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Arcadia works best with people who are approaching retirement or have recently retired, with $2 million to $10 million or more in investable assets. The kind of hardworking professionals who have saved diligently but have never had a truly clear picture of what retirement will actually look like. If you’ve been sitting at a large firm feeling like a number, unsure how you’re invested or whether you’re on track, and paying a hefty AUM fee, you’re exactly who we built this for.
To learn more about who we help, see About You.
We're an independent registered investment adviser and held to the fiduciary standard. Being a fiduciary is important: we don't get paid to steer you into overpriced investment products and strategies you don't want or need.
While we're headquartered in San Diego, CA, we work with clients across the country.
You can expect to meet with us multiple times as we get started, then at least twice a year for strategy visits. In between, you'll get educational emails, videos, and touch points, so you're never left in the dark.
Your money is held at Charles Schwab or Altruist (your choice), two leading independent custodians. The accounts stay in your name, and we act as your advisor with limited authority to manage them on your behalf.
Transferring your investment accounts is simple and secure thanks to the ACAT system, which moves assets “in-kind”—meaning nothing is sold or changed during the transfer. Whether you’re moving an IRA or trust account, your investments stay exactly the same; the only difference is where you log in. If you already have your accounts at Charles Schwab or Altruist, we simply establish a Limited Power of Attorney (LPOA) so we may serve as the Investment Advisor to manage your accounts going forward.
Flat-fee advice for significant wealth. Most advisors become dramatically more expensive as your wealth and portfolio grows. Arcadia separates compensation from portfolio size. This is a huge windfall for clients who understand fee drag and is a large cost savings for families with investable assets of $2 million or more.
We focus on tax planning. Most firms market investment management first and rarely discuss taxes. We believe investment management is a tool inside a broader tax and financial strategy. We focus on lifetime tax minimization: retirement distribution strategy, withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion strategy, and intergenerational planning.
Deliberately small, high-depth relationships. We value depth over scale and our clients favor direct access, low bureaucracy, consistency, and trust over large company clutter. We're attractive to clients who are tired of junior advisor delegation, turnover, & “relationship manager” structures at larger firms.
Investment Beliefs
Arcadia Private Wealth believes that capital markets price securities efficiently enough that attempts to outperform through individual security selection or market forecasting are unlikely to succeed after costs. Long-term returns are best captured by owning broadly diversified portfolios across U.S., international developed, and emerging markets. Academic research identifies persistent differences in expected returns among securities, associated with company size, relative price, and profitability, and Arcadia’s equity portfolios include a modest, systematic tilt toward these characteristics. Because costs and taxes reduce returns with certainty while future returns are uncertain, Arcadia places a strong emphasis on controlling both.
Portfolio Construction
Each client’s allocation between equities and fixed income is determined or reinforced through the financial planning process and reflects the client’s goals, time horizon, need for liquidity, and capacity and willingness to bear risk. Equity exposure is implemented primarily through funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors, Avantis Investors, and Vanguard. Fixed income (bond) holdings emphasize investment-grade securities with short to intermediate maturities, chosen to reduce portfolio volatility and provide liquidity for spending needs rather than to maximize yield. Arcadia seeks to maintain a weighted average fund expense ratio below 0.20% and uses a limited number of funds so that portfolios remain straightforward to understand and monitor. Arcadia does not engage in individual stock selection, market timing, or the use of complex or high-cost products.
Portfolio Management
Portfolios are monitored regularly and rebalanced when asset class weights move outside predetermined tolerance bands. Where practical, rebalancing is accomplished through contributions and withdrawals before selling existing positions, and trades are evaluated for their tax consequences. For taxable clients, Arcadia considers asset location across account types, harvests losses when appropriate, and manages the timing of capital gains. Arcadia also helps clients maintain their long-term strategy during periods of market stress and volatility.
We build tax-first retirement plans for individuals and married couples with $2 million or more in investable assets. Every service connects to the plan. Nothing is managed in isolation.
Our flat fee covers:
- Retirement Planning
- Tax Planning and Roth IRA Strategy
- Retirement Income Planning
- Investment Management
- Social Security Optimization
- RMD Planning
- Estate Plan Coordination
- Surviving Spouse Planning
When we manage investments for you, accounts are monitored and rebalanced periodically, especially focusing on opportunities such as tax loss harvesting and periods of high volatility.
Yes. Arcadia serves as a fiduciary to all clients, which means we are required to put client interests ahead of our own at all times. We only receive compensation from our clients. If a conflict of interest ever arises, we will notify you immediately and do everything possible to mitigate it.
Even if you don’t work with Arcadia, please ask any prospective wealth manager whether they serve as fiduciaries for all accounts, and will sign a binding contract to that effect (this language is included in every Arcadia client agreement).
At Arcadia, we meet with clients at least twice a year—once in the spring to review your plan, cash flow, and priorities for the year ahead, and once in the fall to focus on year-end tax optimization. We’re also available in between whenever something comes up, and clients consistently tell us that we pick up the phone and return emails faster than any firm they’ve worked with before. It’s a relationship built on consistency, not quarterly check-ins designed to justify a fee.
Yes. While Arcadia is a San Diego, CA-based wealth management firm, we work with clients across the country. Our process is built around virtual meetings, so location is never a barrier. If you’re looking for a flat fee-only retirement planning firm you can trust, we’d love to connect no matter where you are.
Think of it like moving to a new house. We do all the heavy lifting. We bring the moving truck, load everything up, and move it to your new home. Nothing gets rearranged, sold, or changed until your Investment Policy is signed and you give us the go-ahead to begin trading the accounts.
Brokerage and IRA Accounts – Transferred securely through the ACAT system, which moves assets in-kind so your investments stay exactly as they are during the move.
401(k) Accounts – Most 401(k) transfers are handled over the phone through a three-way call with Arcadia Private Wealth leading the process.
Our flat fee covers an entire household (both spouses), and there are no limits on the number of accounts or the size of the portfolio. Our fee is billed quarterly ($4,500 per quarter). We don’t earn commissions, sell financial products, or receive incentives from third parties.
Most clients elect to have their fees deducted from their investment accounts at Charles Schwab. If you have multiple accounts, the fee is prorated based on the balances. For example, if you have a $1,000,000 IRA and a $3,000,000 trust account, $1,125 would be deducted from the IRA and $3,375 from the trust account. The process is automated, so you don’t have to worry about making manual payments.
You’ll receive a quarterly notice that transparently details the fee calculation, so you always know exactly what’s being deducted and from where.
It's the simplest approach: One fee. No commissions. No percentages. No uncertainty about the incentives behind the advice.
It's a great value for larger portfolios: 1% might not seem like a lot, but it is for large portfolios. If you have a large portfolio ($2M+), that 1% charged is usually well above our $18,000 flat fee. See our pricing page for a comprehensive fee calculator to see what you are currently paying your advisor.
It's the fairest way to charge: Advisors stand to benefit from some recommendations when charging a percentage fee or working on commissions. A flat fee minimizes conflicts of interest, meaning our advice is tailored to you and only you. A flat fee doesn't penalize you for being successful.
It depends on your particular situation, but retirement planning is much more complex than saving for it. You’ll need to decide when to claim Social Security and Medicare, how much and which accounts to withdraw from tax-efficiently, whether Roth conversions make sense, how to make your money last 30+ years, and how to enjoy your money while leaving a legacy for your loved ones. A retirement-focused financial advisor can help you avoid costly mistakes that are difficult to come back from.
Grant Webster is 41 years old. Old enough to be experienced, and young enough to hopefully be around for decades to come!
No. At Arcadia, we provide world-class investment and retirement advice, using industry-leading fund families (Dimensional Fund Advisors, Avantis Investors and Vanguard). Our financial planning services rely on sophisticated software—the same software used by advisors charging many times our fees.
Most planning tools ask how much you want to spend, then tell you your percentage odds of making it work—but that’s not a plan, it’s a guess. Arcadia does the opposite: we analyze your full financial picture using a Guardrails approach and give you a near-certain number representing what you can confidently spend without the fear of running out. Knowing your real number is often what finally lifts the cloud of uncertainty that’s been hanging over retirement.