By Kevin Luu, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer. Reviewed on 2026-09-30.
The questions to ask a retirement advisor come down to three things: are they a fiduciary on every account you hold with them, what will you pay them in dollars each year, and how will they turn your specific benefits (401(k), mega backdoor Roth, RSUs, deferred comp) into a date when work becomes optional. Everything else is detail. If an advisor cannot answer those three plainly in a first meeting, keep looking.
For a two-income household earning $750,000 to $3 million in California or Washington, with children under 12, retirement is often 15 to 25 years away. So a good retirement advisor at this stage is not selling an income plan for age 65. They are deciding what goes into which account this year, how much employer stock you carry, and how retirement saving fits next to 529s, a home and a will that still names no guardian.
Ten questions to ask, and what a good answer sounds like
1. Are you a fiduciary on every account, at all times, and will you put that in writing?
A registered investment adviser owes you a fiduciary duty of care and loyalty for the whole relationship, as the SEC explains in its 2019 interpretation of the adviser standard of conduct. A broker selling you a product works under Regulation Best Interest, which applies at the moment of a recommendation. Many people hold both licenses and switch hats. A good answer is “yes, on everything, and here is the sentence in our agreement.” You can confirm registration on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site and check for broker history on FINRA BrokerCheck. Our article on what share of advisors are fiduciaries covers why the title alone tells you little.
2. What will we pay you in dollars per year, including fund costs?
Ask for one number: advisory fee plus the expense ratios of the funds they would use, plus any product commissions. A percentage of assets sounds small until you multiply it. On a hypothetical $3 million portfolio, a 1% fee is $30,000 a year. A hypothetical flat fee of $20,000 for the same work is $10,000 a year less, or $200,000 over 20 years before any growth on the difference. Neither number is right or wrong, but you should see it in writing. See how fee-only planners charge for the common models.
3. How will you use our workplace plans this year?
This is the question that separates a retirement advisor who knows high-income W-2 families from one who does not. For 2026, each spouse can defer $24,500 into a 401(k) or 403(b), and total additions to one plan (employee, employer and after-tax money) can reach $72,000 (IRS Notice 2025-67). If your plan allows after-tax contributions with in-plan Roth conversion, the gap is room for a mega backdoor Roth. Because a married couple’s Roth IRA eligibility phases out between $242,000 and $252,000 of MAGI for 2026, direct Roth IRA contributions are closed to you, and a backdoor Roth of up to $7,500 each is the usual route. A good advisor will ask whether either of you holds pre-tax IRA money first, because the pro-rata rule on Form 8606 can make a backdoor Roth partly taxable.
4. What do you do about our RSUs and employer stock?
At Apple, Amazon, Genentech or Gilead, vested RSUs can quietly become a third of a family’s net worth. Ask how they decide when to sell, how they handle the gap between the 22% flat federal supplemental withholding many employers apply to RSU income (37% is mandatory on supplemental wages over $1 million, per IRS Publication 15) and your real marginal rate, and whether they will warn you before April about an underpayment. A weak answer is “we will build a diversified portfolio around it.” A strong answer has a written sell schedule.
5. How do you estimate the year work becomes optional for us?
Ask to see the assumptions: spending, savings rate, return, inflation, and what happens to the plan if one of you stops working for two years. Deferred compensation elections, ESPP purchases and a future sabbatical should all show up. If the plan only shows a single success percentage at 65, it was built for someone else.
6. Where are we assumed to live in retirement, and what does that do to taxes?
The state you retire in can matter as much as the portfolio. California taxes all capital gains as ordinary income, with no lower rate (FTB), and the top rate is 13.3% (2025 schedules, including the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax on taxable income over $1 million). Washington has no wage income tax in 2026 but taxes long-term capital gains above an annual standard deduction ($278,000 for 2025) at 7%, rising to 9.9% on taxable gains above $1 million, with retirement accounts exempt (WA DOR). Washington has also enacted a 9.9% income tax on AGI over $1 million starting January 1, 2028 (WA DOR). A good advisor will tell you which of these changes their advice on Roth versus pre-tax money, and will not assume today’s rules hold for 20 years.
7. How do you weigh retirement saving against the kids’ 529s?
California gives no state deduction for 529 contributions, so for a California family the case for a 529 rests on tax-free growth, not an upfront break. Ask the advisor to show the order they would fund things in and why. Retirement accounts usually come first, but a grandparent who wants to front-load a 529 changes the math.
8. What happens to our retirement accounts if one of us dies?
401(k)s and IRAs pass by beneficiary designation, not by your will. Ask whether they will review every designation and whether a child under 12 is ever named directly (a minor cannot control the account). For Washington residents, the state estate tax exclusion is $3,076,000 for deaths from January 1 to June 30, 2026 and $3,000,000 from July 1, 2026 (WA DOR), far below the $15,000,000 federal exclusion for 2026. Retirement accounts count toward it. Our estate planning page covers how this fits with guardianship and trusts.
9. Who coordinates with our CPA and estate attorney?
Busy parents rarely have time to relay messages between three professionals. Ask who owns the year-end tax projection, who files the 8606 for the backdoor Roth, and who checks that the trust your attorney drafted is actually named on the accounts. “You can send us their contact details” is not coordination.
10. What will you write down so our children understand the reasoning?
Most advisors produce a statement and a projection. Few record why you chose Roth over pre-tax, why you sold the RSUs when you did, or what you were weighing when you said no to a bigger house. Those decisions are what your children will need when the money reaches them. As Kevin Luu puts it: “Your kids will inherit your money. Will they inherit your judgment?”
Worked example: a strong answer to question 3 for a $1.1 million household
Assumptions (hypothetical): a married couple in San Mateo County, both under 50, filing jointly. One works in biotech with $650,000 of pay including RSUs; the other is a physician earning $450,000. Children are 4 and 7. Neither has pre-tax IRA money. Spouse A’s plan adds $12,000 of employer money and allows after-tax contributions with in-plan Roth conversion. Spouse B’s plan adds $10,000 and does not allow after-tax contributions.
| Account (2026) | Spouse A | Spouse B | Household |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k) or 403(b) deferral | $24,500 | $24,500 | $49,000 |
| Employer contribution (assumed) | $12,000 | $10,000 | $22,000 |
| Mega backdoor Roth ($72,000 minus $24,500 minus employer money) | $35,500 | Not offered | $35,500 |
| Backdoor Roth IRA | $7,500 | $7,500 | $15,000 |
| Total into retirement accounts | $79,500 | $42,000 | $121,500 |
That is $121,500 a year going into tax-advantaged accounts, or $1,215,000 over ten years before any growth. On the $49,000 of pre-tax deferrals alone, at a 37% federal bracket (which starts at $768,700 of taxable income for joint filers in 2026, per Rev. Proc. 2025-32) and a 12.3% combined California rate (the 11.3% bracket plus the 1% tax on taxable income over $1 million, 2025 schedules), the couple’s income tax for the year is roughly $24,157 lower, assuming their taxable income stays above $1 million either way. A weak advisor stops at “max your 401(k).” A strong one also finds the $35,500 of mega backdoor room, sets up the Roth conversions so after-tax money does not sit and grow taxable, and decides whether pre-tax deferrals still make sense if the couple expects to retire to Washington.
Red flags in a first meeting
- The conversation turns to an annuity or permanent life insurance before anyone has looked at your benefits.
- They cannot say whether they act as a broker on any of your accounts.
- The fee is only described as a percentage, never as a dollar amount.
- They have no view on your employer stock, or say it is “your company’s business.”
- Nobody asks about your children, guardians or beneficiary forms.
If you want a short way to check credentials, our guide to what a vetted financial advisor is walks through the public databases.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a fiduciary financial advisor in Seattle or the Bay Area?
Start with registration, not location. Look the firm up on the SEC adviser search, read Form ADV Part 2A for fees and conflicts, and check BrokerCheck for any broker role. Washington advisers may also be state-registered with the Department of Financial Institutions; California advisers with the DFPI. Then ask questions 3 and 6 above, since equity pay and state tax rules are where local experience shows.
What is the difference between fee-only and fee-based?
Fee-only advisers are paid only by the families they serve, through a flat fee, an hourly fee or a percentage of assets. Fee-based usually means advisory fees plus commissions on products such as insurance or annuities. Fee-based is not wrong, but it adds a conflict you should see disclosed in Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS before you sign anything.
What should we prepare before meeting a retirement advisor?
Bring your latest pay stubs, your benefits summary (including whether your plan allows after-tax contributions), RSU vesting schedules, last year’s tax return, current account statements and beneficiary forms. Also write down two or three things you want work to look like in ten years. A good advisor will use all of it in the first meeting.
Next step
Pull your plan’s summary plan description this week and check one line: whether it allows after-tax contributions with in-plan Roth conversion. That single answer shapes question 3 more than anything else. Our retirement and employee benefits page explains how the Age Five Family Office™ works through these decisions with families, and the Tax & Wealth Assessment is there if you want a second opinion. This is general education, and the right move depends on your family’s full picture.
Kevin has advised high-income W-2 tech and biotech families since 2015, and leads the education-first Age Five Family Office from Brea, California.
Connect on LinkedIn → · About KevinThis is part of how we approach Investment & Risk Management for high-income W-2 families at Bright Advisers.
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