Retirement, carefully surveyed.
Benchmark Financial Planning is a fee-only fiduciary retirement planning firm in Petoskey, Michigan. We build and re-check six-station retirement income plans for 110+ families nationwide — deliberately small, deliberately thorough.
No obligation · When you call, a person answers — most often Ellen · (231) 555-0162
Sheet 02 · The route, at a glance
The Datum Line
Six stations. One route. Walked twice a year, every year.
The Datum Line is the level we survey from: six stations covering the whole of a retirement, built and tracked in RightCapital. Every station is re-measured at a spring review and a fall review, every single year. Here is the index map — the full survey, station by station, is on its own sheet.
Station 01 · Elev. 1250
Income & Cash Flow
A paycheck you design — dollars and dates, mapped before you take a step.
Station 02 · Elev. 1188
Investments
A portfolio built to fund the plan, in your own name at Fidelity.
Station 03 · Elev. 1126
Taxes
Planned for a lifetime, not just April — sequencing laid out years ahead.
Station 04 · Elev. 1064
Protection
Medicare windows and long-term care, surveyed before they're emergencies.
Station 05 · Elev. 1002
Estate
A plan, not a puzzle — titles, beneficiaries, and instructions that agree.
Station 06 · Elev. 940
The Years Ahead
Twice a year we re-walk all six stations and correct the map to the ground.
Sheet 03 · Who this map is drawn for
Who we serve
Who this map is drawn for.
Our families are 55 to 70, near retirement or already in it. Careful savers who did the hard part themselves and now want a professional to carry the plan, so they can have their time back. We know the questions that surface at 2 a.m., because we answer them in writing.
Many are professionals or executives closing out long careers who would rather not run the plan themselves. They hand the surveying to an advisor who has walked this ground before — and who keeps the route pointed at their destination, not anyone else's.
- Approaching retirement, or already there. The career did its work; what's in question now is the decade on either side of the last paycheck.
- A portfolio of $1 million or more, accumulated the slow way — steady saving, year over year, on the record.
- You'd rather delegate. The finances have grown intricate enough to be a job in themselves, and your hours are worth more elsewhere.
- Anywhere in the country. The office is in Petoskey, MI; the families are nationwide. Video, phone, or across the table — whichever suits you.
Sheet 04 · Field notes
Recorded measurements
The numbers behind the firm.
Measured, recorded, and re-checked — like everything else on this sheet.
Sheet 05 · The surveyor
Sheet 06 · The datum point
Final benchmark
You are the fixed point. Everything here is measured from you.
Start with a conversation. No pitch, no obligation — bring nothing but your questions.
When you call, a person answers — most often Ellen · No obligation
Benchmark placedYou are the fixed point
Petoskey, MI 49770