Investment Management for Retirees in Boston — Low-Cost, Tax-Aware, Custodied at Charles Schwab
Evergreen Wealth Management offers flat-fee investment management for pre-retirees and retirees in the Boston area for $900 per month ($10,800 per year), with a $1,000,000 asset minimum. Fees are negotiable. Accounts are custodied at Charles Schwab in your own name. The portfolio is built around low-cost, broad-market index ETFs, with a measured allocation to alternative asset classes like gold and commodities, and it is managed in coordination with your retirement plan — not as a separate service billed by the percentage. Investment management is included in the flat fee. Our standard fee is $900 per month ($10,800 per year) for relationships of $1,000,000 or more.
Integrated with the plan →
Portfolio + plan + tax, coordinated.
Investment philosophy →
Low-cost, regime-diversified, not market-timed.
Index-only option →
Simpler portfolios for pure-index clients.
Tax-aware withdrawal →
Asset location, harvest, sequencing.
Existing portfolio →
Keep what you want, transition the rest.
$900
PER MONTH, FLAT FEE
0%
AUM FEE — INCLUDED IN FLAT
$1M
ASSET MINIMUM
100%
SCHWAB CUSTODY
Investment management is part of the plan, not a separate service
Built around your plan — not billed by the percentage.
Most advisors sell investment management as a standalone product and charge for it as a percentage of your portfolio. I don’t. The portfolio exists to fund your retirement plan, so the two have to be built together. Withdrawal sequencing, asset location, Roth conversion timing, Social Security strategy, and rebalancing decisions are all coordinated. The planning lives in eMoney Advisor. Risk alignment runs through Nitrogen. Tax modeling runs through Holistiplan. The portfolio sits at Schwab. Every piece talks to every other piece. That integration is most of the value.
- ✓Portfolio decisions made in concert with cash-flow needs
- ✓Roth conversions and withdrawal sequencing coordinated
- ✓Tax modeling integrated into every investment decision
- ✓No separate AUM fee — investment management is included
My investment philosophy for retirees
I don’t try to beat the market. I try to build a portfolio that funds your plan across a range of market environments. For retirees specifically, sequence-of-returns risk matters more than long-run average return — so the portfolio is built around three principles.
1
Low-cost, broad-market ETFs
I don’t pick individual stocks. I don’t try to time the market. The core of every portfolio is broadly diversified U.S. and international equity index funds, with a tilt toward small-cap value where it makes sense.
2
Diversification across market regimes
The classic 60/40 worked from 1982 to 2020 because rates were falling. In 2022, both stocks and bonds fell together and 60/40 lost over 16%. I redirect a portion to alternative asset classes like gold and commodities — assets that have historically held up when stocks and bonds struggle together.
3
Quarterly rebalancing as the only active element
Trim what’s run, add to what’s lagged, do it on a schedule, don’t try to be clever about it. Mechanical discipline beats discretionary cleverness over a retirement’s worth of decisions.
For more on this approach, see Managing Volatility in Retirement and Investment Strategies for Retirees.
“After 12 years at Fidelity, I learned the most important thing in investing isn’t the strategy — it’s whether you’ll stick with it when it gets uncomfortable. The portfolio I build for retirees is designed to make staying invested easier, not harder. Tax-aware. Diversified across environments. Mechanical, not market-timed.”
— Nick Stevens, CFP®
Founder & Sole Advisor, Evergreen Wealth Management
A simpler, index-only option for clients who want it
Pure index simplicity. Same flat fee. Same planning integration.
Some clients want the lowest-cost, simplest portfolio possible — broad U.S. and international index funds, treasuries, and that’s it. No alternatives. No tilts. For those clients, I offer an index-fund-only version of the portfolio that strips out the alternative asset classes entirely and prioritizes simplicity and the lowest possible expense ratios. Same flat fee. Same planning integration. Same tax-aware withdrawal coordination. Just a simpler underlying portfolio. If the regime-diversified version doesn’t fit how you want to invest, the index-only version probably will.
- ✓Broad U.S. and international index funds + treasuries
- ✓Lowest possible expense ratios
- ✓No alternatives, no tilts — just clean index exposure
- ✓Same $900/month flat fee
Tax-aware portfolio construction and withdrawal
Where you hold an asset matters as much as which asset you hold.
Bonds and high-turnover allocations belong in pre-tax accounts where their income isn’t taxed annually. Equities belong in taxable and Roth accounts where long-term capital gains and qualified dividends get favorable treatment. Tax-loss harvesting in taxable accounts captures losses without changing your market exposure. And withdrawals in retirement get coordinated year by year with your tax bracket: partial Roth conversions in the low-income years before RMDs begin, qualified charitable distributions after age 70½, and sequencing across account types to keep the lifetime tax bill as low as possible. Tax modeling for all of this runs through Holistiplan. Learn more about tax planning →
- ✓Asset location across pre-tax, Roth, and taxable accounts
- ✓Tax-loss harvesting without changing market exposure
- ✓Roth conversions in low-income years before RMDs
- ✓Holistiplan tax modeling integrated throughout
Working with your existing portfolio
You don’t have to liquidate everything to work with me.
Most prospects come in with a mix of legacy 401(k)s, concentrated stock positions from a long career at one employer, individual stocks they have an emotional attachment to, and accounts at multiple custodians. The first step is to evaluate what’s there, model the tax cost of any changes, and transition over time when it makes sense. Some clients keep individual stocks they want to keep. Some sell down concentrated positions across multiple tax years to manage the bracket. The plan determines the pace.
- ✓Evaluate concentrated stock positions and basis
- ✓Model the tax cost of every change before making it
- ✓Transition over multiple tax years when it makes sense
- ✓Keep what you want to keep — when it fits the plan
Custody and security
All client assets at Charles Schwab. Accounts in your own name.
All client assets are custodied at Charles Schwab — the largest independent custodian in the United States — in your own name. I am the advisor on the account, not the holder of the assets. If anything ever happened to me or to Evergreen, your accounts wouldn’t move and you wouldn’t lose access to a dollar. Schwab would simply remove me as the advisor. That’s the operational reason I custody at Schwab and won’t take direct possession of client funds.
- ✓Charles Schwab — largest independent U.S. custodian
- ✓Accounts held in your own name, not Evergreen’s
- ✓Independent records, independent statements
- ✓Continuity if anything ever happens to me or the firm
Annual investment management cost on a $2 million portfolio
Evergreen flat fee
$10,800
$900/month, includes investment management plus full financial, retirement, and tax planning. Our standard fee is $900 per month ($10,800 per year) for relationships of $1,000,000 or more.
Typical 1% AUM advisor
$20,000
1% of $2M, billed quarterly. Doubles to $40,000 at $4M, triples to $60,000 at $6M.
Same client, same work, different model.
Frequently asked questions about investment management
What ETFs does Evergreen use?
Broad U.S. and international equity index funds (including a small-cap value tilt), U.S. Treasuries, gold, and a measured allocation to commodities and other alternative asset classes. For clients who prefer pure index simplicity, I offer an index-fund-only version of the portfolio. All ETFs are selected for low cost, liquidity, and tax efficiency.
How often is the portfolio rebalanced?
Quarterly, on a schedule, mechanically. I also harvest tax losses opportunistically in volatile markets when meaningful losses are available in taxable accounts. Rebalancing is the only active element of the portfolio — I do not attempt to time the market.
Can I keep my existing stocks or holdings?
Often, yes. Concentrated stock positions, legacy 401(k)s, and individual holdings with a low cost basis are all common situations. The first step is to model the tax cost of any changes. Some positions are worth selling immediately, some are worth selling across multiple tax years, and some are worth keeping. The plan determines the answer.
What is Evergreen’s investment philosophy in one sentence?
Low-cost, tax-aware, diversified across market regimes, and not market-timed.
Is investment management billed separately from financial planning?
No. Investment management is included in the $900/month flat fee ($10,800 per year). Our standard fee is $900 per month ($10,800 per year) for relationships of $1,000,000 or more.
The technology stack behind every portfolio
The same tools used by major wealth management firms — assembled into an integrated solo-advisor stack.
Affiliations & credentials
Independent. Fiduciary. Member of the most established fee-only advisor organizations.
Ready to talk through your portfolio?
Pre-retiree or retired, $1,000,000+ invested, looking for an advisor who builds the portfolio around the plan rather than the other way around — the next step is a free initial conversation.