Introducing Retirement Design. A simple process that takes a 360-degree approach to analyzing and optimizing your financial life.
No pressure.
Retirement Design helps you make an informed and empowered decision about working with a financial advisor through education.
See where you’re at.
We start by giving you a clear understanding of how your existing retirement plan will perform and where you could make meaningful improvements.
Start with no obligation.
You deserve to know exactly how we can help you before entrusting us with your money. For a small fee, we’ll provide an analysis before making any management commitment.
Here’s how it works.
Work with your personal financial strategist to design a retirement you love.
There are many moving parts to your retirement, and to navigate it successfully, it takes careful planning. Unlike a lot of financial firms, at Oakmont we don’t follow a one-size-fits-all template.
We get to know you on a personal level so we can thoughtfully analyze where you’re at and meticulously design a plan. We’re a boutique advisory firm that puts tremendous value in the relationships we forge with our clients. As such, every plan we design is unique.
It starts with your evaluation.
1. Introduction and discovery
We start with a 30-minute phone call to determine if our services fit your situation. We want to ensure we can provide solutions to your concerns before we move forward. If we cannot serve your needs, we will happily point you in the direction of a trusted expert who may be of more suitable service.
If we are a good fit, we’ll discuss your goals. At the end of our call, we’ll send out an email with a link for you to provide documents to help us get started with your financial plan.
The next step is to visit our office. During this one-hour meeting, our team will get crystal clear on your financial goals, needs, and concerns. This and the documents we request you bring will guide our analysis as we prepare for the next meeting.
2. Oakmont analysis
We will apply decades of experience, decades of Nobel-prize winning research, and thousands of hours of training to answer three critical questions for you:
1. Are you on track to reach your long-term goals (e.g. retirement, or work-optional)?
2. How can your tax bill be reduced?
3. How can your investments be improved?
3. Review analysis
When our analysis is complete, we will have a second meeting to review the results. We will explain exactly what you need to do to reach your financial goals and we will answer the three critical questions we asked during our analysis. At the end of this meeting, we will ask if you would like to begin working with Oakmont or sleep on it.
4. Sleep on it
Selecting an advisor to entrust with your nest egg is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Take some time to think about whether you feel 100% confident with us walking alongside you on the path to retirement.
Before making a decision, ask yourself these questions:
—Do I like, trust, and respect the team at Oakmont?
—Will the benefits they provide exceed their cost?
—Do I understand and agree with their holistic planning approach?
—Do their recommendations make sense to me?
5. Planning and execution
When you are ready, we’ll start the process for you to become a client. During this meeting, we’ll answer any outstanding questions, build the framework for your retirement plan, and determine the exact steps we’ll take to get you on the path to a successful retirement.
We value communication and ongoing support throughout the retirement planning process. This is achieved through our Retirement Planning Meetings (RPMs). Oakmont clients meet with us in the spring and fall for RPMS, and they participate in a check-in call during summer. During these meetings, we provide a portfolio update, discuss changes to your lifestyle or goals, and revise your retirement plan as necessary.
Who’s a good fit?
You’re retired or close to it.
We specialize in working with people who are retired or close to it (5 years or less). Our expertise best suits the unique needs of retirees.
You’re a diligent saver.
While our clients wouldn’t consider themselves “rich,” thanks to a lifetime of diligent saving, they have accumulated a retirement nest egg of at least $300,000.
You want to delegate.
Our clients realize that the success of their retirement is too important to be treated as a do-it-yourself project. They understand and desire the value of targeted guidance from a professional financial advisor.
You’re a nice person.
This sounds cliché, but we will only work with genuinely nice people with whom we share a mutual respect.
FAQ
How do you charge clients?
We are a fee-based financial advisory firm. Our fees depend on the level of assets under advisement. Some advisory firms are commission-based, which can lead to conflicts of interest and misleading advice. Not Oakmont. Our straightforward fees include the management of all your investment accounts, comprehensive planning and unique on-going Retirement Planning Meetings (RPMs) throughout the year.
Do you offer an hourly or one-time financial plan fee option?
If you decide to go through our Retirement Design process, you will be charged $400 at the conclusion of the work. If you decide that Oakmont is the right fit for you, and become a client, you will not be assessed this one-time fee.
Oakmont does not offer hourly fee options.
What makes you different from other financial advisors?
Continuous planning and guidance. Our work doesn’t stop after you decide to become a client. We provide ongoing planning and support for our clients as circumstances change throughout their retirement journey. This is accomplished through our unique planning process called Retirement Planning Meetings (RPMs).
Ongoing client education. We believe in educating our clients so they can become smarter, more empowered investors. Our clients have access to exclusive webinar trainings and articles designed to help them make better money moves. We also produce two weekly radio programs/podcasts full of financial tips and education.
Industry-leading technology. We utilize industry-leading technology to equip our clients with tools for more success. We invest in technology with the goal of simplifying the lives of our clients and providing more peace of mind.
What's your fee schedule?
Assets Under Management / Advisory Fee
First $0-500k — 1.20%
Next $500k – 1m — 0.95%
Next $1m-3m — 0.75%
Next $3m+ — 0.45%
Start today.
We’re looking forward to meeting you.
Your Retirement Optimism
A Weekly Letter from
David Hicks
