Questions we hear from prospective clients.

Fee-only means the advisor's sole source of compensation is the advisory fee paid directly by you, the client. Fee-based, by contrast, is a hybrid model where the advisor charges a fee but also earns commissions on certain product sales — creating conflicts of interest that may be disclosed but are never truly eliminated. Wolfson Private Wealth is a fee-only firm. It earns no commissions, no revenue-sharing from fund companies, and no 12b-1 fees, and it is paid only the advisory fee its clients pay it. We publish our fee schedule openly.

Zach Wolfson owns and operates other businesses outside this firm, including insurance agencies that earn commissions on health and Medicare insurance. Wolfson Private Wealth sells no insurance, earns no commission on anything, and is paid only the advisory fee its clients pay it. The firm does not recommend that its clients buy insurance through those agencies, and any policy a client buys anywhere is outside this engagement and is never billed under it. These outside businesses take time and attention, which is a conflict worth knowing about. They are disclosed in Item 4 of Zach's Form ADV Part 2B and Item 10 of Part 2A, which you can read at adviserinfo.sec.gov under CRD 314416.

Industry-wide, advisory fees typically range from 0.25% to 1.50% of assets under management annually, depending on the size of the relationship and the scope of services. At Wolfson Private Wealth, our annual portfolio management fee varies between 0.50% and 1.00% of assets under management, depending on the market value of assets, the type and complexity of services provided, and the level of administration requested, as disclosed in our Form ADV Part 2A. What matters more than the headline rate is what you receive in return and what you avoid paying elsewhere — no commissions, no high-cost proprietary funds, no hidden platform fees. Full details are on our fees page.

The firm is built for a particular set of situations: a move to Florida, the sale of a business, a retirement income and Medicare surcharge decision, or accounts held in several places that need to be consolidated. The terms of an advisory engagement, including any account minimum, are described in our Form ADV Part 2A, which you can read at adviserinfo.sec.gov under CRD 314416. Reach out if you would like to discuss your situation.

An independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) like Wolfson Private Wealth operates under a fiduciary standard, owns no proprietary products, and has no corporate sales quotas or revenue targets to meet. A wirehouse — firms like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS, or Wells Fargo Advisors — employs financial advisors who typically operate under a broker-dealer model with institutional pressure to cross-sell banking products, proprietary funds, and structured notes. The independent model removes these structural conflicts entirely. We select custodians, funds, and strategies based solely on client outcomes, not corporate incentives. Our comparison page illustrates these differences in detail.

A fiduciary financial advisor is legally obligated to act in your best interest at all times — not merely recommend “suitable” investments, which is the lower standard applied to broker-dealers. As a Florida-registered investment adviser, Wolfson Private Wealth operates under this fiduciary duty in every engagement. This means we cannot accept commissions, sell proprietary products, or steer you toward investments that benefit us at your expense. The distinction matters enormously: it is the difference between a professional who must put you first and one who is only required to avoid putting you last. Learn more about our approach on our philosophy page.

We begin with an introductory call to understand your financial picture, goals, and whether we are the right fit. If both parties wish to proceed, we conduct a comprehensive discovery process: gathering tax returns, estate documents, existing account statements, insurance policies, and any relevant legal agreements. From there, we build your investment policy, open custodial accounts at Interactive Brokers, initiate asset transfers, and implement the portfolio. You can start a conversation here.

We monitor your portfolio on an ongoing basis. We are available whenever something material arises — a tax question, a real estate transaction, an estate planning decision, or a change in personal circumstances. We do not manufacture reasons to call. When we reach out, it is because something warrants your attention. Clients also have direct access to Zach Wolfson by phone and email; there is no call center and no assistant screening your inquiries.

All client assets are custodied at Interactive Brokers LLC, a publicly traded qualified custodian. We never hold your money. Our only access to your account is to place trades and to deduct the advisory fee you authorized, which is a limited form of custody under Florida's rules. We do not accept authority to wire your money to anyone. You maintain direct access to your accounts through Interactive Brokers' client portal at all times. Your assets are held in your name, at a regulated institution, separate from our firm.

Yes. We perform in-kind transfers whenever possible, meaning your existing securities move from your prior custodian to Interactive Brokers without being sold. This avoids triggering unnecessary capital gains. Once the transfer is complete, we evaluate the inherited positions and develop a tax-aware transition plan — harvesting losses where available, holding appreciated positions where the tax cost of selling outweighs the portfolio benefit, and gradually rotating into our target allocation over a timeline that balances tax efficiency against investment risk.

We believe that long-term wealth is built through disciplined asset allocation, low costs, tax efficiency, and the avoidance of uncompensated risk. We construct globally diversified portfolios using institutional-class index funds and individual securities where appropriate. We do not chase performance, time markets, or use speculative instruments. Our role is to design a portfolio calibrated to your specific return requirements, risk tolerance, and time horizon — and then to protect it from the behavioral impulses and unnecessary costs that erode most investors' returns over time. Our philosophy page covers this in depth.

Tax-loss harvesting is the practice of strategically selling investments that have declined in value to realize capital losses, which can then be used to offset capital gains elsewhere in your portfolio or up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year. The sold position is simultaneously replaced with a similar (but not substantially identical) investment to maintain your target allocation. Over time, this process can meaningfully reduce your tax burden and improve after-tax returns. We monitor client portfolios continuously for harvesting opportunities, particularly during periods of market volatility. This is one of several strategies described on our services page.

We coordinate closely with your estate planning attorney to ensure your investment accounts, beneficiary designations, and trust structures are aligned with your overall estate plan. While we do not practice law or draft legal documents, we review existing plans for gaps, recommend strategies such as irrevocable life insurance trusts or charitable remainder trusts where appropriate, and ensure that titling and beneficiary designations reflect your current intentions. Estate planning is not a one-time event; we revisit it as your circumstances, the tax code, and your family dynamics evolve.

Florida imposes no personal income tax, no capital gains tax, no estate tax, and no inheritance tax — making it one of the most favorable jurisdictions in the country for retirees. Social Security benefits, pension income, IRA distributions, and investment gains are all free of state-level taxation. Additionally, Florida's homestead exemption provides substantial asset protection, shielding an unlimited dollar amount of home equity from most creditors — though the protection is limited by area rather than value (half an acre inside a municipality, 160 acres outside), and a separate federal cap can apply in bankruptcy to a home acquired shortly beforehand. For families relocating from high-tax states, the cumulative savings over a decade of retirement can be substantial. Use our Florida tax calculator to estimate the impact for your situation.

Establishing Florida domicile involves more than purchasing a home. You should obtain a Florida driver's license, register to vote in Florida, file a Florida Declaration of Domicile with your county clerk, and update your estate documents to reference Florida law. It is equally important to sever ties with your prior state: cancel voter registration, surrender your old driver's license, and spend the majority of your time — ideally more than 183 days per year — in Florida. High-tax departure states like New York, New Jersey, and California are known to audit aggressively, so documentation of your intent and physical presence is critical.