Employers, business owners, pre-retirees, recently retired, and professional partners. Each conversation starts in a different place. All of them benefit from someone who has seen the others.
Common circumstances: A company with 10 to 250 employees. Someone (owner, HR, CFO, controller, benefits chair) is on the hook for the retirement plan. The plan works — but nobody has looked at fees in years, participation is lower than it should be, or the advisor only shows up when something is being sold.
Questions you may be asking: Are we paying too much? Is the investment menu still right? Is fiduciary process actually running? Should we look at other providers? How do we get more employees to participate?
Where to start: Existing plan review · Start a new 401(k)
Resources: SECURE Act 2.0 credits · 401(k) credit math
Common circumstances: The business is the biggest asset. Personal financial life has been on hold because the business took the oxygen. You want the two sides connected — retirement plan design, tax coordination, insurance, eventual exit — without hiring a different specialist for each piece.
Questions you may be asking: Am I saving enough personally? Is my retirement plan designed right? What’s my concentration risk? What’s the plan if I stop working? What happens to the business?
Where to start: Business owner financial planning
Resources: The three-year problem in exit planning
Common circumstances: Within about ten years of retirement, or already there. Several 401(k)s, IRAs, maybe a pension, and a taxable account. Coordinating decisions with a spouse. Enough saved to have real options, and enough uncertainty to want a plan.
Questions you may be asking: Can I afford to retire? When should I claim Social Security? What do I do with my 401(k)? Should I do Roth conversions? How do I pay for healthcare before Medicare?
Where to start: Retirement planning · Retirement income · Rollover decisions
Resources: Retirement Readiness Checklist · Rollover Decision Guide
Common circumstances: The paycheck stopped. Withdrawals started — or should have. Some accounts got consolidated, others didn’t. Social Security is on or coming. RMDs are on the horizon. It’s working but nobody has looked at the whole thing as a system.
Questions you may be asking: Am I withdrawing from the right accounts? Am I paying more tax than I need to? Should I be doing Roth conversions in these lower-income years? What’s the plan if one of us goes first?
Where to start: Retirement income planning
Common circumstances: A CPA, attorney, benefits broker, or third-party administrator with clients who need an advisor for their retirement plan, retirement transition, or business-owner financial planning. Looking for someone who will coordinate rather than compete for the client relationship.
What Austin offers partners: A defined intake process, clear communication back to the referring professional, and coordination on the pieces that touch your work — without stepping into your lane.
Where to start: Contact (choose “Professional referral”)