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Welcome · What to expect

How we work with clients.

A short read before our intro call.

Thanks for booking a conversation. Before we talk, this short document covers how we engage with clients ‐ who we work best with, what the process looks like, what it costs, and what we’ll need from you.

It’s intentionally honest about who Ad Astra is and isn’t for. If anything in here makes you think we’re not the right fit, please feel free to cancel the call ‐ no awkwardness, no follow-up. Better for both of us to figure that out now rather than later.

And if it does feel like a fit, even better. We’ll see you on the call.

Andy Moran, CFP^®

Founder, Ad Astra Financial Planning

Who we serve

Who we work best with

Ad Astra is a small, intentionally limited practice ‐ so doing our best work depends on being the right fit for each other. We’d rather be upfront about that than discover we’re not a great fit three months in.

You’re likely a great fit if you…

Work in tech and are navigating equity compensation ‐ RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, ESPPs, tender offers, or an IPO on the horizon.
You're thinking about retiring early.
You have a concentrated employer stock position.
Have roughly $300K+ in household income, $1M+ in net worth, or a meaningful concentrated equity position.
Want a 12-month-or-longer relationship with a planner ‐ not a one-time engagement or an hour of advice.
Are willing to share documents and information when we ask ‐ whether you want to drive the planning alongside us or hand most of it off, we’ll need things from you to do the work well.
If you’re a couple: both partners are willing to be at the table. Money conversations work best when no one’s sitting them out. It’s not unusual for one partner to take the lead on some of the details, but the bigger-picture questions ‐ what you want, what you value, and what tradeoffs you’re willing to make ‐ ultimately need both parties involved.

We’re probably not the right fit if you want…

Stock picking, market timing, or active trading strategies.
A one-time consultation, hourly engagement, or quick second opinion.
Help sourcing rental properties, venture deals, or other business opportunities.

Not sure where you fall? That’s exactly what the intro call is for ‐ 20 minutes, no pressure, no pitch. If it’s not a fit, we’ll say so, and where we can, we’ll point you toward someone who is.

The process

How we work together

We work in two phases: getting to know each other (no commitment, no fees), then if it’s a fit, the ongoing relationship. Here’s what each looks like.

Before you become a client

01 Intro Call · 20 minutes

A free conversation to see if we might be a good fit. You ask questions, we ask questions, no pitch. If it doesn’t feel right on either side, we stop there.

02 Discovery Meeting · ~60 minutes

If the intro goes well, we schedule a deeper conversation. Before this meeting we’ll ask you for a few items so we can come prepared ‐ typically recent tax returns, paystubs, equity grant info, and a high-level view of your accounts and cash flow.

In the meeting itself we dig into what matters to you, where you’re trying to go, and what’s keeping you up at night. We’ll also share some initial observations from what you’ve sent us.

03 Values & Goals Summary · delivered after

After the discovery meeting, we send you a short written summary of what we heard ‐ your values, goals, and the initial observations we surfaced. This is the artifact you use to decide whether to move forward.

04 Decide

If we both want to keep going, we send the engagement letter and get to work. If not, you walk away with a summary that’s yours to keep ‐ no fees, no hard feelings.

The process · continued

After you become a client

Onboarding · first ~6 months

There’s no binder, no “here’s your plan” handoff at the end. Instead, we work iteratively ‐ typically 3 to 7 monthly meetings during the initial sprint ‐ and after each one you get a personalized set of slides covering what we discussed and an email summarizing our decisions and follow-up actions.

The plan is not a one‐time deliverable. It’s a living process: we chart a path, revisit, and refine your strategy together as new decisions, questions, and opportunities come up.

Rough sequence, flexible based on your needs and preferences:

Any urgent equity decisions ‐ vesting events, exercise windows, or open trading windows we need to act on.
Data gathering and review of full financial picture.
Cash flow, net worth, and initial projections.
Refined projections, investment & tax planning.
Insurance & estate planning.

Ongoing

Two scheduled meetings a year is the typical minimum ‐ usually one earlier in the year to prepare for prior-year tax filing and year-ahead planning, and one later in the year to check in on benefits elections and dial in on end-of-year optimizations like ISO exercises, Roth conversions, charitable giving, and tax-loss harvesting.

The truth is that the typical cadence flexes with what’s happening in your life ‐ vesting schedules, liquidity events, job changes, IPOs. Some of these we plan around in advance; others come up suddenly. Either way, we work around them.

Between meetings, email is our most utilized communication channel, but we are also available via phone. We’re not a large firm with a call center, so we don’t always respond immediately ‐ but we serve a limited number of clients on purpose, which is what lets us go deep when we do rather than providing you with a surface-level answer that is common in many larger firms.

Fees

What’s included, and what it costs

Flat fees. No AUM percentages, no commissions, no kickbacks. Our pricing is simple and posted publicly ‐ because if you can’t see the price before the call, the price isn’t really transparent.

Pricing

Individuals

Onboarding fee

$2,000

one-time

Ongoing

$600/ month

Households (2+)

Onboarding fee

$2,500

one-time

Ongoing

$800/ month

What’s included

Comprehensive financial planning ‐ cash flow, benefits, equity compensation, tax planning, investments, insurance & risk management, estate planning coordination, retirement projections.
Investment management if you want it ‐ included in the fee. Custody at Schwab or Altruist. If you’d rather we stay advice-only on your existing accounts, that’s also fine.
Access to financial planning software and Monarch Money for the life of the engagement.
Ongoing and pro-active guidance via scheduled meetings, email, and/or phone, and ad-hoc support when things come up like a vesting event, a job offer, an exercise window, a life change.

What’s not included

Tax return preparation and legal services. We coordinate closely with your CPA and attorney when needed, and we can refer to people we trust if you don’t already have them.

Your part

What we’ll need from you

Good planning runs on real numbers and real context. Here’s what to expect in terms of your time and what we’ll be asking you to share.

Documents ‐ early on

Before our second meeting (the discovery meeting), we’ll ask for a variety of documents, with the following typically being the most helpful initially:

Your most recent federal and state tax returns.
Recent paystubs and information of any equity grants (offer letters, grant agreements, vesting schedules).
A high-level view of your accounts ‐ balances, holdings, and rough cash flow.

Documents ‐ as we go

Once we’re working together, we tend to look at everything with a number on it ‐ insurance declarations pages, beneficiary designations, estate documents, stock plan portals, 401(k) statements, and whatever else is relevant to your situation.

Software

RightCapital or ProjectionLab ‐ required. We’ll send you an invite, and you’ll connect your accounts so we can both see the full picture.
Monarch Money ‐ optional. We strongly encourage it for clients who want clearer day-to-day visibility into cash flow and spending.

Time

The heaviest lift is the first year ‐ lots of meetings, pulling documents together, and following up on action items like getting estate planning documents drafted. After that, it’s much lighter. Most clients spend more time on their finances in onboarding than they did before, and less after. That’s the goal.

Communication

Email is the primary channel by which most clients prefer to communicate with us outside of meetings, though we are also available by phone. We’re not a call center, so responses aren’t always same-day ‐ but we keep our client load small specifically so we can go deep and do good work.

Next step

What happens next

Show up to the intro call. There’s no prep beyond reading this document ‐ no forms to fill out, no questionnaire, no homework.

If, after reading this, you don’t think we’re a fit ‐ please cancel the call. We mean it. The whole point of sending this in advance is to save us both time.

And if it does feel like the right fit, come with questions. The intro call is a conversation, not a sales presentation. We want to know what you’re trying to figure out and whether we’re the right people to help you figure it out.

Looking forward to talking,

Andy Moran, CFP^®

Founder, Ad Astra Financial Planning

adastrafp.com · (415) 212-8508