Comprehensive financial planning is the foundation of what we do. It’s more than just numbers—it’s about designing a financial strategy that supports your life goals while adapting to change. Our process begins with understanding your values, priorities, and long-term vision. We evaluate your cash flow, tax strategy, investments, insurance coverage, and estate plan to ensure every financial decision fits within a cohesive, personalized framework. Planning isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing process that evolves as your needs change. Whether you’re navigating career transitions, preparing for major financial decisions, or working toward long-term financial security, our approach provides clarity, structure, and expert guidance every step of the way.

Investment management at Aether Financial Group is driven by science and strategy. We believe that a sound investment plan should be informed by your overall financial picture, not just market movements. Our approach is rooted in evidence-based investing, tax efficiency, and risk alignment—helping you build and preserve wealth in a way that reflects your goals and comfort with risk. While investment management can be offered as a standalone service, it is most powerful when integrated into a broader financial plan, ensuring your portfolio decisions align with your long-term objectives, cash flow needs, and tax strategy. We focus on low-cost, diversified, and tax-efficient solutions to create a portfolio that works for you.

Insurance is an essential tool for managing financial risk, but it should never be oversold or overlooked. Our philosophy is to educate first, recommend second—helping you understand your coverage options so you can make informed decisions. Whether it’s life, disability, long-term care insurance, or annuity solutions we take an independent approach, analyzing employer-provided and private policies to determine the right fit for your situation. Our insurance solutions are most often incorporated as part of a comprehensive financial plan, ensuring that protection strategies are aligned with your broader financial goals. For those who need standalone insurance guidance, we provide transparent recommendations tailored to your needs—without pressure or product bias.

We believe that transparency in compensation is essential to building trust. Our goal is to provide clear, objective advice, and we structure our compensation in a way that aligns with your best interests. Here’s how we get paid across our services:

Fee-Based Financial Planning

We charge a flat annual planning fee for comprehensive financial planning, allowing for as many meetings as needed to ensure your plan stays on track. Unlike hourly or transactional models, this approach allows us to serve as an ongoing fiduciary partner—helping you navigate financial decisions without the worry of additional costs for each conversation. Our fees typically range between $1,500 and $7,500 per year, depending on the complexity of your financial situation.

Investment Management

For clients who choose to have us manage investments, we charge a fee based only on those assets entrusted to us, typically between 0.8% and 1.25%, depending on account size and strategy. This fee-only structure means our compensation is directly tied to helping you grow and manage your wealth. While we oversee and manage these assets, we also provide guidance on investments held outside of our management as part of the broader planning process.

Insurance Solutions

When we assist with implementing insurance solutions, we are compensated by the insurance company in the form of a commission. This means no dollars come out of your pocket for insurance coverage. We will always be upfront about when a recommendation, if implemented, may result in a commission. Our priority is to ensure that any insurance strategy fits into your overall financial plan, and we take an education-first approach, so you feel confident in your coverage decisions.

Our commitment to transparency ensures that you always know how we are compensated and that our recommendations are made with your best interests in mind.

Our first conversation is about getting to know each other and determining if we’re a good fit. We’ll discuss your financial situation, your goals, and what’s important to you, ensuring we have a clear understanding of where you are today and where you want to go. This meeting is an opportunity to ask questions and see if our approach aligns with your needs.

Our first conversation is about getting to know each other and determining if we’re a good fit. We’ll discuss your financial situation, your goals, and what’s important to you, ensuring we have a clear understanding of where you are today and where you want to go. This meeting is an opportunity to ask questions and see if our approach aligns with your needs.

After our introductory discussion, we present an executive summary of your financial picture, highlighting key takeaways and areas where we believe we can add value. We’ll outline potential strategies, define the scope of our engagement, and discuss pricing so you have a clear understanding of what working together entails. This ensures alignment before moving forward.

Once you decide to engage us, we formalize the relationship with a financial planning agreement. From there, we set up your personalized financial website, gather relevant financial documents, and organize the data we need to begin crafting a plan tailored to you. This step ensures that we have a strong foundation to build a meaningful financial strategy.

With all the information in place, we create an initial financial plan that includes actionable steps designed to align with your goals and values. This is not the final version, but rather an opportunity to review, discuss, and adjust. We’ll gather your feedback to refine the plan, ensuring it reflects what matters most to you.

Using the insights from our Rough Draft Review, we fine-tune your financial plan into a clear, structured roadmap. This version serves as the guide for your financial decisions moving forward. We’ll confirm priorities, finalize recommendations, and make sure you feel confident in the path ahead.

A financial plan is only valuable if it’s put into action. In this stage, we help execute key steps—setting up accounts, adjusting savings strategies, optimizing benefits, implementing insurance, or making any other necessary changes. Our goal is to ensure that your plan moves from discussion to reality.

Financial planning isn’t a one-time event—it’s an evolving process. As life changes, so do your financial needs, and we’re here to help you navigate those shifts. Through regular check-ins, plan updates, and continuous guidance, we ensure your strategy remains aligned with your goals, adapting as needed to keep you on track.