FAQ
We primarily work with people who are within about five years of retirement or are already retired. Most have built meaningful wealth between $1 million and $10 million and want to make smart decisions about turning those savings into a dependable retirement income. My clients value proactive tax planning, thoughtful investment management, and clear guidance around Social Security, healthcare, and spending. They are looking for an ongoing relationship with a fiduciary advisor who helps them retire with confidence.
PharmD Financial Planning is designed for people who want an ongoing, comprehensive retirement-planning relationship. Not just occasional investment advice. We may not be the right fit for someone looking for stock picks, frequent trading, commission-based product recommendations, or the lowest-cost option with little ongoing guidance. We are also not the right fit for people who prefer to make every financial decision independently and do not see value in proactive planning, accountability, or coordination with their other professionals. We also don’t provide one-time plans or hourly engagements. The best client relationships are built with people who want thoughtful advice, a clear process, and a long-term partner as retirement decisions evolve.
PharmD Financial Planning specializes in retirement planning for people who are approaching retirement or are already retired and want to make the most of what they have built. The work centers on creating a coordinated plan for retirement income, taxes, investments, Social Security, Medicare, healthcare costs, and legacy planning. Rather than focusing on one isolated decision, the goal is to connect the moving pieces, so each domain supports and aligns with the rest of the plan. Clients receive ongoing, proactive guidance designed to help them make confident decisions, adapt when life or markets change, and enjoy retirement without constantly wondering whether they are on track.
The most common planning topics we focus on include determining when retirement is financially realistic, creating a reliable income strategy with guardrails, and deciding how much clients can spend with confidence. We also place significant emphasis on tax planning, including Roth conversions, RMDs, capital gains, Medicare premium planning, and coordinating withdrawals across different account types. Other key areas include Social Security decisions, investment management, healthcare planning, long-term care considerations, and estate planning coordination. The goal is to bring these decisions together into one practical plan that helps clients protect what they have built and enjoy retirement with greater confidence.
As a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, Chartered Financial Consultant®, and Enrolled Agent, Derek brings a broad, retirement-focused perspective to the decisions that shape your financial life. These credentials reflect advanced training in financial planning, investments, retirement income, insurance, and tax strategy areas that must work together for a retirement plan to hold up in the real world. With 13 years of experience, Derek helps clients connect the dots between their investments, taxes, Social Security, healthcare, and long-term goals. The result is practical, coordinated guidance designed to help you make confident decisions before and throughout retirement.
Yes. Derek serves as a fiduciary 100% of the time, meaning he is obligated to place your interests ahead of his own when providing advice and recommendations. That is important because many advisors operate in both fiduciary and brokerage roles, which can mean the standard of care changes depending on the product or service being discussed. At PharmD Financial Planning, there is no switch between “advisor” and “broker” hats. Clients always receive advice under the same fiduciary standard. This creates a clearer, more consistent relationship built around what best supports your financial goals.
Specialization, continuity, and accountability. PharmD Financial Planning is different because we specialize in the financial decisions that matter most as retirement approaches and unfolds. We are not a firm built around day trading, picking individual stocks, selling insurance products, chasing the next investment trend, or offering broad advice to every type of client; our work is centered on coordinating retirement income, taxes, Social Security, Medicare, investments, estate planning, and long-term spending into one connected plan. That specialization matters because retirement decisions do not happen in isolation. A Roth conversion can affect Medicare premiums, a Social Security decision can affect lifetime income, and an investment decision can affect the sustainability of your spending plan. Clients also benefit from continuity: you work directly with the same experienced advisor (Derek) year after year, rather than being passed through a revolving door of junior advisors as your financial life becomes more complex. Derek expects to serve clients for decades, allowing the relationship, institutional knowledge, and accountability to compound right alongside the financial plan. Finally, Derek is the owner of PharmD Financial Planning and answers directly to the clients he serves, not to a brokerage firm, insurance company, private-equity owner, or sales manager. There are no product quotas, proprietary funds, insurance sales targets, or corporate agendas influencing the advice you receive. That independence allows recommendations to be based on what best supports your retirement plan, even when the right answer is to do less, keep an existing strategy, or avoid a product altogether. Clients know exactly who is responsible for the relationship, the recommendations, and the follow-through: the trusted advisor they hired.
Our annual flat fee is $12,000, paid quarterly in installments of $3,000. Unlike a traditional percentage-of-assets fee, our flat fee does not increase simply because your investments grow, helping keep the cost of advice clear and predictable. It also allows our recommendations to stay focused on your full financial picture, not just the portion of your wealth held in an investment account. We have found that this fee structure greatly reduces the inherent conflicts of interest between clients and their advisors. Clients may pay directly from an investment account, through a secure bank account withdrawal, or by credit card. There are no income or asset level restrictions, although we do our best work for clients who typically have between $1 million and $10 million in wealth.
My fee is designed to reflect the depth, continuity, and responsibility involved in helping clients make major retirement decisions well. Retirement planning is not a one-time event. It requires ongoing coordination of income, taxes, investments, Social Security, healthcare, estate planning, and the many changes that arise over time. Rather than charging a percentage of your assets simply because your portfolio grows, I use a transparent flat fee so clients know what they are paying and what they are receiving. The value comes from helping clients avoid costly mistakes, make better-informed decisions, stay organized, and move through retirement with a clear plan and a trusted advisor who remains accountable year after year. The best way to determine if it’s worth it is to experience how we work with clients firsthand. This is why we offer the Free Evaluation Process to help you decide if we’re worth it.
No. PharmD Financial Planning is independently owned, and does not share revenue from your advisory relationship with a brokerage firm, insurance company, product manufacturer, or outside sales organization. That matters because many advisors affiliated with brokerage firms or insurance companies may receive compensation, incentives, or revenue sharing connected to the investments or insurance products they recommend. Those arrangements can naturally create conflicts of interest, even when the advisor is trying to do the right thing. Our compensation comes directly from the flat planning fee clients pay, helping keep recommendations focused on what best supports your retirement plan.
That is one of the most important questions in retirement planning, and the answer is about far more than the size of your investment accounts. A strong retirement plan looks at your spending needs, taxes, Social Security, healthcare costs, investment strategy, inflation, longevity, and how much flexibility you have if markets do not cooperate. The goal is not simply to determine whether you can retire on paper, but whether you can retire with confidence and continue living the life you want over time. Through a detailed planning process, we help turn uncertainty into a clearer answer and a practical path forward.
We help clients create retirement income by turning their savings, Social Security, pensions, and other assets into a coordinated plan for reliable spending. Using Income Lab’s retirement planning software, we model different market conditions, tax strategies, withdrawal approaches, and life changes to see how the plan may hold up over time. Rather than relying on a rigid withdrawal rule, we use a guardrail strategy that establishes a comfortable spending range and provides clear guidelines for when spending can increase, stay steady, or be adjusted if conditions change. This approach helps clients enjoy retirement with more confidence while remaining flexible enough to adapt when markets, taxes, or life do not go exactly as planned.
Taxes often become more complicated in retirement because income can come from several different sources, each taxed differently. Withdrawals from traditional IRAs and 401(k)s are generally taxable, while Roth withdrawals may be tax-free and taxable brokerage accounts can create capital gains, dividends, and interest income. Social Security benefits, Medicare premiums, and future required minimum distributions can also be affected by how much income you recognize each year. We help clients coordinate withdrawals, Roth conversions, charitable giving, and investment income so their retirement plan is designed with taxes in mind and not treated as an afterthought.
Our investment management philosophy is built around the belief that consistently making disciplined, long-term decisions is more valuable than trying to pick winning stocks or time the market. I use broadly diversified portfolios designed to help manage risk, while recognizing that diversification will occasionally mean owning investments that are temporarily out of favor. My process emphasizes keeping costs and taxes low, avoiding unnecessary complexity, and regularly reviewing the retirement plan as markets and life circumstances change. Just as important, I help clients stay focused during uncertain markets, because investor behavior often has a greater impact on long-term results than any individual investment decision. Above all, investments are treated as a tool to support your retirement goals, not as the singular goal itself.
A market decline after retirement can be unsettling, but it does not have to derail your plan. We prepare for this risk by building a diversified portfolio, maintaining appropriate reserves, and creating a retirement income strategy that does not require selling investments at the worst possible time. Our guardrail approach also provides a framework for adjusting spending when conditions materially change, rather than reacting emotionally to headlines or temporary market volatility. The goal is to help you stay disciplined through difficult markets while keeping your long-term retirement income plan on track.
PharmD Financial Planning uses SEI Private Trust Company as the custodian of client investment accounts. Unlike a traditional brokerage arrangement in which assets may be held in “street name,” SEI Private Trust Company holds client assets in accounts titled in the client’s name and does not commingle, pledge, lend, or margin those assets for its own purposes. This structure is designed to keep client assets separate from the custodian’s own balance sheet, rather than relying on SIPC protection as the primary backstop if a brokerage firm fails.
PharmD Financial Planning does not take custody of client assets. Instead, client accounts are held with SEI Private Trust Company, an independent custodian that safeguards assets separately from the advisory firm providing recommendations. This separation creates an important layer of protection and accountability: I can advise on your plan and manage investments, but I cannot directly hold, move, or use your assets outside the authority you provide. SEI Private Trust Company holds client assets in the client’s name and does not commingle, pledge, lend, or margin those assets, helping keep them distinct from the custodian’s own balance sheet. That independent custody structure provides clearer oversight, reliable account reporting, and an additional safeguard against the risks that arise when one firm both manages and holds client money.
The first meeting is a complimentary, no-pressure conversation designed to help us get to know each other and determine whether working together makes sense. We will talk about where you are today, what you want retirement to look like, and the questions or concerns that are most important to you. You do not need to have every document organized or every answer ready. The goal is simply to start an honest conversation. By the end, both of us should have a clearer sense of whether PharmD Financial Planning should be considered as the right fit for your needs. We also share how we’ve helped other prospective clients determine whether we are the appropriate firm for them, via our Free Evaluation Process.
During your first year with PharmD Financial Planning, we begin by turning your most important financial questions into a clear, actionable plan. After an initial discovery process and presentation of your customized Financial Plan Executive Summary, we focus on your highest-priority items first, whether that involves retirement timing, tax planning, investments, Social Security, healthcare, or other major decisions. You will receive Monday morning weekly check-in emails during your onboarding, along with ad-hoc meetings as needed to discuss progress, make decisions, and put recommendations into action. Once those initial highest-priority items are addressed, we transition clients into our annual PharmD Planning Process. This is an ongoing, proactive, and systematic planning process built around your evolving goals and an annual service calendar designed to keep your plan moving forward.
The PharmD Retirement Planning Process is a year-round framework designed to keep your retirement plan active, organized, and aligned with your changing goals. Rather than waiting for an annual meeting to address important decisions, we proactively schedule work throughout the year around tax planning, portfolio management, retirement income, estate planning, and risk management. Clients receive meaningful deliverables such as annual portfolio reviews, tax return reports, long-term care updates, estate plan reports, year-end tax projections, and regular planning meetings. Ongoing weekly work, including plan updates, portfolio maintenance, client task lists, communication, and ad-hoc meetings helps ensure important opportunities and decisions do not get overlooked. This process gives clients confidence that their financial life is being actively managed, not simply reviewed once a year.
PharmD Financial Planning is a location-independent firm. We work with clients both in person and virtually nationwide. Location is not a restriction. We currently serve clients in multiple states across the U.S.
PharmD Financial Planning uses modern planning and portfolio technology to make your financial life more organized, secure, and easier to understand. Clients have access to a secure online portal where they can view important information, share documents, and stay connected to their plan. Behind the scenes, I use specialized retirement income, tax-planning, portfolio management, and reporting tools to model decisions, monitor progress, and keep recommendations coordinated. Technology helps improve efficiency and clarity, but it does not replace personal advice. The goal is to combine better tools with thoughtful, ongoing guidance from an advisor who knows your situation.
Yes. PharmD Financial Planning works alongside your CPA and estate planning attorney to help ensure important financial decisions are coordinated rather than made in separate silos. I serve as the connector between those professionals, helping translate retirement goals into practical tax, investment, income, and estate-planning decisions. Whether we are evaluating Roth conversions, charitable giving, trust provisions, beneficiary designations, or future RMDs, the goal is to keep everyone working from the same long-term plan. Your attorney and CPA remain the experts in their respective fields, while I help make sure the pieces stay aligned with the retirement life you are building.
Years ago, PharmD Financial Planning started as a firm helping pharmacists with retirement planning. This is where the PharmD name comes from. Due to demand for our services, we expanded our scope and now work with pre-retiree and retiree families, regardless of profession.
Getting started begins with a complimentary, no-pressure conversation to learn more about your retirement goals, financial questions, and what you hope to accomplish. If it appears we may be a good fit, we will move into a more detailed discovery process so I can better understand your finances, priorities, and the decisions ahead. From there, I will present a customized Financial Plan Executive Summary, with practical action steps and recommendations tailored to your situation. You can then decide whether you would like to move forward together or not, without pressure, obligation, or a rushed decision.