Questions from the trailhead.

Most of the families we serve are within a decade of retirement, on one side of it or the other, and have accumulated on the order of $1 million or more — careful people who did the saving themselves. The common thread isn't a number, though; it's being ready to hand the ongoing measurement to a professional and take the hours back. If you're unsure whether you fit, ask. The first call is how we find out together.

One fee, calculated as a percentage of the assets we manage, drawn from the accounts we advise and shown plainly on every statement. There is nothing behind it — no commissions, no product payments, no revenue that doesn't appear on the page — and your money stays in accounts titled to you at Fidelity.

Now and then a client arrives holding an older annuity, or the plan genuinely calls for life insurance. David carries the licenses for that work, so it can be handled inside the firm rather than passed to a stranger.

Yes — on every account and every recommendation, with no exceptions. Putting your interests ahead of ours is a legal duty we carry at all times, and you'll find it stated in plain words in the agreement you sign.

Nothing, and it asks nothing of you. Half an hour or so: you describe where you stand, we explain how we work, and both sides take a fair measurement of the fit. No documents to gather, no pitch waiting at the end — and when you call, a person answers, most often Ellen.

Six headings, one sheet — each a station on the same survey:

• Retirement income planning
• Investment management
• Investment-related tax strategy
• Estate coordination
• Insurance review
• Cash flow planning

Every line of it serves the same end: your hours returned to you, spent where you'd rather spend them, while the measuring stays with us.