Independent Retirement Planning
Personalized retirement strategies designed to protect your income, simplify your financial life, and help you enjoy the future you’ve worked so hard to create.
Retirement, with a plan
By the time retirement is in view, most people aren’t short on accounts — they’re short on a way to see how everything fits together.
A retirement that holds up asks more of a plan than good returns. It has to answer where your paycheck comes from once the salary stops, which accounts to draw from and in what order, what taxes will do to those withdrawals, when to claim Social Security, how healthcare and long-term care get covered, and what ultimately passes to the people you love. We build those pieces into one strategy, then keep it current as your life changes.
What we do
Six disciplines, coordinated by one team. Each decision is made with the others in view — because in retirement, they were never really separate.
Turn savings into a dependable paycheck. We map which accounts fund which years, in what sequence, and how the plan holds up through a long retirement.
Learn more 02A diversified, low-friction portfolio built around your goals, your timeline, and the amount of market movement you can genuinely live with.
Learn more 03Withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion windows, charitable giving and required distributions — coordinated to keep more of what you’ve saved.
Learn more 04Claiming early, at full retirement age, or later can differ by six figures over a lifetime. We model the options, including spousal and survivor benefits.
Learn more 05Titling, beneficiaries, trusts and gifting, reviewed alongside your estate attorney, so your assets reach the people and causes you intend.
Learn more 06An honest look at healthcare, long-term care, and the coverage you already hold — keeping what earns its cost and retiring what doesn’t.
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Meet your advisor
“Most people don’t come to us asking about rates of return. They ask whether they’re going to be all right. That’s the question we’re actually here to answer.”
Marisa founded the firm after two decades inside larger institutions, where the advice too often followed the product. Hartwell & Vane was built the other way around: independent, fee-based, and accountable to one person — the client sitting across the table.
That means you work with the same advisor year after year, not a rotating service desk. We keep the practice deliberately sized so every household gets real attention, and we measure our work by how long families stay, not how many we add.
The real questions
Four concerns come up in nearly every first conversation. Naming them is where a plan starts.
Running out of income
A 30-year retirement is now the planning assumption, not the exception.
We stress-test your income against long lifespans, inflation, and a poor market in your first retirement years — then build in the flexibility to adjust before a problem becomes permanent.
Paying too much in taxes
The years between retiring and RMDs are often the most valuable you’ll get.
Which account you draw from first can change your lifetime tax bill significantly. We look for conversion windows, bracket management and giving strategies while they’re still available to you.
Unexpected healthcare costs
Long-term care is the risk most retirement plans quietly leave out.
We put real numbers to Medicare, supplemental coverage and extended care, and decide together what to insure, what to self-fund, and what your family needs to know in advance.
Leaving your legacy
Beneficiary forms overrule wills more often than most people realize.
We audit titling and beneficiaries across every account, coordinate with your attorney, and make sure the plan on paper matches the one in your head.
How we work
No pressure, no obligation, and no paperwork until you’re sure we’re the right fit. Here’s exactly what working together looks like.
A relaxed introductory conversation about your goals, your concerns, and your current financial picture. Nothing to prepare and nothing to sign.
We gather and review income, investments, taxes, insurance, family needs and risk — so decisions get made with everything in view.
You receive a written plan built around your circumstances, with clear recommendations, the reasoning behind each, and the trade-offs named.
Life changes, markets move, and tax law shifts. We review regularly and adjust the strategy as your goals and circumstances evolve.
The first conversation is complimentary — and genuinely without obligation.
Schedule a Consultation
In their words
We finally feel like we understand where our retirement is headed. For the first time, everything feels connected.
I came in worried about taxes and left understanding my whole picture. Nobody had ever walked me through the order of withdrawals before.
After selling the business, I had no idea what to do next. They slowed the whole thing down and made each decision feel manageable.
Client comments are shared with permission and reflect the experience of individual clients. They are not a guarantee of future performance or results, and no compensation was provided in exchange for these statements. Individual experiences will vary.
Learn at your own pace
Good decisions start with understanding. Explore our guides, articles and short videos — no email required to read them.
In-depth, plain-language guides on income planning, withdrawal order, and the decisions of the first five years.
Browse guides ArticlesShort, timely commentary on markets, tax changes and the questions clients are asking this quarter.
Read insights VideoFive-minute explainers on the topics that come up most.
Watch TaxWorksheets and checklists for conversions, RMDs and charitable giving.
Get the tools EducationClaiming ages, spousal and survivor benefits, explained without the jargon.
Start learning
The next step
Let’s start with a conversation about where you are, where you want to go, and what it will take to get there.
Complimentary, no obligation, and never a sales pitch.
Get in touch
Tell us a little about your situation and we’ll be in touch within one business day to find a time that works for you.