Questions, answered honestly.

Fee-only means the only compensation we receive comes directly from our clients. We don’t earn commissions, we don’t accept referral fees, and we don’t receive any payment from third parties for products we recommend. Your fee is our only revenue — full stop.

This matters because it removes the structural incentives that can distort financial advice. An adviser who earns commissions has a financial reason to favor those products over alternatives. We don’t. What we recommend is based entirely on what we believe is right for your situation.

They sound nearly identical, but the difference is significant. Fee-only advisers are compensated exclusively by their clients — no commissions, no product payments, no referral arrangements of any kind. Fee-based advisers charge client fees and can also earn commissions from selling financial products like annuities, insurance, or proprietary funds.

The fee-based model isn’t inherently dishonest, but it creates conflicts of interest that are worth understanding. It’s worth asking any adviser you consider: do you receive any compensation from any source other than me? The answer tells you a lot.

Birch Point is fee-only. We don’t sell products, we don’t earn commissions, and we don’t receive any payment from anyone other than our clients.

A fiduciary is someone who is legally obligated to act in your best interest at all times. It’s the highest standard of care in financial services — and it’s not universal.

Many financial advisers operate under a “suitability” standard, which requires only that their recommendations be appropriate for your general situation — not necessarily the best available option for you. A fiduciary must go further: they must recommend what is genuinely in your best interest, disclose any conflicts of interest, and put your needs ahead of their own.

Birch Point operates as a fiduciary at all times — not just in specific circumstances, but in every aspect of our relationship with you.

Always. This is a more important question than it might seem.

Some advisers are registered as both an investment adviser and a broker-dealer — “dual registration.” In that model, an adviser might act as a fiduciary when managing your portfolio, then operate under a lower standard when selling you an insurance product or annuity.

Birch Point is registered solely as an investment adviser. We are not registered as a broker-dealer. We serve as your fiduciary for every decision, every recommendation, and every conversation — not just the ones where it’s convenient.

A Licensed Investment Adviser is a firm registered with either the SEC or a state securities regulator to provide investment advice. RIAs are held to a fiduciary standard — legally required to act in their clients’ best interests.

Birch Point is a state-licensed investment adviser in Maine. You can verify our registration at the Maine Office of Securities or through the SEC’s Investment Adviser Search tool (adviserinfo.sec.gov).

CFP® stands for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ — widely considered the most rigorous and respected credential in the financial planning profession. To earn it, an adviser must complete a comprehensive education program covering more than 70 financial planning topics, accumulate thousands of hours of professional experience, pass a demanding board examination, and commit to ongoing continuing education and a strict code of ethics.

Brie Pio, the founder and lead financial planner at Birch Point, is a CFP® professional. You can learn more at letsmakeaplan.org.

NAPFA — the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors — is the leading professional organization for fee-only financial advisers in the country. Membership isn’t automatic. To become a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor, an adviser must meet rigorous credentialing and educational requirements, satisfy some of the most demanding continuing education requirements in the industry, and submit a financial plan for peer review before being admitted.

Critically, every NAPFA member must undergo outside professional review to confirm they are operating on a truly fee-only basis — no commissions, no product sales, no hidden compensation arrangements. That external check is what gives the NAPFA designation its teeth. It’s not self-reported.

NAPFA membership means one thing above all else: an independent organization with real standards has verified that your adviser meets them. You can verify NAPFA membership at napfa.org.

These terms are used interchangeably in the industry — and none of them are legally protected. Anyone can call themselves a financial adviser or financial planner without any specific training, credential, or regulatory oversight.

What matters more than the title is how an adviser is registered and compensated. Is the person an RIA, a broker-dealer representative, or both? Are they fee-only or commission-based? Are they a fiduciary? Do they hold the CFP® designation?

At Birch Point, Brie Pio is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a fee-only fiduciary licensed investment adviser.

You should. Any legitimate adviser will encourage you to check.

You can verify Brie’s CFP® status at cfp.net. You can verify our firm’s registration and review our Form ADV at adviserinfo.sec.gov. You can also check adviser backgrounds through FINRA’s BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org.

Our fees are straightforward and disclosed upfront — no surprises.

We charge an annual fee based on the assets we manage on your behalf, calculated as a percentage and billed quarterly. The fee covers both comprehensive financial planning and investment management — we don’t unbundle these services, because the planning and the investment strategy need to be designed together.

We don’t charge hourly fees for planning conversations, and we don’t charge separately for plan updates, additional meetings, or time spent coordinating with your CPA or estate attorney.

We work with people at a range of wealth levels, though most of our clients have built investable portfolios of at least $1 million — not counting 401(k) assets if you’re under 59½, real estate, or 529 plans. We also ask that clients allow us to manage all assets available for direct management — it’s the only way to deliver advice that’s truly integrated across your financial life.

All advisory relationships are subject to a minimum annual fee of $7,500. If your fee under our standard asset-based schedule falls below that amount, the minimum applies. This structure reflects the depth of planning work involved in every client relationship regardless of portfolio size.

If we’re not the right fit based on where you are today, we’ll tell you honestly — and do our best to answer your questions and point you toward someone who might be a better match.

No. Our fee is the only compensation we receive. We don’t earn commissions, we don’t receive 12b-1 fees from mutual funds, and we don’t have referral arrangements that pay us when we recommend other professionals.

That said, there are some costs outside our advisory fee that you should understand. Investment vehicles like ETFs and mutual funds carry their own internal expense ratios. We work to minimize these costs by using low-cost, institutional-class investment vehicles where appropriate. Custodial fees, if any, are assessed by the custodian who holds your assets. We’ll be transparent about all of these in our engagement discussions.

Your assets are held by an independent, third-party custodian — not by Birch Point. We work with Altruist and Schwab, regulated financial institutions that hold your accounts in your name. We have the ability to manage your investments on your behalf, but we cannot physically take possession of your funds.

Your custodian sends you independent statements, and you can log in to view your accounts at any time. We’ll walk you through the custodial relationship in detail before you become a client.

Although Birch Point Wealth Management will never take or accept physicalcustody of client funds or assets, the firm is deemed to have constructive custody byvirtue of its authority to directly deduct advisory fees from client accounts. Please refer toItems 5 and 15 of the firm's Disclosure Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A) for additionalinformation on the firm's custody and direct fee deduction practices.

It varies — and it’s worth understanding fully before comparing. At a large wirehouse or bank, your stated fee may be lower than ours, but you may also be paying embedded costs that are less visible: fund expense ratios on proprietary products, commissions on insurance or annuity purchases, and the indirect cost of advice that isn’t genuinely optimized for your interests.

We encourage every prospective client to do a complete cost accounting of their current arrangement before making any comparison. We’re happy to help you think through that exercise — it often reveals costs people didn’t know they were paying.

The first conversation is complimentary — no charge, no obligation, no sales pitch. It’s a straightforward call or video meeting, typically 30 minutes, where we learn about your situation and you get a genuine sense of how we work and whether we’re likely to be a good fit. You’ll come away with an honest read on whether Birch Point makes sense for your situation — and if we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you so and do our best to point you in a better direction.

Once you decide to move forward, the process follows our three-step Work-Optional Blueprint.

We start with your Discovery Meeting — a deep dive into your complete financial picture: accounts, income, spending, existing plans, tax situation, and the goals that shape everything else.

From there we build Your Work-Optional Blueprint — a comprehensive financial plan presented with scenarios that show what’s possible and the decisions that determine your path.

Finally, we present Your Blueprint in Motion — the investment strategy designed to fund your income plan, manage your tax picture, and pursue your long-term goals.

After those three meetings, Birch Point becomes your ongoing planning partner — reviewing the plan regularly, updating it as your life changes, and staying proactive about the opportunities and decisions that matter most.

At minimum, we meet with clients once a year for a comprehensive plan review. In practice, most clients meet with us more frequently — particularly in the first year, and around significant life events or financial decisions.

Beyond scheduled meetings, we’re accessible for questions and conversations as they come up. You shouldn’t have to wait for a scheduled review to get a thoughtful answer. That kind of ongoing access is part of what you’re paying for, and we don’t charge extra for it.

Right now, you work directly with Brie Pio — every meeting, every question, every plan update. Our intention as we grow is to stay small and deliberate enough that that level of access never changes. We’re not building a firm that scales by adding layers between clients and advisers — no call centers, no handoffs to junior staff, no relationship managers who change every two years. If we ever do add to our advisory team, it will be a deliberate decision made to better serve you.

Most of our client relationships are conducted entirely via video call, and we work with clients throughout New England and beyond. We find that well-prepared virtual meetings are often more efficient and just as productive as in-person ones.

We hold in-person meetings at our Rockport, Maine office for clients who prefer it and are able to travel to Midcoast Maine. Geography has never been the deciding factor in a good planning relationship.

From your initial Discovery Meeting to the completion of your Work-Optional Blueprint, most clients go through the three-step process over approximately six to ten weeks, depending on the complexity of the situation and scheduling. We don’t rush the process — the plan is only useful if it’s built on a thorough understanding of your situation.

Both, integrated. We don’t believe it makes sense to separate the two for clients at your stage.

The investment strategy is built to serve the financial plan — not designed independently and then attached to it. The way your assets are structured, allocated, and drawn from in retirement should be a direct reflection of your income needs, your tax picture, your timeline, and your specific goals.

A Birch Point engagement includes comprehensive financial planning and investment management as an integrated service. That covers:

• Income architecture — designing a coordinated income strategy from all sources
• Tax efficiency — Roth conversions, bracket management, required minimum distributions, capital gains planning
• Longevity planning — sustainable withdrawal rates, sequence-of-returns risk, long-term projections
• Healthcare and long-term care strategy — bridging to Medicare, supplemental coverage, long-term care planning
• Investment strategy and management — portfolio construction, asset allocation, asset location, ongoing management
• Estate and legacy planning concepts — beneficiary designations, trust considerations, charitable intentions
• Ongoing plan reviews, updates, and access to your adviser throughout the year

No. We provide tax planning — strategy, timing, and optimization — but we do not prepare or file tax returns. We can work with your tax preparer to ensure the planning and the filing are coordinated.

No. We are not attorneys and do not provide legal advice. We can work through estate planning concepts with you — beneficiary designations, the role of trusts, charitable strategies — but the legal documents themselves need to be prepared by an estate attorney. We can coordinate with them to make sure your financial and legal plans are aligned.

No. As a fee-only firm, we don’t sell any products and don’t earn commissions of any kind. If your situation calls for a conversation about insurance products, we can help you think through what makes sense conceptually and refer you to an independent insurance professional. We have no financial stake in what you ultimately buy.

Similarly, if you already own any insurance products, Birch Point will review these products and make recommendations.

Yes, and we consider it an important part of the work. The best financial plans are coordinated across your full professional team. We work alongside your CPA, estate attorney, and other advisers to ensure everyone has the same picture and your planning is integrated. When it’s helpful, we’ll initiate those conversations directly.

We work with pre-retirees and retirees navigating the transition to a work-optional life — people who have built meaningful wealth over a long career and are at the point where the question shifts from “how do I build this?” to “how do I make it work for the rest of my life?”

Most of our clients are between 55 and 70 and have built up significant retirement savings, often with some complexity: a mix of account types, deferred or stock compensation, a pension, or multiple income sources that benefit from integrated planning.

A more detailed portrait of who we work best with is on our Who We Serve page.

Our minimum annual fee is $7,500. If your investable assets are currently below our typical range, our fee structure may not be the most cost-effective fit, and we’ll be honest about that.

If you’re approaching retirement with a 401(k) or other accounts that will roll over soon, or if you’ve recently come into a significant inheritance, it’s worth a conversation regardless of your current asset level.

Many of our best client relationships start with someone who has been a confident, successful DIY investor for decades. Managing your own investments during the accumulation phase is possible for a disciplined person. The transition to retirement is different — not necessarily harder, but meaningfully more consequential.

The decisions you make in the years around retirement — Roth conversion timing, Social Security claiming, how to structure income from multiple sources, how to sequence withdrawals — are largely irreversible and have compounding effects over a 25 to 30 year period.

The clients who come to us typically want a second set of eyes, a thought partner, someone who has seen this specific transition from every angle. That’s exactly what Birch Point is built for.

That’s a fair question, and we’ll never push you toward a change that doesn’t serve you.

The most common reasons clients come to us after working with someone else: their current adviser focuses primarily on the portfolio without building a comprehensive financial plan around it; the relationship feels impersonal at a large firm; or nobody has ever asked them what the next chapter of their life actually looks like — the planning is financial, but not personal.

If any of that resonates, it’s worth a conversation. If your current situation is genuinely serving you well, we’ll tell you that too.

Yes, and we consider it essential. The best retirement plans account for two people — two timelines, two sets of goals, two perspectives on what the next chapter looks like, and often two different relationships with the financial picture.

We engage with both partners as equals in the planning process. Both people are in the meetings, both people understand the plan, and both people have a relationship with us — not just one person who relays information to the other.

It depends on where you are in the process, and we want to be honest about that upfront.

If your divorce is not yet finalized, we are generally not the right fit at this stage. The division of assets, retirement accounts, and income — sometimes involving a legal instrument called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QDRO — needs to be resolved before comprehensive financial planning can begin. What we can do is have an initial conversation so you understand what the planning process will look like once things are settled.

Once your divorce is finalized and your financial picture is clear, we’re well-positioned to help. Many people emerge from a divorce managing their finances independently for the first time — these are exactly the kinds of planning questions we’re built for, and we approach them without judgment.

You don’t need to have everything figured out before you reach out.

Comprehensive financial planning is useful even for situations that appear straightforward on the surface. A client with a single retirement account and a clear spending plan still faces meaningful decisions around Social Security timing, Roth conversion strategy, investment allocation in distribution, healthcare, and estate planning.

That said, we’re honest about fit. If your situation is genuinely simple and our fee structure doesn’t represent good value given what you need, we’ll tell you that directly and suggest alternatives.

The honest answer is: it depends on variables that are specific to you — and the only way to know with real confidence is to build a plan around your actual situation.

What matters most: what you’ll spend each year in retirement, when you plan to stop working, where your income will come from, how efficiently your accounts are structured across different tax treatments, and how long the plan needs to last.

Rules of thumb — the 4% rule, the “25 times your expenses” guideline — are useful starting points, not substitutes for a real plan. Our Work-Optional Roadmap walks through the key variables. You can download it for free on our homepage.

The timing of market returns matters enormously in retirement. A significant market decline in your first few years of retirement is much more damaging than the same decline later on, because you’re withdrawing from your portfolio at the exact moment it’s worth less.

This is called sequence-of-returns risk, and it’s one of the primary reasons the investment strategy you use while drawing down your retirement savings should be built differently from the one you used while accumulating it.

A well-built plan takes this risk into consideration — not by predicting the market, but by structuring your income and assets to potentially avoid selling at the wrong time.

A couple retiring at 62 has a reasonable probability that one of them lives past 90. That means your plan may need to work for 30 years — which is a very different challenge than planning for 15 or 20.

The question of how much you can safely withdraw each year depends on your asset allocation, your other income sources, your spending flexibility, and your time horizon. We model this as part of every client plan, with projections that show the range of outcomes under different scenarios — not just the expected case, but the ones where things don’t go according to plan.

Social Security timing is one of the most consequential financial decisions in retirement — and one of the few that can’t be undone. The difference between claiming at 62 versus 70 can represent $100,000 or more in lifetime benefits for many households.

For married couples, the decision is even more complex — when each spouse claims affects not just lifetime benefits but survivor income, which can matter enormously if one partner lives significantly longer than the other.

The right answer depends on your health, your other income sources, your tax situation, and your overall plan. Social Security timing is worked through carefully as part of every Work-Optional Blueprint we build.

When you leave an employer, you generally have four options with your 401(k): leave it where it is, roll it to a new employer’s plan, roll it to an IRA, or cash it out. For most people approaching retirement, the last option is almost never the right choice.

The rollover decision has real implications — for your taxes, your investment options, your planning flexibility, and your estate. Some aspects are difficult or impossible to undo, which makes it worth thinking through carefully before acting.

A Roth conversion moves money from a traditional pre-tax retirement account into a Roth account. You pay income tax on the amount you convert in the year of the conversion — but the money then grows tax-free and is not subject to required minimum distributions later.

The window between retirement and age 73 or 75 — when required minimum distributions begin — is often the best opportunity for Roth conversions in a person’s entire financial life. Income is typically lower in those years, which means you can convert at a lower tax rate. Once that window closes, it doesn’t reopen.

Whether a conversion makes sense depends on your current and projected tax brackets, your account balances, and your estate planning goals.

For people who retire before 65, healthcare is consistently the most underestimated cost in the gap before Medicare begins. Private insurance through the ACA marketplace, COBRA continuation, or coverage through a spouse’s plan are the primary options.

ACA marketplace premiums are income-dependent. If your income drops significantly in early retirement, you may qualify for substantial subsidies that dramatically reduce your healthcare costs. How you structure your income in those early retirement years directly affects what you pay for coverage.

Standard retirement planning tends to focus on two things: building enough, and then drawing it down efficiently. Both matter enormously, and we do both rigorously.

What sets Birch Point apart is where we start the conversation. Before we look at the balance sheet, we ask what a great second half of life actually looks like for you. What are you stepping toward, not just stepping away from?

The financial plan is then built to support the life you’re describing — not the other way around. This doesn’t mean we provide life coaching. It means we ask better questions upfront so the plan we build is calibrated to the life you actually want to live.

The first step is a straightforward conversation — complimentary, no obligation. We’ll spend 30 minutes learning about your situation and giving you a genuine sense of whether Birch Point is the right fit.

You can schedule that conversation below, or download our Work-Optional Roadmap for a deeper look at the planning framework before you’re ready to talk.