The questions most prospective clients ask before the first meeting. If you don’t see yours, send it in.
Employers sponsoring 401(k) plans (primarily 10–250 employees), business owners coordinating personal and business finances, individuals and couples within about ten years of retirement, recently retired clients, and professional referral partners (CPAs, attorneys, benefits brokers, TPAs).
Charleston and the Lowcountry are home base. Austin works with clients across South Carolina and in other states where he is registered. If your state isn’t covered, we’ll say so up front.
No. In-person meetings are available across Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and the greater Lowcountry. Video meetings work well for clients outside the area — and often for clients inside it too.
Compensation varies by engagement. Employer 401(k) advisory, personal financial planning, and investment management each have their own fee structure. All fees are disclosed in writing before any advisory or brokerage relationship begins.
There is no rigid asset minimum. The right engagement depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Some situations are better fits for hourly or one-time planning; others fit ongoing advisory. Fit is usually clear after a thirty-minute intro conversation.
Thirty minutes. You describe what you’re trying to figure out. Austin asks questions and gives you an honest read on whether working together makes sense. If yes, we outline what an engagement would look like in writing. If no, we point you toward something better. An intro meeting does not create an advisory relationship.
For a personal planning intro: nothing required. Rough numbers you have in your head are enough for a first conversation. For an employer 401(k) intro: your current plan document or 408(b)(2) fee disclosure if you have them handy. If you don’t, we can proceed anyway.
Yes. Some situations call for a defined-scope one-time engagement (a rollover decision, a retirement readiness review, a plan design study). Others fit ongoing advisory. We discuss which makes sense in the intro conversation.
Coordination, not competition. Austin actively coordinates with your CPA on tax matters, your attorney on estate matters, your benefits broker on benefits, and your TPA on plan documents. Client-authorized information sharing is documented in writing.
In a 401(k) engagement, Austin provides plan-participant education (how the plan works, what deferral rates mean, how the investment lineup is structured). That’s general information, not personalized advice. If an individual participant wants personalized planning advice, that’s a separate individual engagement — disclosed and, when applicable, agreed to in writing before it starts.
Yes, in the applicable capacities. Austin serves as a 3(21) co-fiduciary on 401(k) plan engagements. On individual advisory engagements, he acts as a fiduciary to those clients as required by the applicable rules governing the relationship.