Let’s spend thirty minutes on the phone

You talk, mostly. I ask what prompted you to reach out, what you are trying to figure out, and roughly where things stand. Then I tell you whether this is the kind of work I do well. It runs about 30 minutes.

Not much. Leave the statements in the drawer, but do come with a rough idea of what you own. I mean the kinds of accounts you have, a 401(k), an IRA, a Roth, a taxable account, a pension, and roughly how much sits in each. Round numbers are fine. That is the difference between a useful thirty minutes and me guessing. If we go further there will be real paperwork later, and I will tell you exactly what to pull together.

Please, yes. I would rather hear from both of you than brief one of you second-hand. Every decision here lands on both your lives, and on the questions that matter most, when to stop working, how much is safe to spend, how the survivor is looked after, the two of you often answer differently. That difference is useful, and it rarely survives being relayed later.

No. I have no products to sell and no commissions to earn, so there is nothing for me to push. If I do not think I can add value beyond my fee, the useful thing for both of us is for me to say so and point you elsewhere.

Plenty of people call for a second opinion on a specific decision, usually a Roth conversion or a Social Security claim. Sometimes the answer is that their current advisor has it handled. That is a good outcome for a free call.

Call anyway. If you are two or three years from retiring, that is the best time to talk, because the years right before you stop working are when the most planning options are still open.