Stone Arch Bridge and the Minneapolis skyline beside the Mississippi River

Minnesota fee-only financial planning

Flat-Fee Financial Planning for High-Income and High-Asset Households

Choose comprehensive Planning or advanced Premier. Both pair your investments with tax, retirement, estate, and family decisions through a dedicated advisor relationship—without a 1% AUM fee.

Schedule a Discovery Meeting See Transparent Pricing
$900 / quarterPlanning: a dedicated advisor and comprehensive ongoing planning.
$1,650 / quarterPremier: advanced planning, implementation, and professional coordination.
0% AUMYour advisory fee is not a percentage of your portfolio.
Minnesota-basedLocal roots with virtual planning flexibility.

The answer in 20 seconds

One Advisor Relationship for Decisions That Rarely Happen Alone

Investment choices affect taxes. Tax choices affect retirement. Retirement choices affect estate planning and family wealth. Flames FP connects those decisions under a flat quarterly membership instead of charging a percentage of your assets.

See how the planning relationship works

What's covered in a coordinated planning relationship

Investments

Portfolio guidance connected to taxes, cash flow, risk, and your broader plan.

Tax planning

Year-round tax decisions, with tax-return review in Planning and eligible preparation and filing in Premier through an independent tax partner.

Retirement

Income, Roth conversions, Social Security, Medicare, RMDs, and withdrawals.

Ongoing advice

A second set of eyes for decisions that come up throughout the year.

Parents and two children sharing time together in a bright kitchen
Minnesota-based, with virtual planning flexibility for households across the state.

Who Flames FP helps

Financial Planning for Connected Decisions

Flames FP helps Minnesota households coordinate investments, taxes, compensation, retirement, and family decisions instead of handling each one separately.

  1. High-income familiesCoordinate taxes, goals, and growing wealth.
  2. Corporate employeesConnect RSUs, stock options, and bonuses to the broader plan.
  3. Pre-retireesPlan retirement income, Social Security, Medicare, taxes, and withdrawals together.
  4. Business owners and executivesCoordinate business, equity, taxes, investments, and family wealth.
  5. Minnesota householdsGet local roots with the flexibility of a virtual planning relationship.
See Who We Help

Flat-fee memberships

Two Ways to Work With Flames.

Planning coordinates the full financial picture. Premier adds deeper modeling, implementation, tax filing, and professional coordination when the work becomes more complex.

Shared foundation

Included in every Flames membership

  • Dedicated Flames advisor
  • Personalized investment management
  • Financial Dashboard
  • No AUM advisory fee

Comprehensive ongoing planning

Flames Planning

$900 / quarter

$3,600 annualized

For established professionals and families who want investments, taxes, retirement, insurance, and estate planning coordinated.

Included in Flames Planning

  • Comprehensive ongoing financial planning
  • Personalized investment management, monitoring, and rebalancing
  • Proactive tax guidance and review of one completed personal tax return
  • Retirement, insurance, and estate decisions coordinated in one plan
  • Wealth.com will- or trust-based estate documents from day one
  • Ongoing planning conversations, plan updates, and Dashboard updates
Schedule a Planning Meeting

Advanced planning and implementation

Flames Premier

$1,650 / quarter

$6,600 annualized

For high-asset households, pre-retirees, retirees, and families facing advanced tax, retirement-income, estate, or implementation decisions.

Everything in Flames Planning, plus

  • Advanced planning led by your dedicated Flames advisor
  • Ongoing tax projections, Roth-conversion, and capital-gain modeling
  • Retirement-income, Social Security, and withdrawal implementation
  • Eligible tax-return preparation and filing with an independent tax partner
  • Equity-compensation, concentrated-position, and charitable planning
  • Advanced estate strategy, professional coordination, and priority access
Schedule a Premier Meeting

Billed quarterly in advance. No annual commitment.

Compare full membership details → Not sure which fits? Start with discovery →

1% AUM vs Flames Premier

See What a Percentage-of-Assets Fee Means Over 10 Years

Move the slider to compare an advisor charging 1% of a growing portfolio with the Flames Premier Membership's fixed $6,600 annual fee. This illustration assumes 8% annual portfolio growth.

Compare Flat Fee vs AUM
$1,000,000
8% annual growth
Year-one 1% AUM fee $10,000
10-year 1% AUM fees $144,866
Portfolio grows 8% annually; the 1% fee grows with it.
10-year Flames Premier fees $66,000
$6,600 flat quarterly membership fee for 10 years.
Estimated 10-year savings with Premier $82,866
Hypothetical educational illustration only, not a performance projection or guarantee. Assumes the selected starting portfolio grows 8% annually, applies a 1% AUM fee to each year's beginning balance, and holds the Premier fee at $6,600 per year. Excludes withdrawals, taxes, investment expenses, other fees, and the effect of paying fees from the portfolio.

Client perspective

Advice Should Feel Personal, Understandable, and Useful

Short excerpts from Google reviews highlight the parts of the relationship that matter most: personal fit, coordinated advice, and trust. See Google reviews.

Personal fit

"Working with Joel has been a life changer."
Kirsten, Google review

Advisor relationship

"Financial planning is accessible, personal and enjoyable through Joel's expertise!"
Jonny, Google review

Trust and confidence

"Joel at Flames is an exceptional financial planner who has consistently exceeded our expectations."
Anthony, Google review

Client testimonials from Google reviews. Reviewers were not compensated. Individual experiences vary and are not indicative of future results or outcomes.

Common questions

Clear Answers Before the First Meeting

Pricing, services, and the planning model should be understandable before you ever share a financial statement.

Browse financial planning guides
Does Flames Financial Planning charge AUM fees?

No. Flames FP uses flat quarterly membership pricing instead of charging a percentage of assets under management. Your membership fee is based on planning complexity rather than portfolio size.

What can a Flames FP membership include?

Depending on the membership, Flames FP can include financial planning, investment management, tax planning, retirement planning, family wealth coordination, and ongoing advisor access. Planning and Premier include Wealth.com estate-document access, while eligible Premier members also receive individual tax-return preparation and filing through an independent tax partner.

How much does Flames Financial Planning cost?

Flames Planning is $900 per quarter ($3,600 annualized), and Flames Premier is $1,650 per quarter ($6,600 annualized). Both are billed quarterly in advance with no annual commitment and no percentage-of-assets advisory fee.

Does Flames FP work with Minnesota clients?

Yes. Flames FP is Minnesota-based and can work with local and virtual clients where permitted by registration and compliance requirements. See the flat-fee financial advisor in Minnesota guide for comparison questions.

Explore Flames FP

The Main Pages for Understanding Flames Financial Planning

Start with transparent pricing, the planning process, the membership chooser, services, households we serve, and the firm behind the advice.

Pricing

Compare Planning and Premier at $900 or $1,650 per quarter, including the audience and planning work each relationship is designed to serve.

How It Works

Follow the process from discovery meeting through organization, recommendations, implementation, and ongoing advice.

Get Started

Choose the membership that fits your needs, then schedule the matching no-cost discovery meeting.

Services

See how investments, taxes, retirement, estate guidance, and ongoing decisions work together without AUM fees.

Who We Help

Review the households and planning situations that are most likely to fit a coordinated flat-fee relationship.

About

Learn about the fee-only fiduciary model, Minnesota roots, planning philosophy, and professional standards.

Watch and learn

Use the video for the walkthrough, then use the written guide for the details, examples, and next steps.

Flat Fee vs 1% Financial Advisor

Flat Fee vs 1% Financial Advisor

See how a percentage fee changes in dollars as a portfolio grows and what to compare beyond the headline rate.

Watch and read the guide
The 6 Levels of Wealth for $200K+ Households

The 6 Levels of Wealth for $200K+ Households

Use six stages—stability, momentum, flexibility, independence, freedom, and abundance—to separate a high income from the wealth it actually creates.

Watch and read the guide
How to Decrease Your Tax Bill

How to Decrease Your Tax Bill

Review practical tax-planning decisions that can connect income, investments, retirement, and withholding.

Watch and read the guide
Browse all financial planning videosVisit Flames FP on YouTube

Your next step

Find Out Whether a Flat-Fee Planning Relationship Fits Your Life

Use a discovery meeting to talk through your priorities, the planning work involved, and which membership may fit. Understand the options before deciding whether to move forward.

Schedule a Discovery Meeting Review Pricing First