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Comprehensive Financial Planning
A written, six-domain plan covering cash flow, insurance, investments, taxes, retirement, and estate. Includes two in-depth planning sessions and a 12-month implementation roadmap.
$2,500one-time, flat
Bethesda, Maryland · est. 2014
Forward Together, wealth planned with intent.
An independent Ameriprise Financial Services practice in Bethesda, guiding families, founders, and professionals toward retirement, legacy, and a calmer relationship with money — one decision at a time.
$340M+
Client assets advised across the D.C. metro
11 yrs
Average client relationship tenure
Our approach
A practice built on listening first.
We are a fee-based Ameriprise Financial Services practice serving the Bethesda community and the wider Capital Beltway. Our work begins with a conversation — about your family, your work, the things that keep you up at night — and only then turns to portfolios, policies, and projections.
Bethesda, MD
Forward Together Wealth Planning was founded on a simple conviction: that financial advice should feel less like a transaction and more like a long partnership. For more than a decade, we have worked alongside physicians at Suburban Hospital, federal employees commuting into the District, and small-business owners across Montgomery County — helping each household make decisions that compound over a lifetime.
As an Ameriprise Financial Services affiliated practice, we combine the resources and research of a national firm with the discretion of a local advisory. That means access to institutional-grade investments, structured planning software, and a team of specialists — without surrendering the personal relationship that makes advice worth following.
We plan for the life you actually want to live — not the one a spreadsheet assumes you should have.— Karen Whitfield, CFP®, Lead Planner
Our process is deliberate and unhurried. We meet in person at our Bethesda office, over video when life demands it, and we review your plan at least twice a year — more often when markets shift, tax law changes, or your circumstances do. The goal is not to sell you a product. It is to give you a clear, written path forward, and to walk it with you.
Whether you are ten years from retirement or thirty, whether you are consolidating inherited accounts or building wealth for the first time, we would be glad to sit down and listen.
What we do
Services, priced plainly.
Six core engagements, each with a clearly stated starting fee. Most clients begin with a comprehensive plan and add ongoing advisory over time. All fees are documented in writing before any work begins — no surprises, no buried compensation.
02
Ongoing Wealth Management
Discretionary investment advisory on a managed account, rebalanced quarterly, with semi-annual reviews and year-round access to your planner. Fee includes planning refreshes.
1.00%of assets / year
03
Retirement Income Strategy
A drawdown plan for the first five years of retirement — Social Security timing, Roth conversions, pension elections, and a sustainable withdrawal rate calibrated to your spending.
$1,800one-time, flat
04
Estate & Legacy Planning
Coordination with your attorney on trusts, beneficiary designations, gifting strategy, and Maryland estate tax exposure. Includes a documented review of all account titling.
$1,500one-time, flat
05
Tax-Aware Investment Review
A standalone analysis of your current holdings for tax drag, asset-location efficiency, and loss-harvesting opportunities. Delivered as a written memo with specific recommendations.
$950one-time, flat
06
Business Owner & Equity Comp
For founders and executives with concentrated stock, RSUs, or options. Includes a vesting calendar, 83(b) analysis, and a diversification schedule aligned to your risk tolerance.
$2,200one-time, flat
Indicative starting fees shown. Final pricing is confirmed in a written engagement letter after an initial complimentary consultation. Investment advisory services are offered through Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC. Ameriprise Financial cannot guarantee future results.
How we work
Three steps, no pressure.
Every engagement begins the same way — with a no-cost introductory meeting, in our Bethesda office or over video. From there, the path is straightforward and written down.
Step 01 — Discover
A conversation, not a pitch.
We spend 45 minutes understanding your goals, your concerns, and the people who depend on you. No products are discussed. You leave with a sense of whether we are a fit — and we say so honestly if we are not.
Step 02 — Design
A plan, written for you.
Within three weeks we deliver a written plan covering investments, taxes, retirement, insurance, and estate. We walk through it together, revise where needed, and you decide what to implement — at your pace.
Step 03 — Steward
Ongoing, not one-and-done.
For ongoing clients, we meet at least twice a year to recalibrate — when markets move, when tax law shifts, when life does. The plan is a living document, not a binder that gathers dust on a shelf.
Why clients stay
A steadier hand, across every market.
The households we serve do not stay for hot stock picks. They stay because we answer the phone in March 2020, because we explain a Roth conversion in plain English, and because we know their grandchildren's names. Advice, in the end, is a relationship — and we treat it that way.
Our clients tend to be deliberate people: physicians, federal employees, professors, small-business owners, and retirees who have spent a lifetime building something worth protecting. If that sounds like you, we would be glad to talk.
— Fiduciary standard, always
Begin
Let's plan forward, together.
Request a complimentary introductory consultation. We will respond within one business day to schedule a 45-minute conversation — in our Bethesda office or over video, whichever suits you. There is no obligation, and no cost for the first meeting.