Frequently asked questions

Start with a free introductory meeting. Schedule one online or contact us and we'll discuss your situation, what you need, and whether we're a fit. There is no obligation.

Yes, at all times. We are a fee-only registered investment adviser and a member of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard. We are compensated only by our clients and accept no commissions or product incentives.

Your accounts are held in your own name at Altruist Financial LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC, which acts as qualified custodian. We can place trades and deduct the advisory fee you have agreed to, but we cannot withdraw your money. You receive statements and online access directly from Altruist. In August 2026, Vanguard announced an agreement to acquire Altruist; the transaction is expected to close later in 2026. Vanguard is not affiliated with Integrity Financial Planning and does not endorse our services.

Fee-only means the only money we earn comes from our clients, as advisory fees or planning fees. Fee-based advisors also earn commissions on products. We are fee-only.

Yes. Most meetings are virtual. We are registered in Texas and Louisiana, and we can generally work with clients in other states and abroad; ask us about your location.

No. Ryan Firth holds a CPA license, but Integrity Financial Planning, LLC is not a CPA firm and does not prepare tax returns. We plan with your return in mind and coordinate with your preparer.

Personal Index Portfolios are billed at 1.0% per year on the first $1 million, 0.85% on assets over $1 million up to $10 million, and a negotiable rate above $10 million. Financial planning is included as part of the investment management fee; there is no separate planning charge. For clients with assets under management under $500,000, the Advisor reserves the right to charge an hourly fee for financial planning. Tax planning for business owners is not included in the investment management fee. Each project is a custom engagement, priced and agreed separately before work starts. The project fee may be reduced by investment management fees you pay us. Full details are on the fees page.

We do not publish an account minimum. Financial planning is included as part of the investment management fee, so fit depends more on your situation than on a balance; the free introductory meeting is the place to find out. For clients with assets under management under $500,000, the Advisor reserves the right to charge an hourly fee for financial planning.

No. Environmental, social, and faith-based screens are included in our investment advisory fee.

It is optional. Active tax management applies to taxable accounts only and uses the tax-management tool of Altruist, our custodian, which charges up to 0.10% per year on the taxable assets you enroll and deducts it from your account. The charge is separate from our advisory fee, and Integrity Financial Planning receives no part of it. Clients who elect it receive an annual estimated Taxes Saved report prepared by Altruist.

No. Each project is a custom engagement, priced and agreed separately before work starts. The project fee may be reduced by investment management fees you pay us.

Our starting point is low-cost index ETFs. An all-ETF 70/30 portfolio has an internal expense ratio of a little under 5 basis points. When we swap the U.S. large-cap ETF for an individual-stock tracking portfolio, the blended internal expense ratio falls to about 3.5 basis points, because the individual stocks carry no expense ratio.

Advice, not a document. We work through the decisions in front of you, such as retirement income, taxes, insurance, and estate, using your actual tax returns, statements, pay stubs, benefits guides, and insurance policies, and give you specific recommendations with the numbers behind them. Then we help you carry them out and keep advising you on a continuous basis as your situation and the tax law change.

No. Financial planning is offered to every client as part of the investment management fee; you use as much or as little of it as you want, and there is no separate charge when you do. For clients with assets under management under $500,000, the Advisor reserves the right to charge an hourly fee for financial planning.

PFS, or Personal Financial Specialist, is the financial planning credential issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) exclusively to CPAs with demonstrated expertise in personal financial planning. A CPA/PFS brings tax, accounting, and business knowledge to your planning, so your needs are met through an integrated approach.

Personal indexing (also called direct indexing) buys a subset of the individual stocks in an index, forming an index tracking portfolio, instead of buying an index mutual fund or ETF. It can provide greater autonomy, control, and tax advantages for certain investors.

Fully allocated portfolios of individual stocks and ETFs that combine low-cost indexing, asset allocation, active tax management, and your environmental, social, and faith-based views. Learn how they work.

Every day. We look for opportunities to reduce drift from your asset allocation, lower taxes through active tax management, and make sure social or faith-based views are being followed.

We analyze multiple scenarios that trade off portfolio drift against realized capital gains, from high gains and low drift to low gains and high drift. The result is a written transition plan and an annual tax budget, so you control how much gain is realized each year while understanding the risk and return trade-offs.

The combination of tax-loss harvesting, gains harvesting, gains deferral, holding-period management, tax-lot identification, charitable gifting identification, and monitoring of IRS rules, all in the context of your unique tax budget and asset allocation. More on tax management.

Selling a security at a loss to recognize a capital loss. You get what amounts to a small rebate by selling the security, buying a substitute, and using the loss to offset gains elsewhere in your portfolio. If you have no gains to offset today, you bank the loss for a future year. We monitor your portfolio daily for these opportunities.

A tax budget is a constraint we use to manage and control net realized gains in your portfolio. It is set with you as an annual dollar amount and applies only to taxable accounts.

Many studies show an average improvement in after-tax returns of roughly 1% per year over time. A study of the 500 largest U.S. stocks from 1926 to 2018, cited in the Wall Street Journal, found that tax-loss harvesting in a direct-indexing style improved after-tax returns by 1.08 percentage points annually, assuming a 15% long-term and 35% short-term rate. Your results depend on your tax rates and market path.

Clients who elect active tax management receive an account-level estimated Taxes Saved report, prepared by Altruist, every year documenting the value added. You can review a sample report.