FAQ

We primarily work with people who are within 10 years of retirement, already retired, or navigating a major financial transition, such as losing a spouse. We also work with professionals whose stock compensation creates additional tax and investment planning decisions. Our clients value having a trusted thinking and accountability partner who helps them make thoughtful decisions, coordinate the different pieces of their financial lives, and follow through on their plans.

We bring a strong tax perspective to financial planning and investment management. With more than 30 years of experience in tax and financial services, Joanne understands how decisions about retirement income, investments, stock compensation, and estate planning can affect your taxes over time. As a boutique firm, we take the time to understand what matters most to you, think through your options together, and help turn recommendations into action. Our goal is to help you align your money with the life you want to live.

Yes. As a fee-only fiduciary, we're committed to acting in our clients' best interests. We're compensated directly by our clients through advisory fees, not commissions or payments from investment or insurance product providers. This helps keep our advice focused on your financial goals.

Yes. While we're based in Vienna, Virginia, we work with clients in other states through virtual meetings and secure technology. Our approach is personalized financial planning, ongoing investment management, and a relationship built around your goals.

Our services combine comprehensive financial planning with ongoing investment management. We help coordinate retirement income, investments, taxes, Social Security, Medicare, stock compensation, charitable giving, and estate planning. We look at how these decisions affect one another, identify planning opportunities, and help put recommendations into action. As your circumstances change, we revisit your strategy to keep everything working together.

No. We believe financial planning is most valuable as an ongoing relationship that includes investment management, implementation, and regular review. Financial decisions don't happen just once—tax laws, markets, and personal circumstances change over time. Our approach allows us to help put recommendations into practice and adjust your strategy as needed. We do not offer standalone financial plans, hourly consultations, or project-based engagements.

Yes. Tax planning is central to our approach, not something we consider only at tax time. We evaluate the tax implications of investment decisions, retirement withdrawals, Roth conversions, stock compensation, charitable giving, and other financial strategies throughout the year. Through our affiliated CPA firm, Joanne Ehreth Burke CPA PLLC, we also provide tax preparation and compliance services exclusively to our wealth management clients.

Our minimum investment requirement is generally $1 million in assets under management. We consider assets across a household when evaluating the relationship. Our services are designed for individuals and families seeking comprehensive financial planning combined with ongoing investment management.

We charge an annual advisory fee based on the assets we manage, with tiered rates that decrease as assets increase. Our fee includes comprehensive financial planning, ongoing investment management, and the services of our outside investment management team. We explain our fees and any additional costs during the introductory process, and full details are available in our Form ADV.

We start with a conversation to learn about you, what's important to you, and what you're hoping to accomplish. It's also an opportunity for you to get to know us and see whether we're a good fit. If we decide to work together, we begin a structured onboarding process over the next four to six months, gathering information, developing your financial plan, and putting initial recommendations into action. From there, we continue working through the different areas of your financial life in greater depth during our quarterly meetings.

Our wealth management services generally involve transferring the investments we manage to Charles Schwab, our independent custodian. Your accounts remain in your name and are held at Schwab, not directly by Birch Street. We help coordinate transfers during onboarding and evaluate which accounts should be managed as part of your overall financial plan.

During the first two years, we generally meet quarterly, taking a deeper look at each area of your financial life, from retirement income and taxes to investments, insurance, and estate planning. After that, we typically transition to two meetings a year, including a dedicated tax planning review each fall. Between meetings, we continue monitoring investments, identifying planning opportunities, and helping implement recommendations. Our goal is to be an ongoing thinking and accountability partner, not simply someone you meet with to review your portfolio.

Our investment management team prepares reports showing how your portfolio has performed compared with relevant market benchmarks. We review these results together during our meetings, looking at performance, risk, and whether your investments remain aligned with your goals. While investment performance is important, we also focus on how your portfolio supports your retirement income needs, tax strategy, and broader financial plan.

Taxes affect nearly every financial decision, especially as you approach and move through retirement. With over 30 years of experience as a CPA and financial planner, Joanne brings a tax-focused perspective to decisions about investments, retirement withdrawals, Roth conversions, Social Security, and charitable giving. Rather than focusing only on this year's tax bill, we look for opportunities to reduce taxes over your lifetime and help you keep more of what you've worked hard to save.