisions around your finances to allow you to live your best possible retirement!
After discussion of your initial plan, we'll work closely with you throughout our relationship. Typical next steps and areas in which we provide ongoing advice are:
Transferring investment accounts and consolidating when applicable
Reallocating investment portfolios
Structuring investments tax-efficiently across your accounts
Setting up and implementing a portfolio distribution plan
Doing annual income and tax projections that include analysis and implementation of strategies such as:
Roth conversions
Minimizing Medicare Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts ("IRMAA")
Tax loss or gain harvesting
Charitable giving and gifting
Coordinating with Medicare specialists when you need coverage guidance
Establishing when to claim Social Security
Selecting pension payment types
Determining if annuities can be beneficial for your plan
Assessing life and long-term care insurance needs
Helping with the financial and tax aspects of buying and selling real estate
Analyzing whether to pay off or refinance an existing mortgage
Analyzing whether a reverse mortgage may be of benefit to you
Assisting in updating or putting in place estate documents and beneficiary forms
We typically have two formal meetings per year to update your plan, refine your portfolio withdrawal strategy, determine each year's tax planning objectives and actions, discuss any questions or concerns you have, etc. While the goal is to have the two official meetings each year, you're not limited to only working with us every six months, we're here for you as life happens. We're accessible by in-person visits at our Green Mountain office, virtual meetings, phone or e-mail as life unfolds and financial decisions need to be made.
Additionally, you'll have continuous access to your own personal finance portal through our financial planning software. Your portal allows you to see and track your net worth, investments, cash flow projections and various other financial reports.
We also provide ongoing discretionary management of your investable assets, through accounts held in custody at Altruist. We use a straightforward, passive and fee-conscious investing approach that ensures your portfolio will remain diversified, low cost and properly allocated for your risk tolerance and financial profile. We typically invest using a combination of exchange traded funds ("ETFs") that track major stock and bond indices, including the use of target maturity bond ETFs.
We also focus on long-term tax minimization throughout our financial planning and investment management processes. Additionally, we can coordinate the preparation and filing of your tax returns through IronFjord Tax Professionals¹, a separate company that's under common ownership with IronFjord Wealth Management.
Who this service is designed for
This service is best for anyone retired or within several years of retirement, including those seeking early retirement, who's looking for a trusted fiduciary partner to help with ongoing financial, tax and investment decisions throughout the distribution stage of their life.
Our typical client profile:
50 or older (or actively seeking early retirement)
Single or married
Children, if any, are independent or close to independence
Retired or within several years of retiring
If still working, not the owner of a business requiring a complex exit strategy
Will have Social Security and maybe a pension
Owns a home, maybe also a vacation property and potentially one residential rental property
Doesn't own any private investments such as hedge funds, private equity funds, partnership interests, private loans, commercial land, etc.
Doesn't have foreign investment or real estate complexity
Has investable assets between $1,000,000 to $9,000,000
Has a net worth less than $10,000,000
Because we charge a flat annual fee, our service is generally the most cost-effective for those with investable assets in excess of $1,000,000. For investable asset sizes less than $1,000,000, the traditional percent of assets under management fee used by most other advisors may be more cost effective. In some circumstances. we may be able to offer a more streamlined planning only engagement for those with lower assets.
We generally don't work with people whose net worth exceeds $15,000,000, as that level of wealth is more likely to lead to higher levels of financial complexity that are beyond the scope of the fee we typically charge.
What it costs
A flat annual fee, typically $9,800*
*The fee may be higher if you are a business owner, have a highly structured legal estate, own private or illiquid investments, own multiple rental properties or otherwise have a lot of complexity in your financial life. We will quote you the final fee after having an introductory call.
Unlike many advisors, our ongoing fee is not tied to the amount of your investable assets. The size of your investment accounts is a poor gauge of the complexity of your financial life and therefore a poor gauge of the amount of time and resources necessary to provide you proper planning and advice
It's our intention that your annual fee will be the amount shown above, assuming it's appropriate for your financial circumstances. However, the more your financial profile differs from the profile of our typical client summarized above, a different level of fee may be appropriate. Your final fee will be agreed upon prior to entering a formal relationship with us.
Your annual fee is indexed annually to inflation, as measured by CPI-U.
On a monthly basis, fees will be either deducted directly from your investment accounts under our management at Altruist, or remitted via electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Fee Comparison
Below is an example showing what a couple with a $2,500,000 portfolio might pay at IronFjord versus other common advisory models. This example excludes fund costs. At IronFjord, we predominantly use low-cost investment funds that cost 0.07% or less. Many other firms use expensive investment funds that cost up to 1.00%, sometimes more—that’s in addition to the fee example below.
| Firm | Estimated Annual Cost on a $2.5M Portfolio | Fee Structure Overview |
|---|---|---|
| IronFjord Wealth Management | $9,800 (Flat Fee) | One clear annual flat fee that includes both expert in-house investment management and comprehensive financial planning. We are a fiduciary firm. |
| A Fiduciary Firm Using % Based Fees | ≈ $31,250 (1.25%) | Advisor Fee 1.00% of assets. Many firms also use external investment managers or SMAs with fees commonly ranging from 0.25% to 0.75%. In this example the TAMP/SMA Fee is 0.25%. There may be additional financial planning fees. |
| Edward Jones Advisory Solutions UMA | ≈ $38,525 (1.54%) | Program Fee starts at 1.35%, Platform Fee starting at 0.05%, and SMA Manager Fee starting at 0.40%. Fees are blended. Additional fund expenses and other indirect costs may apply. Source: Edward Jones UMA Models Schedule of Fees (Feb 2025). |
| Merrill Lynch Investment Advisory Program | ≈ $60,000 (2.40%) | Advisory Fee up to 1.75% and Style Manager Fee up to 0.65%. Additional fund expenses and other indirect costs may apply. Source: Merrill Lynch Form ADV Part 2A (2025). |
Next step
If you feel IronFjord Wealth Management may be a good fit for what you're looking for in an advisory relationship and you're interested in working with us, please schedule an appointment: