Only Fee-Only
This podcast interviews fee-only financial planners to learn about how they are helping their clients and serving their specific niches.
Episodes
166 episodes
165 - Equity Compensation & Flat-Fee Financial Planning with Marcel Miu
Your clients may have millions in company stock and still struggle with the decisions that matter most: exercise now or later, hold or sell, diversify or stay concentrated. In this episode, we sit down with Marcel Miu, founder of Simplif...
#164 - Why Real Estate Agents Need Financial Planning | Cody Hawkins, PeaceLink
A $10,000 commission check can feel like a reset button—until the next closing gets delayed.In this episode, we're joined by Cody Hawkins, Lead Planner at PeaceLink Financial Planning, to discuss why his firm specializes in helping top-p...
#163 - The Me Money Method: Behavioral Budgeting Without the Guilt — with Linda Grizely
Money advice tends to break down in one predictable place: the messy middle between knowing what you should do and actually doing it this week. That's where Linda Grizely shines.Linda is a financial coach, speaker, and podcast host who t...
#162 - Design Your Business Around Your Lifestyle - Rafael Melendez
Money decisions are rarely just about math. The hardest part is often the human side. Rafael Melendez of NextGen Financial Planning joins us to discuss how fee-only financial planning helps younger families move from stress and uncertainty to c...
#161 - Clearing the Head Trash and Building a Lifestyle Practice, with Colin Page
A hedge fund job that started with weeding a garden? Colin Page's career story is unique, but the lessons are practical for anyone building a fee-only financial planning firm.We sit down with Colin, founder of Oakleigh Wealth Services in...
#160 - The High-Income Paradox with Sean Rawlings
Your income can grow fast and still leave you feeling behind. That's the paradox we dig into with Sean Rawlings, founder of WealthBound Advisors, who works with young, high-income earners scaling toward $500K or seven figures only to realize th...
#159 - Scaling a Fee-Only RIA Without Losing the Mission -Chelsea Ransom-Cooper
A lot of wealth management still assumes you've already "made it" before you deserve real advice. Chelsea Ransom-Cooper, CFP®, co-founder of Zenith Wealth Partners, is challenging that assumption by building a fee-only RIA designed to serve wom...
#158 - From Planning Firm Employee to Solo RIA Founder: Matt Ryan's Story
A lot of advisors want to launch their own fee-only RIA, but the gap between "I'm ready" and "I have clients" can feel enormous. We're talking with Matt Ryan, founder of Focused Mission Financial in San Diego, about how he made the leap in 2022...
#157 - From Furlough to Founder of a Fee-Only RIA - Ryan Johnson
A "backup plan" PowerPoint deck can become a real firm faster than you'd think, but the messy middle is where most people quit. Ryan Johnson, founder of Hundred Financial Planning, joins us to talk through what it actually takes to build a fee-...
#156 - Career Pivots And Clear Thinking with Jacob Tally
You can feel stuck in a successful career and still know it's not the life you want.In this episode, we talk with Jacob Tally of Prospero Wealth about what it actually looks like to pivot later, especially after years in high-intensity e...
#155 - A Discretionary, Childfree Life with Cory Smith
Most financial advice is built around a default life plan — and it quietly breaks down when you've opted out of that script. Cory Smith is a fee-only financial life planner and founder of Discretionary Inc. in Reno, Nevada, where he works exclu...
#154 - From Side Hustle to Six-Month Waitlist: Ethan Miller’s Path to Fee-Only Planning
Ethan Miller had a six-month waitlist… while still working a full-time job.We sat down with the founder of Planning for Progress to talk about how he went from union organizing to building a thriving fee-only firm just outside DC—without...
#153 - Going All In: How Logan Valentine Built His RIA
He didn’t grow his RIA through ads or a content machine. He grew it through trust, a simple fee model, and doing the unglamorous work when it mattered most.In this episode, we’re joined by Logan Valentine, CFP®, founder of Valentine Weal...
#152 - The Child-Free Planning Gap with Maddy Roche
One of the most uncomfortable questions in financial planning is also one of the most important: if you can’t speak for yourself, who will?We’re joined by Maddy Roche, Chief Growth Officer at Childfree Trust and a long-time leader in the...
#151 - From Infantry Officer to Fee-Only Advisor with Geoffrey Schaefer
Geoffrey Schaefer thought he’d work in finance. The Army had other plans.After serving as a U.S. infantry officer, Geoffrey eventually found his way back to the industry—now as a fee-only fiduciary wealth advisor and partner at an indepe...
#150 - Referrals, Not Hype: Scaling a Boutique RIA the Right Way with Dann Ryan
Two weeks before the shutdown, Dan Ryan left a big firm to launch Sinceris Advisory with a simple plan: stay virtual, serve clients deeply, and let great work drive growth. Then COVID hit. Meetings vanished, Zoom became standard, and he had to ...
#149 - From PepsiCo to Planning: Andy Fisher’s Shift from Corporate Ops to Fee-Only Advice
Andy Fisher spent 25 years leading operations at a Fortune 500 company before launching Path Setter Financial, a fee-only RIA built on clarity, transparency, and calm.In this episode, we talk about his transition from corporate leadershi...
#148 - Meet The P&C Pro Powering BC Brokerage
Meet the person you want on your side when policies get real. We sit down with Charles Priest, our new head of Property and Casualty at BC Brokerage, to unpack how a planning‑first mindset turns confusing coverage into clear, confident decision...
#147 - Renting Your Brain: The Business of Advice-Only Planning with Kelly Nilsson
Why do some advisors thrive without managing assets? We talk with Kelly Nilsson, founder of Brava Financial, about building a planning-first, advice-only practice that focuses on real-life risk—not just market returns. With a background ...
#146 - How A CFP And A CPA Team Up To Protect Wealth
Imagine walking into tax season already knowing the number.That’s what happens when a fee-only planner and a proactive CPA plan the year together—before December 31. In this episode, we’re joined by Elliot Vaughn, CFP®, and Rya...
#145 - The Engineer’s Path to Fee-Only Planning with Andy Cole
A simple spreadsheet for his dad sparked a complete career pivot. In this episode, Andy Cole breaks down his move from civil engineering to fee-only financial planning—and how he built a lean, resilient practice while working full time and rais...
#144 - Roadie. Atlantic Crossing. RIA Founder: The Shane Mason Story
Want a founder story that includes spreadsheets, a stint as a roadie, an Atlantic crossing, and a will-signing party that packed the room? Meet Shane Mason of Brooklyn FI — a CPA/CFP who went from Big Four tax to touring life, then teame...
#143 - Building A Virtual Firm While Raising Four Kids On The Road - Hamilton Brandenberg
How do you go from knocking on doors in the snow to running a referral-driven, tax-focused retirement firm? Hamilton Brandenburg shares his path from Chick-fil-A’s “my pleasure” culture, to prospecting at Edward Jones, to launching a fee-only p...
#142 - From Cold Calls to Community: Krystal Fortner on Building a Client-First Firm
Krystal Fortner built a thriving, advice-only firm by choosing clarity, community, and client-first values over sales pressure. In this episode, we trace her path from cold-calling at a wirehouse to launching her RIA with same-day state approva...
#141 - The Secret to Scaling Your Firm Without Losing Your Sanity with Michelle Wong
What if you could scale your advisory firm without rushing to hire and manage a full team?In this episode, we talk with Michelle Wong, founder and CEO of Nifty Advisor Support, about how solo and small RIAs can build lastin...