Our Fees and Services

Once you accept that fees are a design decision, the question stops being “What do people charge?” and becomes “What structure actually supports good behavior over time?” We built our fees and services around that question.

Our work is not episodic. It does not appear only when markets are calm or when everything is going well. It matters most when outcomes disappoint, when confidence wavers, and when restraint is harder than action. For that reason, our services are designed to be continuous rather than transactional, and our fees are structured to reflect stewardship rather than activity.

We charge a fixed retainer

That means the cost of advice does not rise or fall with market levels. It does not increase when markets are cooperative or decrease when they are not. It does not change because capital is spent, consolidated, or deliberately redeployed. The economics of the advisory relationship remain stable, even when circumstances do not.

We think that stability matters

Under market-linked fee structures, decisions that reduce portfolio size also reduce the fee. That is not a moral problem. It is simply how those structures work. But it means the cost of advice changes at the same time real life decisions are being made. Portfolio size never fully leaves the conversation, because it directly determines what the relationship costs.

A fixed retainer removes that linkage

In practice, this means our fee is set based on the scope and complexity of the advisory relationship—not on market levels or account balances. Most new client engagements fall between $8,000 and $14,000 annually, billed quarterly in arrears. The exact amount depends on the number of moving pieces involved and the level of ongoing stewardship required, not on how markets happen to behave.

Clients always know what they are paying and why. The fee does not drift upward with rising markets, and it does not change because assets are simplified, spent, or restructured. That separation allows decisions to be evaluated on their merits, without introducing incentives that don’t belong.

Our fee structure is intentionally simple and predictable. That predictability is not cosmetic. It reduces pressure. It lowers the temptation to justify the relationship through unnecessary action. It allows both the client and the advisor to make decisions deliberately rather than defensively, especially when markets are loud and outcomes are uneven.

The services we provide follow from that design

We manage portfolios with an emphasis on diversification, discipline, and resilience—not concentration or speculation. We rebalance when it improves long-term outcomes, not to create the appearance of activity. We pay close attention to taxes, cash flows, and the interaction between accounts, because real portfolios exist across multiple buckets and time horizons, not as a single number on a statement.

We spend meaningful time on expectations—not because they are soft, but because they are structural. Misaligned expectations quietly destroy otherwise sound strategies. Clear framing, revisited over time, is part of the work. So is knowing when to adapt a plan and when not to, which is often the harder call.

Our services are designed to scale intelligently. Complexity for its own sake does not make advice better. What matters is whether the system holds together as lives change, assets grow, and decisions compound. Our goal is to deliver advice that feels calm, intentional, and durable—not impressive in the moment and exhausting over time.

People who work with us tend to care about doing things well. They are not looking for shortcuts, theatrics, or constant stimulation. They want a structure that reflects how decisions are actually made, how uncertainty really shows up, and how long-term results are actually achieved.

In the end, this is not about paying for cleverness. It is about paying for design. Good design reduces friction. It anticipates stress. It holds up under use. Our fees and services are built to do exactly that—to support advice that remains coherent, usable, and effective over time.

When you’re ready to take the next step, we offer a complimentary consultation. Please complete the Connect Form below — in the footer — and we’ll follow up to schedule a conversation.

To learn more, visit www.cardiffpark.com, review our Form ADV Brochure on the SEC’s website (ADV Part 2A), email us at jgorlow@cardiffpark.com, or call 760-635-7526.