Service One
Investment Management
Discretionary portfolio management built on the principles of asset allocation, global diversification, prudent investment selection and ongoing strategic adjustments — tailored to your objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, and tax situation.
Portfolio Design & Strategy
- Investment Policy Statement — documenting your objectives, constraints, and strategy
- Risk tolerance — assessing your willingness and financial capacity to take risk
- Risk and return requirements — matching the return your plan needs with the risk required to achieve it
- Time horizon — mapping investment timelines by goal, account, and life stage
- Tax considerations — factoring current bracket, future bracket, and account-type treatment into design choices
- Legal and regulatory requirements — incorporating account-type rules, trust mandates, and applicable plan documents into the strategy
- Liquidity needs — sizing cash and short-duration reserves for known and unexpected outflows
- Asset allocation design across stocks, bonds, and alternative investments
- Asset location analysis — which holdings belong in which account type
- Global diversification across geographies, market caps and investment styles
- Fundamental and technical analysis of investment opportunities
- Long-term investment philosophy aligned with your life, not the news cycle
Implementation & Ongoing Management
- Portfolio strategy implementation — translating your strategy into a working, coordinated portfolio across all of your accounts
- Discretionary trading — trade execution to implement your investment strategy
- Best execution monitoring through Schwab, our independent custodian
- Mutual fund, ETF, individual security and alternative investment selection
- Sub-advisor selection and oversight when specialist expertise is warranted
- Cost control — screening for low-expense, tax-efficient vehicles
- Strategic adjustments to account for economic and geopolitical developments and your evolving needs
Monitoring, Rebalancing & Reporting
- Ongoing portfolio review and monitoring — at the household, account, and security level
- Rebalancing execution when allocations drift from targets
- Tax-loss harvesting reviews and execution throughout the year as opportunities arise
- Capital gains harvesting when appropriate
- Quarterly performance reporting
- Risk monitoring — market, interest-rate, credit, liquidity, and currency
“The interests of the Client are our top priority.”
— DCM Code of Ethics
Service Two
Workplace Retirement Accounts
Your 401(k), 403(b), and other employer retirement plans managed with the same discipline and oversight as the rest of your portfolio — all while remaining within your employer sponsored plan.
- 401(k) allocation management at your current employer
- 403(b), 457, and TSP account direction
- Defined contribution plan participant account management
- Quarterly review of held-away allocations
- Investment menu analysis within your plan options
- Rebalancing coordinated with your broader portfolio
- Fee review of internal plan expenses
- Contribution strategy — traditional vs. Roth, match maximization
- Mega backdoor Roth analysis when your plan allows
- Company stock analysis and NUA considerations
- Rollover evaluation when leaving an employer
- Unified strategy coordinated with your managed assets
Service Three
Financial Planning & Consulting
Evaluating your current and future financial situation across every dimension that matters — not a one-time document, but an ongoing conversation that adapts as your life changes.
Goals, Cash Flow & Net Worth
- Goal identification — building wealth, retirement, lifestyle, legacy
- Prioritization of competing financial objectives
- Personal net worth statement as a benchmark
- Cash flow analysis — income, expenses, savings capacity
- Emergency fund planning and cash-balance targeting
- Expense review to surface forgotten or unneeded costs
- Major purchase analysis (home, car, boat, second property)
- Buy vs. lease, buy vs. rent analyses
- Sabbatical or extended-leave cash flow planning
- International move financial planning
- Divorce cash flow analysis and settlement review
- Support planning for adult children or aging parents
Retirement & Distribution Planning
- Retirement readiness modeling — can you retire, and when
- Safe withdrawal rate analysis
- Retirement income sequencing across accounts
- Social Security claiming strategy and timing
- Annual Social Security statement review
- Pension claiming analysis (lump sum vs. annuity, survivor elections)
- Required Minimum Distribution planning and execution
- Retirement plan distribution options analysis
- Medicare premium coordination (IRMAA-aware)
- Retirement lifestyle goal setting
- Housing transition (downsize, CCRC, relocation) planning
- Roth vs. traditional contribution decisions
Tax Planning
- Annual tax return review — observation report highlighting planning opportunities
- Year-over-year comparison of your tax position
- Carryover tracking — capital losses, charitable, AMT credits
- Multi-year tax projection modeling
- Marginal-bracket analysis to inform timing of income and deductions
- Tax diversification across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts
- Roth conversion bracket-fill analysis
- Multi-year Roth conversion sequencing strategy
- Backdoor Roth IRA strategy
- Traditional vs. Roth contribution modeling
- HSA as a tax-advantaged savings vehicle
- 529 funding strategy and account-type comparison
- Tax-smart withdrawal sequencing in retirement
- RMD impact projection across bracket scenarios
- Social Security taxation modeling and claiming-timing interaction
- IRMAA (Medicare premium) threshold modeling
- 0% capital-gains bracket opportunity identification
- Tax impact modeling for major decisions (home sale, business sale, stock sale)
- Windfall and inheritance after-tax modeling
- Stock option and RSU exercise-timing strategy (AMT-aware)
- Concentrated stock tax-aware diversification planning
- Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from IRAs
- Donor-advised fund (DAF) funding strategy
- Appreciated stock gifting analysis
- Charitable bunching analysis
- Annual exclusion gifting planning
- Lifetime exemption tracking and wealth-transfer strategy
- Residency considerations for retirement relocation
- Pre-year-end tax planning meeting
- Tax-relevant life event alerts (marriage, divorce, business sale)
- Coordination with your CPA on strategy and timing
- Curation of tax professionals when you need one
Our tax planning work is supported by Holistiplan and Altruist Hazel — modern planning tools that read your tax return and surface forward-looking opportunities. DCM does not prepare tax returns, render specific tax advice, or calculate tax liabilities; we recommend clients consult a qualified tax professional before implementing any specific tax strategy.
Risk Management & Insurance Review
- Life insurance needs assessment
- Existing permanent policy analysis and in-force review
- Disability insurance coverage review
- Long-term care insurance analysis
- Annuity evaluation and analysis — reviewing existing contracts and assessing fit for new income or guarantee needs
- Homeowner's insurance coverage review
- Auto insurance coverage review
- Umbrella liability analysis
- Health insurance — HDHP+HSA vs. traditional analysis
- Medicare coverage analysis
- Workplace benefits open-enrollment review
- Financial fraud prevention and awareness
- Curation of insurance professionals when coverage is needed
Estate & Legacy Planning
- Estate plan review — wills, trusts, directives
- Beneficiary designation review across all accounts
- Power of attorney and healthcare proxy review
- Advance directive guidance
- Federal estate tax planning and analysis
- State estate tax planning (CA and out-of-state)
- Trust funding and re-titling coordination
- Gifting strategies — annual exclusion and lifetime exemption
- Surviving spouse analysis and support
- Bequest planning and review
- Pre-nuptial agreement financial guidance
- Referrals to estate attorneys from our vetted network
Debt, Education & Real Estate
- Debt payoff prioritization and total payoff planning
- Mortgage analysis — buy vs. rent, refinance evaluation
- HELOC analysis and strategic use of home equity
- Reverse mortgage analysis when appropriate
- Student loan repayment and refinance strategy
- Intra-family loan structuring
- Credit card strategy and rewards review
- 529 plan selection and funding strategy
- Education funding coordination (529, UTMA, Roth, taxable)
- Financial aid planning and FAFSA support
- Rental real estate analysis and portfolio fit
- Vacation home financial planning
Concentrated Holdings & Liquidity Events
- Concentrated stock position analysis and diversification strategies
- Employee stock and RSU planning and execution
- Inheritance and windfall investment integration
- Private placement analysis for qualifying clients
Service Four
Family Office Services
For clients whose financial lives extend beyond traditional planning — business interests, multiple entities, real estate, complex estates, and family dynamics that require thoughtful coordination across advisors. Offered as part of the advisory relationship, with no separate fee.
Consolidated Oversight
- Balance sheet analysis across all assets and entities
- Consolidated reporting of assets held inside and outside DCM
- Asset tracking across custodians, accounts, and entities
- Cash flow and liquidity planning at the family level
- Entity coordination for investment accounts (LLCs, trusts, partnerships)
- Debt and credit facility evaluation and structuring review
Specialist Coordination
- CPA coordination on tax strategy and year-end planning
- Estate attorney coordination on document drafting and updates
- Trust counsel coordination for complex structures
- Insurance professional curation and coordination
- Independent professional referrals from our vetted network
- Meeting facilitation with your full advisory team
Charitable & Family Strategy
- Charitable giving planning — DAF, appreciated stock, QCDs
- Charitable giving location analysis (which asset, which vehicle)
- Wealth transfer coordination across generations
- Business succession planning support
- Family financial education for spouses and next-generation heirs
- Helping clients avoid financial fraud — education and vigilance