Diversified, low-cost, tax-aware portfolios — coordinated with your accountant, not your news feed.
For people who want a long-term plan they can actually leave alone. We design the portfolio, manage the tax lots, and stay between you and the urge to act at exactly the wrong moment.
Three services. One coordinated plan.
Investment Management
Diversified, globally allocated portfolios using low-cost ETFs and index funds. Tax-aware location across taxable, IRA, and Roth accounts.
- Custom asset allocation by risk tolerance
- Quarterly rebalancing & tax-loss harvesting
- Asset location optimization
- Held at Charles Schwab (independent custodian)
Retirement Planning
From “am I on track?” to “should I retire next year?” — written plans you can actually act on, updated annually as your life evolves.
- Retirement income projections
- Social Security claiming strategy
- Roth conversion windows
- Healthcare bridge planning
Coordination with Unify CPA
The rare advisory shop where the people managing your portfolio actually file your tax return — twenty feet down the same hallway.
- Annual tax-loss harvesting
- Capital gain budgeting
- QCDs & charitable strategies
- Joint CPA + advisor reviews
Boring on purpose. Effective by design.
This is what a moderately-aggressive 60/40 portfolio looks like for one of our clients in their 50s — globally diversified, low-cost, and rebalanced quarterly. No “thematic ETFs.” No “alternative” products with hidden lockups.
The single most important number in any portfolio is the expense ratio you don't see. Ours are visible — and almost always under 0.20%.
The unglamorous moves that quietly add up.
Vanguard's “Advisor's Alpha” study estimates these tax-aware moves add roughly 0.75% to 1.5% per year of after-tax return. Over 30 years, that compounds into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
| Strategy | What it actually does | Typical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Asset LocationSmart account placement | Tax-inefficient assets (bonds, REITs) in IRAs; tax-efficient assets (stocks) in taxable accounts. | +0.20% / yr |
| Tax-Loss HarvestingContinuous, automated | Realize unrealized losses without changing exposure — banking deductions for future gains. | +0.30% / yr |
| Roth ConversionsIn low-income years | Convert pre-tax dollars to Roth at today’s bracket if we expect higher brackets later. | $50K–$200K lifetime |
| Capital Gain BudgetingRealize at 0% bracket | For clients with flexibility, harvest gains tax-free up to the 0% LTCG bracket each year. | $10–25K / yr |
| QCDs from IRAsAge 70½+ charitable | Charitable distributions direct from IRA — avoid showing income at all, no itemizing required. | 22–32% of gift |
Most clients come to us during a transition.
Your plan should change when your life does — not on a robo-advisor's quarterly drift schedule.
Four steps. Clearly defined.
Intro call
30 minutes. You ask anything. We see if we’re a fit. No pitch.
Discovery
Document review, goals, risk profile. We do the homework before we meet.
Plan presentation
A written investment policy and tax strategy you take home and read. You decide.
Execute & review
Onboard at Schwab, move existing investments without selling them where possible, rebalance quarterly, full review annually.
Robo-advisor, typical firm, or Unify.
Three honest comparisons most prospects are quietly weighing.
| Robo-advisor | Typical advisor | Unify Wealth Management | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 0.25–0.40% / yr, no human | 1.0–1.5% / yr, often plus product commissions | Fee-only, transparent AUM, no commissions ever |
| Tax coordination | Automated TLH only — no view into your return | Refers you to “a CPA they know” — separate firms | Same firm files your taxes. Strategy is built jointly. |
| Human relationship | Chat support, rotating reps | An advisor — but at a 200-client book | A small, deliberate book. The same two advisors, every call. |
Your assets sit at Charles Schwab. Not with us.
This is one of the most important and least-understood structural protections in the advisory industry. We never custody your assets — Schwab does. We have authority to manage them, but we cannot move money to ourselves, ever.
You'll log directly into your Schwab account 24/7. You'll see every transaction we execute. Your statements come from Schwab, not from us — that's a separation of duties built specifically to protect you.
Custodial Protections
The hardest part is starting.
Book a 30-minute introductory call. We'll talk through what you have, what you're trying to do, and whether we're the right fit. If we're not, we'll tell you who is.