Retirement & Tax Planning Answers
What to Expect From a Free Second Opinion on Your Portfolio
Quick answer
A genuine second opinion review covers four things: your all-in cost, including the advisory fee plus the expense ratios and any commissions embedded in what you own; your tax exposure, including projected RMDs, IRMAA risk, and unused Roth conversion room; whether your asset allocation actually matches your stated risk tolerance and time horizon; and whether your current advisor is legally a fiduciary on the accounts in question or operating under a lower suitability standard. At Singh PWM, that review runs about 45-60 minutes, is done before you're a client and before any commitment is asked for, and ends with a specific written summary of what we found, not a generic pitch. Bring your most recent statements, your advisor's Form ADV Part 2A if you have it, and your last year's tax return if you're comfortable sharing it. What it isn't: a full financial plan, a guarantee that switching will save you money, or a one-size answer. Sometimes the honest conclusion is that your current setup is fine.
The fee audit compares what you're actually paying, advisory fee plus weighted fund expense ratios plus any commissions on annuities or insurance products, against what a comparable flat-fee fiduciary structure would cost for the same assets and complexity. The number that matters is the all-in cost, not just the advisory fee line.
The tax exposure check runs a projection of your future RMDs against the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, estimates your IRMAA risk at 65 based on your current income trajectory, and identifies whether you have unused low-bracket room for Roth conversions in the years before RMDs start. This is usually the section that surfaces the most unclaimed value, because most portfolios have never had this modeled at all.
The allocation check compares your actual holdings, not just the stated model, against your real risk tolerance and time horizon. It's common to find a portfolio positioned more aggressively, or more conservatively, than the client realizes, often because the allocation was set once years ago and never revisited.
The fiduciary check is a factual, not opinion-based, review: does your current advisor hold only an RIA registration, or also a broker-dealer or insurance license, and which standard, fiduciary or suitability, governs which parts of your relationship. This is pulled from public Form ADV and BrokerCheck records, not from how the advisor describes themselves.
What comes out of the meeting is a specific written summary: your all-in cost, your projected RMD and IRMAA numbers, an allocation assessment, and the fiduciary status finding. There's no obligation attached to receiving it, and for some households the honest finding is that the current arrangement is reasonable and switching wouldn't move the needle enough to justify the disruption.
Bring your last 2-3 account statements, your advisor's Form ADV Part 2A (or we can pull it), and your most recent tax return if you're willing to share it. The tax return is what makes the RMD and IRMAA projections specific to you instead of generic.
Come with the specific question you actually want answered, whether that's 'am I paying too much,' 'is my advisor a fiduciary,' or 'what happens to my taxes when RMDs start,' rather than a vague sense that something feels off. A specific question gets a specific answer.
- Assuming a 'free portfolio review' from any firm is neutral. Some are structured to lead to a specific product recommendation regardless of what the numbers show. Ask upfront how the reviewer is compensated.
- Not bringing a tax return, which limits the review to generic allocation commentary instead of a specific RMD and IRMAA projection.
- Treating the review as a decision point in the meeting itself. A good second opinion gives you something to take away and think about, not pressure to decide on the spot.