A financial adviser in Mauldin for families under 50, with the price printed.
Most advisers in the Upstate want retirees with a portfolio to manage. I live in Mauldin and most of the people I work with are 28 to 50, with a mortgage, a 401(k) they have not looked at, and a group life policy they think is enough. Flat-fee planning starts at $750, and the price is on this site.
What gets looked at, and what you leave with.
What gets reviewed
- Cash flow, savings rate and the debt question
- 401(k), match, Roth or traditional, and the old plan from the last job
- Life and disability coverage against the mortgage and the kids
- 529 and the order it comes in
- Beneficiaries, titling, a will and powers of attorney
- Business-owner questions for the self-employed
What you walk away with
- A written plan with the decisions in order
- A one-page action list you can finish in a month
- A clear answer on what to skip
Portfolio, retirement income, insurance, cash flow, taxes and family obligations get reviewed together rather than handled as disconnected projects. That coordination is the whole reason one person does all of it.
Why the under-50 years are the cheap years to plan.
Almost every decision that matters most to a 35-year-old is small and boring: whether to take the full 401(k) match, whether the life insurance covers the mortgage, which debt to pay first, whether the 529 is open, who the beneficiaries are. None of them needs a portfolio manager. All of them compound for thirty years, and most households get to them late or by accident. That is the whole case for a flat-fee plan in your thirties rather than an asset-based relationship in your sixties.
The Upstate advisory market is built the other way. Most firms around Greenville set minimums of a few hundred thousand dollars in investable assets, which rules out nearly everyone under 50 with a mortgage and young kids. I built the firm to take the opposite side of that. The plans are flat fee, the prices are published, and the first one is $750.
ProtectionThe floor
Term life sized to the mortgage and the income gap, disability if the household depends on one paycheck. Before anything else.
The matchFree money, often half-claimed
The full employer match, then the Roth or traditional question, then the HSA if you have one. The order depends on your bracket.
The 529Open it, automate it
Small, monthly and early beats large and late. South Carolina's Future Scholar plan has a state tax deduction worth checking with your preparer.
Three plans, one price each, published.
Foundations is $750: cash flow, debt order, savings roadmap, insurance gap check, and a one-page action list. The $2,000 and $3,000 plans add investment structure, tax coordination and business or equity questions for households where those exist. Every plan is written, agreed in advance, and finished within six months. Investment management, for households that want it later, is 1% a year with planning included. Insurance is never required, and when it is placed through the firm the carrier pays a commission, which is disclosed. The details are on the planning page and in the Form CRS.
Mauldin, and the rest of the county, by Zoom.
I live in Mauldin, off Butler Road, and the firm is based here. Meetings are by Zoom or phone because that is what works for two working parents, and the written plan means you do not have to remember what was said. The households I see most are a first or second house in Mauldin, Simpsonville or Five Forks, a job at Prisma, BMW, Michelin or the school district, a child or two, and a sense that they should have done something about all this already. Bring rough numbers to the first call: income, what you owe, what you have saved, what insurance you carry through work. No statements. You leave with a decision, including, sometimes, the decision that you do not need me yet.
Life insurance by town: Greenville · Mauldin · Simpsonville · Greer · Taylors · Easley · Spartanburg
Financial planning for Mauldin families, answered plainly.
Do families under 50 actually need a financial advisor?
Most need a plan, not a relationship. One written plan that puts the mortgage, the insurance, the 401(k) match, the 529 and the emergency fund in the right order is usually enough for several years. That is what the $750 Foundations plan is. If you do not need me yet, I will say so on the first call, and I say it often.
What does the $750 plan include?
Cash flow, the debt-versus-invest question, a retirement savings roadmap, an insurance gap check, and a one-page action list in priority order, delivered in writing within six months of starting, usually much sooner. The full deliverables for all three plans are on the planning page, and you can buy one tonight by card.
How are you paid?
Flat-fee planning is $750, $2,000 or $3,000, agreed in writing before any work starts. Investment management is 1% a year of the assets I manage, planning included, with a $750 annual minimum. Life insurance placed through the firm pays a carrier commission, which is disclosed. There is no hourly rate and no retainer. It is all in the Form CRS.
Do you meet in person in Mauldin?
I live in Mauldin, so yes when it helps. Most meetings are by Zoom or phone because that is what works around two jobs and a toddler, and everything you decide is written down so you can explain it to your spouse without me in the room.
Want to talk it through?
Tell me what is on your mind and I will tell you whether I can help. Leave out account numbers, policy numbers and Social Security numbers.