From Building Wealth to Living on It

As you move from building savings to using them, the questions change. How will your investments support spending? How much employer exposure remains? What will advice, investments and optional services cost?

Why do executives move to a fee-only fiduciary near retirement?

Retirement is a useful time to review whether your current advice still fits. It does not mean you have automatically outgrown your adviser or need to move every account.

For an energy professional, employer stock, career changes and retirement-account choices may overlap. Start with the holdings, plan documents and decisions relevant to your household rather than an industry-wide assumption about what you need.

At Integrity Financial Planning, you work directly with Todd Smurl, CFA, on investment management and personal financial planning. We are independent and fee-only: we are paid only by clients and do not accept commissions or product incentives.

Compare your actual costs

A useful comparison starts with your statements, fee schedule and holdings. Review advisory fees, investment expenses, account or transaction charges and any separately priced services. Do not assume that every fee applies or that a published maximum is what you currently pay.

We are a fee-only fiduciary: we accept no commissions and are paid only by our clients. Our fee schedule is published:

• 1.0% per year on the first $1 million
• 0.85% from $1 million to $10 million
• Negotiable above $10 million

For an illustrative $3 million balance, the annual advisory fee is $10,000 on the first $1 million plus $17,000 on the next $2 million: $27,000, or a blended 0.90%. This is an advisory-fee calculation, not an all-in cost or investment-return projection.

ETF expenses depend on the allocation and holdings. Optional active tax management applies only to enrolled taxable assets; Altruist, our custodian, charges up to 0.10% per year on those assets, separate from our advisory fee. Integrity Financial Planning receives no part of that charge. Other applicable charges should also be considered.

Changing advisers is not automatically less expensive. Use our adviser-switching guide to organize a comparison of actual costs, services and transition questions.

A more careful approach to cash management

Cash decisions belong in the retirement conversation. Discuss near-term spending, withdrawal timing and how much liquidity you need before comparing suitable cash options. Review yields alongside access, costs and risks rather than assuming that one cash arrangement fits every household.

Consider taxes alongside diversification

Existing gains, account types and employer concentration can influence the trade-offs of changing a portfolio. Retaining a holding can avoid an immediate sale while leaving investment risks in place; selling may reduce concentration while realizing gains.

Our Personal Index Portfolios can replace a U.S. large-cap index fund with individual stocks and use low-cost ETFs for other exposures. Direct-stock holdings can be managed individually; ETF holdings have their own underlying investments and expenses.

Optional active tax management may identify tax-loss-harvesting opportunities in enrolled taxable accounts. Its usefulness depends on your holdings, market conditions and tax circumstances; it does not guarantee savings or eliminate taxes. We consider those trade-offs alongside costs, diversification and your withdrawal needs.

Aligning comprehensive planning with your life

Todd considers investment and personal planning decisions together. We agree on planning priorities, responsibilities and the review process. Financial planning is included as part of the investment management fee. For clients with assets under management under $500,000, the Advisor reserves the right to charge an hourly fee for financial planning.

For employer-specific elections or specialized tax questions, the appropriate review depends on your documents and circumstances. We coordinate with your tax preparer and other professionals rather than assume every strategy fits.

Preparing for the distribution phase?

If retirement is changing what you need from your investments or your adviser, start with a conversation about your goals, existing advice and the decisions ahead.

Explore our approach for oil and gas professionals and retirees and pre-retirees, or schedule a free, no-obligation introductory meeting with Todd. The first conversation is a chance to see whether working together makes sense.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not individualized investment, tax or legal advice. The $3 million advisory-fee example is illustrative, excludes fund expenses and separately priced services, and is not a projection of any client account. Actual costs, returns and tax results vary. Full fee terms are in our Form ADV Part 2A.