WHO WE WORK WITH
Who is a typical Hive Retirement Planning client?
Hive Retirement Planning primarily works with people approaching or in retirement who have approximately $2 million to $8 million of investable assets.
Our clients have worked hard, saved well and are on top of their finances. What they want is an experienced partner to coordinate the major decisions that come with retirement: income, taxes, investments and legacy.
How is Hive Retirement Planning different from traditional financial advisors?
Hive Retirement Planning specializes in helping people approaching or enjoying retirement make important decisions about spending, income, taxes, investments, and legacy planning.
Unlike many traditional financial advisors, we charge a flat fee rather than a percentage of the investments we manage.
Our clients can choose whether to have Hive manage their investments or keep their accounts at another financial institution.
Our focus is comprehensive retirement planning, not simply managing an investment portfolio.
Can I work with Hive Retirement Planning if I live in a different state?
Yes. Hive Retirement Planning is based in New York, and we work virtually with clients across the United States, subject to applicable registration requirements.
What if I have less than $2 million or more than $8 million in assets?
If you have less than $2 million, you may be able to find a financial planner at a lower price, though for some people the One-Time Plan is a good fit. If you have more than $8 million, your planning may be more complex than our flat fee is designed for. Either way, we're happy to have an introductory call to talk it through.
GETTING STARTED
How do I get started?
Schedule a short introductory call. You tell us where things stand, we explain how we work, and we both decide whether it's a good fit. There's no cost and no obligation.
What's the difference between the One-Time Plan and Ongoing Planning?
Both start with the Hive Retirement Process™: four meetings that end with a completed retirement plan.
With the One-Time Plan ($8,500), you carry out the plan yourself or with your other advisors. There's no ongoing commitment.
With Ongoing Planning ($12,000 per year), we stay with you after the plan is complete. We meet twice a year to keep your plan current, manage your investments if you'd like, and help with decisions whenever they come up.
If I start with the One-Time Plan, can I switch to Ongoing Planning later?
Yes. If you ever decide to continue, the full $8,500 is credited toward your first year of Ongoing Planning.
FEES & FIDUCIARY ADVICE
How much does it cost to work with Hive Retirement Planning?
We offer two flat-fee options. The One-Time Plan is $8,500. Ongoing Planning is $12,000 per year and covers comprehensive retirement planning plus ongoing investment advice and management. We don't charge a percentage of your investment portfolio, and your fee doesn't go up because your portfolio grows.
What is included in Ongoing Planning?
Ongoing Planning includes comprehensive retirement planning, retirement income planning, lifetime tax planning, investment advice and management, retirement spending analysis, and legacy planning.
It begins with the Hive Retirement Process™. After that, we keep working with you as your circumstances and decisions change throughout retirement.
Can I cancel Ongoing Planning?
Yes. You can end Ongoing Planning at any time, and we'll refund the fee for the current quarter.
Are you a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor?
Yes. Hive Retirement Planning is an independent, fee-only fiduciary financial advisory firm.
We are required to act in our clients' best interests when providing investment advice. We don't earn commissions from selling financial products, and we don't charge a percentage of the investments we manage.
Instead, clients pay a transparent flat fee for retirement planning and investment advice.
What professional credentials and experience does your financial advisor have?
Hive Retirement Planning was founded by Tom Mullarkey, CFP®, RICP®, TPCP®.
Tom is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and holds the Retirement Income Certified Professional® and Tax Planning Certified Professional® designations.
Before founding Hive, Tom spent 24 years at Credit Suisse, most recently as a Managing Director.
Today, he focuses on helping individuals and couples navigate the financial decisions involved in transitioning to retirement.
What is a fiduciary financial advisor?
A fiduciary financial advisor is required to put a client's interests first when providing investment advice. That means recommendations should be based on what's appropriate for the client, not on commissions or incentives to recommend particular financial products.
Does Hive charge an assets-under-management (AUM) fee?
No. Hive doesn't charge a percentage of the assets you invest with us. We charge a flat fee: $8,500 for the One-Time Plan or $12,000 per year for Ongoing Planning.
Does Hive sell annuities, life insurance, or other financial products?
No. Hive doesn't sell annuities, life insurance or investment products for commissions. Our clients pay us directly for financial advice and investment management.
INVESTMENTS
Do I have to transfer my investments to Hive?
No. We do our best work when we manage your accounts directly, because then we can carry out Roth conversions, withdrawals and other transactions for you, at the right time. For Ongoing Planning clients, investment management is included in the annual fee.
If you'd rather keep your investments elsewhere, that's fine. We'll review those accounts, include them in your plan and make recommendations. You'd be responsible for carrying out trades, Roth conversions, withdrawals and other transactions in accounts Hive doesn't manage.
The fee is the same either way.
Does the One-Time Plan include investment management?
No. The One-Time Plan includes a review of your investment portfolio and recommendations as part of your plan, which you carry out yourself. Investment management is part of Ongoing Planning.
Where are my investments held if Hive manages them?
Hive uses Altruist (which Vanguard has agreed to acquire) and Charles Schwab as custodians for client investment accounts. Your assets are held with the custodian, not by Hive Retirement Planning.
RETIREMENT PLANNING
What experience does Hive have with retirement income and withdrawal planning?
Retirement income planning is a core specialty of Hive Retirement Planning.
We help people transition from saving for retirement to using their savings to support their lifestyle.
Our approach coordinates Social Security, pensions, investment withdrawals, taxes, and required minimum distributions to create a sustainable retirement paycheck.
We also use dynamic spending guardrails to help clients adjust their withdrawals as markets and circumstances change.
How do I know if I'm financially ready to retire?
Being financially ready to retire means understanding whether your savings and other income can support your desired lifestyle throughout retirement.
We evaluate your spending, Social Security, pensions, investment portfolio, taxes, and potential healthcare costs.
We then develop a retirement income strategy designed to support your spending while accounting for market uncertainty and changing circumstances.
The goal is to help you make an informed decision about when you can retire and what retirement may look like financially.
Can I afford to retire with $2 million, $3 million, or $5 million?
The amount you've saved is only part of the retirement equation.
Whether you can comfortably retire with $2 million, $3 million, or $5 million depends on your spending, retirement age, Social Security benefits, taxes, investment strategy, and other income sources.
At Hive Retirement Planning, we start by understanding what you spend and then determine the retirement paycheck your savings and other income can support.
We also evaluate how that paycheck may change as markets, taxes, and spending needs evolve.
How do you help clients avoid running out of money in retirement?
We develop a retirement income strategy that considers your spending needs, investments, Social Security, pensions, taxes, and expected retirement timeline.
Rather than relying exclusively on a fixed withdrawal rate, we also evaluate dynamic spending guardrails.
These guardrails provide a framework for adjusting retirement spending when markets perform better or worse than expected.
No strategy can eliminate every risk, but thoughtful planning and ongoing adjustments can help make retirement spending more sustainable.
How does Hive help with spending in retirement?
We start by putting a clear number on what you spend each month. Then we compare it to the retirement paycheck your savings, Social Security and other income can provide. Seeing both numbers side by side can help you understand how ready you are for retirement.
Our work is to measure your spending, not to put you on a budget. If you're looking for help with budgeting, a planner who specializes in it may be a better fit.
Does Hive help with Social Security and retirement income planning?
Yes. We coordinate Social Security, pensions, portfolio withdrawals, cash reserves and other income sources to create a retirement paycheck designed to support your lifestyle. We'll analyze your finances to help decide when to start taking Social Security and when to begin drawing from other income sources, such as pensions and annuities.
Can Hive help me reduce taxes throughout retirement?
Yes. Lifetime tax planning is an important part of our retirement planning process.
We evaluate opportunities to manage taxable income over time, including Roth conversions, withdrawal sequencing, required minimum distributions, and Social Security timing.
We also consider how retirement income decisions may affect Medicare premiums through IRMAA.
Our objective is to help clients make tax-efficient decisions over their retirement years rather than focusing only on minimizing taxes in the current year.
Do you prepare tax returns?
No. We provide tax planning and coordinate with your CPA or tax preparer, but we don't prepare returns.
Do you work with my CPA and estate attorney?
Yes. With your permission, we will coordinate with your CPA, estate attorney and other advisors so everyone is working from the same plan. We don't provide legal advice or draft estate documents.
WORKING WITH HIVE
What happens in the Hive Retirement Process™?
The Hive Retirement Process™ consists of four meetings designed to help you prepare for and navigate retirement.
1. Your Starting Point: We organize your financial information, understand your goals, and establish where you stand today.
2. Your Expenses: We analyze your spending to understand what your retirement lifestyle will cost.
3. Your Retirement Paycheck & Income Strategy: We develop a strategy for generating retirement income from Social Security, pensions, investments, and other sources.
4. Your Tax Strategy: We evaluate opportunities to manage taxes throughout retirement, including Roth conversions, withdrawal strategies, and required minimum distributions.
At the end of the process, you'll have a completed retirement plan and a list of next steps. Investment and legacy planning are addressed as appropriate, with additional work available through Ongoing Planning.
What happens after my plan is complete?
You choose. One-Time Plan clients leave with a completed plan to carry out on their own.
With Ongoing Planning, after completing the Hive Retirement Process, we meet twice a year to review your spending, retirement income, taxes, investments and legacy planning, and to update your plan as your circumstances change. Between those meetings, we're available whenever something comes up, so you don't have to wait for the next scheduled meeting.