Transparent quarterly pricing
Clients can see the quarterly membership cost and its annualized equivalent in dollars, then evaluate it against the planning work included.
Founder and financial planner
Joel Miller, CFP
Joel founded Flames Financial Planning to build a clearer way to pay for coordinated financial advice: fixed quarterly memberships, no AUM fees, and one planning relationship for the decisions that affect each other.
CFPCertified Financial Planner professional.
Fee-only fiduciaryAdvice delivered through a fiduciary planning relationship.
Minnesota-basedLocal roots with virtual planning flexibility.
Flames founderBuilding a company designed to outlast one personality.
Direct answer
Who Is Joel Miller, CFP?
Joel Miller is the founder of Flames Financial Planning, a Minnesota-based flat-fee financial planning firm. His work focuses on coordinating investments, tax planning, retirement planning, estate guidance, and ongoing household decisions without charging AUM fees.
Why Flames exists
Build the relationship around advice, not asset size
Flames was created around a simple question: why should the cost of financial advice automatically rise because a portfolio grew?
Connected decisions
Investments, taxes, retirement, insurance, estate guidance, and family priorities are treated as one planning system.
A company beyond the founder
Joel's role matters, but the long-term goal is a durable Flames planning experience, process, dashboard, and standard of care.
Planning philosophy
Good advice should make the next decision clearer
A plan is not valuable because it is long. It is valuable when it helps a household understand tradeoffs and act with more confidence.
Start with the household
Goals, values, family responsibilities, cash flow, and risk come before product or portfolio recommendations.
Explain the tradeoff
Clients should understand the cost, tax effect, risk, timing, and alternatives behind an important recommendation.
Keep updating the plan
The planning process should respond when markets, income, taxes, health, family, or goals change.
Public education
Teach the decision before asking for the meeting
Flames publishes detailed videos, written guides, calculators, and a free dashboard so people can learn and organize before deciding whether to hire an advisor.
Financial planning videos
Long-form explanations make advisor fees, taxes, retirement, investing, insurance, and estate decisions easier to inspect.
Written planning guides
Answer-first pages provide examples, comparisons, FAQs, and source material that can be revisited.
Free financial dashboard
Organize net worth, budgeting, goals, debt, insurance, estate documents, and planning questions before hiring anyone.
Independent verification
Verify the Credential and Follow the Public Work
Do not rely only on a biography. Use primary verification tools and Joel's public profiles to inspect the credential, advisory record, and educational work.
CFP Board
Open Joel Miller's CFP Board record to confirm certification status and any public disciplinary history.
SEC IAPD
Review Joel Miller's public investment-adviser registration and disclosure record.
Review Joel's public professional profile and work history.
YouTube
Watch Joel explain advisor fees, taxes, investing, retirement, and estate decisions in long-form videos.
Watch and learn
Learn Directly From Joel
Start with three videos selected for this page, then use the controls to explore every published Flames FP video guide.
Videos 1–3 of 14
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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. -
Five Money Mistakes High Earners Make
Common coordination gaps involving taxes, cash flow, investments, insurance, and estate planning. -
What Nobody Tells You About Earning $400K a Year
See why a $400K income can still leave too little investable margin and how taxes, lifestyle growth, and deliberate investing change the result. -
The 3-Account System for a $250K Income
Use cash reserves, tax-advantaged accounts, and a taxable brokerage account to turn a strong income into a repeatable wealth-building system. -
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. -
The RSU Strategy Most $300K Tech Earners Miss
Understand taxation at vesting, check the withholding gap, and turn each RSU vest into a deliberate diversification and household-planning decision. -
The Most Underrated Retirement Account
How a taxable brokerage account can support retirement flexibility alongside tax-advantaged accounts. -
How to Decrease Your Tax Bill
Review practical tax-planning decisions that can connect income, investments, retirement, and withholding. -
Should You Invest or Spend Your HSA?
A practical framework for deciding how an HSA fits healthcare costs, taxes, and retirement planning. -
Four Common Backdoor Roth IRA Mistakes
Understand contribution, conversion, pro-rata, and reporting mistakes before they create tax problems. -
Direct Indexing vs ETFs in a Taxable Account
Compare diversification, tax management, cost, and complexity before changing an investment strategy. -
My New Favorite Account to Gift Money to Kids and Grandkids
Compare the new child investment account with 529 plans, custodial accounts, Roth IRAs for earned income, and the family's actual goals. -
Estate Planning Documents You May Need
A plain-English review of wills, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, beneficiaries, and trusts. -
How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
Think through income replacement, debt, children, childcare, education, and family risk.
Common questions
Joel Miller and Flames FP Questions
Straight answers about Joel's credential, location, fee model, and the company he is building.
Is Joel Miller a CFP professional?
Yes. Joel Miller is a Certified Financial Planner professional and the founder of Flames Financial Planning.
Where is Joel Miller based?
Joel and Flames Financial Planning are based in Minnesota, with virtual planning flexibility for eligible clients.
Does Joel charge AUM fees?
Flames Financial Planning uses fixed quarterly membership pricing instead of charging a percentage of assets under management.
Is Flames FP intended to be bigger than one advisor?
Yes. The brand, planning process, dashboard, educational library, and service standards are being built around Flames Financial Planning as the durable company.
How can I learn before scheduling a meeting?
Watch the Flames FP YouTube videos, read the planning guides, and compare transparent pricing before deciding whether to schedule.
Next step
Meet the company Joel is building, not only the founder.
Explore Flames FP's process and pricing, or schedule a discovery meeting when you want to talk through your planning needs.