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For FIRE Followers

You've already done the hard part. Here's where coordination pays you back.

If you've gotten to $2-5M+ NW by reading bogleheads, optimizing your tax software, and running your own spreadsheets, you're sharper than most advisors. We don't want to take over — we want to be the second set of eyes on the few decisions where the rules interact and the timing is hard to undo.

Where DIY Hits Its Limits

The decisions that don’t fit in a spreadsheet.

Five specific edge cases where the FIRE crowd consistently gets caught. None of these are hard if you know they exist. All of them are expensive if you don’t.

Roth conversion × ACA subsidy interaction

Converting $40K from traditional to Roth in early retirement can disqualify a family of 4 from $18K of ACA premium subsidies. The math depends on your specific MAGI cliff, state, and silver plan benchmark. Most retirement calculators don’t model this interaction.

State tax migration optimization

Moving from CA → NV / TX → FL / WA → TN before a big Roth conversion or business sale saves more than most people make in a year. But the residency-establishment timing, severance of intent, and audit-defensible documentation is where most DIY moves get caught.

Estate planning at $5M+ NW

Most FIRE folks defer estate planning until $10M+. At $5M with kids, you’re already past the threshold where a basic will leaves real money on the table. Grantor trust structures, beneficiary IRA design, and state estate tax migration all matter sooner than the personal finance community admits.

Backdoor + mega-backdoor sequencing for W-2 → coast transitions

If you’re still W-2 in your final 3-5 working years before coast/FIRE, the mega-backdoor Roth window can shovel $40K+/year into Roth on top of your normal contributions. Sequencing this against your existing 401(k), IRA basis, and pro-rata rule trap is fiddly.

Sequence-of-returns risk + dynamic withdrawal strategies

The 4% rule is built on average outcomes. Real early retirees who hit a bad first decade (think 2000-2010) needed bond tents, dynamic withdrawal floors, and CAPE-based adjustments to avoid running out at 80. Most FIRE calculators don’t stress-test this.

International relocation + tax-treaty optimization

Moving abroad in early retirement triggers a different ruleset: foreign earned income exclusion vs. tax-treaty paths, FATCA + FBAR reporting, residency severance that survives a US audit, and Roth conversion sequencing under a new tax regime. Italy’s 7% retiree, Puerto Rico Act 60, and Caribbean residency programs each have qualification windows most DIY relocators miss.

Where We Fit

We're not here to replace your bogleheads workflow.

We're the advisor you call when the decision tree gets weird — the Roth conversion that ripples into ACA, the state move that requires audit-defensible timing, the estate plan that needs to outlive your spreadsheet. Coordinated planning across tax, healthcare, withdrawal sequencing, and estate, with a fee set by your net worth (not counting your primary residence). No AUM percentage, and moving the portfolio to us is not a condition of the work.

How We Work

How we work with FIRE followers.

No generic retirement projections. No one-size-fits-all asset allocation. Here’s what an engagement actually looks like.

We run Monte Carlo simulations with real-world assumptions, not best-case averages

We build Roth conversion strategies that account for ACA subsidy cliffs and state tax exposure

We coordinate withdrawal sequencing across taxable, traditional, Roth, and HSA accounts

We pressure-test the plan against bad-first-decade markets, not just average returns

Our fee is set by your net worth (not counting your primary residence), not the assets we manage

Illustration

A couple planning to retire at 52.

What we would look at first: the order to draw from each account, how much to convert to Roth each year before Social Security, and how to pay for health coverage until Medicare.

This is a composite. Not an actual client. Illustration only.

See the planning illustrations →

Questions From the FIRE Community

Do I really need a financial advisor if I’m pursuing FIRE?
You’ve done the hard part — the savings rate, the asset allocation discipline, the tax software optimization. Honestly, you’re probably sharper than most advisors on the basics. Where the value shows up is at the weird edges: the Roth conversion that disqualifies you from ACA subsidies, the state move that needs audit-defensible timing, the estate plan that needs to outlive your spreadsheet. We’re the second set of eyes on the decisions where the rules interact and the timing is hard to undo.
Won’t your fee eat into my FIRE number?
Our fee is set by your net worth (not counting your primary residence), not the assets we manage. Roth conversion optimization, capital gains harvesting, and ACA subsidy planning are all included, and we model each decision with you before you commit to it. We charge a known amount, set up front. No percentage of your portfolio.
I’m not fully FIRE yet. Is it too early to work with you?
The best time to start planning is before you leave your job — not after. The decisions you make in the 2-3 years before FIRE (Roth conversions, asset location, mega-backdoor contributions, healthcare planning, state of residency) have outsized impact on how long your money lasts. Waiting until you’ve already quit limits your options.
How do you handle the healthcare gap before Medicare?
We model your income to optimize ACA subsidies — which often means coordinating Roth conversions, capital gains harvesting, and withdrawal sequence so your Modified Adjusted Gross Income stays inside the subsidy range. The MAGI cliff is one of the highest-ROI planning decisions for early retirees, and most FIRE calculators don’t model the interaction with conversions and harvesting.
Do you understand the different types of FIRE?
Lean FIRE, Fat FIRE, Coast FIRE, Barista FIRE — we’ve worked with all of them. The planning is different for someone targeting $40K/year in expenses versus $150K/year. We don’t push one version. We model yours, stress-test it, and make sure the math actually works across a range of market conditions.
What’s the difference between working with you and just using bogleheads + a tax CPA?
Honestly, for the basics, not much. Bogleheads is a great community and a good CPA handles the return. We’re not trying to replace either. We come in when the decision tree gets weird — the Roth conversion that ripples into ACA, the state move that requires audit-defensible timing, the estate plan that needs to outlive your spreadsheet. If your situation stays simple, you don’t need us. If it doesn’t, the decisions that matter are the ones that cross tax, healthcare, estate, and withdrawal sequencing, and that is where we work.

Checklist

The W-2 Escape Plan

Runway math, health insurance, entity setup, retirement accounts, and income replacement — 17 questions that separate a calculated leap from an expensive mistake.

Get the checklist

Book your 15-minute intro call.

15-min diagnostic. No proposal. No “why don’t you let us manage it” close. Just a competent second set of eyes on the decision you’re trying to make.

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