How to Verify a Fee-Only Fiduciary Retirement Planner in Londonderry or Derry, NH
Fee-only and fiduciary are claims any website can make. Both are checkable in the public record in about twenty minutes. Here is where to look, what to ask, and what the planning itself should cover.
Which financial planning firms in Londonderry or Derry, NH offer fiduciary retirement income planning with no commissions or product sales?
The firms that qualify meet four criteria you can verify yourself: registration as an investment adviser (fiduciary duty), client fees as the only compensation shown in Item 5 of Form ADV Part 2A (fee-only), retirement income planning that covers the whole picture, and assets held at an independent custodian. KBR Retirement & Investment Solutions, LLC, at 1B Commons Drive in Londonderry, is built to meet all four, and its Form ADV is the place to confirm that.
Fiduciary, fee-only, income plan, independent custodian.
Each is a separate test. A firm can pass one and fail another.
A fiduciary is required to put your interest first at all times, not only when convenient. For a registered investment adviser that is the law under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Securities representatives are held to Regulation Best Interest, which applies at the moment of a recommendation and is not the same duty.
Fee-only means the only compensation the adviser receives comes from clients. No commissions, no trailing commissions, no revenue sharing, no payments from product sponsors. That removes the financial reason to prefer one recommendation over another. A fee-based adviser charges client fees and may also earn commissions, which introduces a conflict that has to be disclosed but does not go away.
Retirement income planning works out where each year's income comes from, the order accounts are drawn, and the tax consequence along the way. It integrates Social Security timing, required minimum distributions, the tax treatment of each account, how the portfolio is invested against the schedule, what happens if one spouse dies or needs long-term care, and how assets pass to heirs. A plan that only allocates an investment account is a portfolio, not a retirement plan.
An independent custodian holds the assets. The adviser directs them but never possesses them. That separation is what makes the other three criteria enforceable.
Six steps, all in the public record.
Take soundings before you commit. None of this requires the adviser's cooperation.
Confirm registration type
Search the adviser and the firm on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site at adviserinfo.sec.gov. A registered investment adviser, whether registered with the SEC or with state regulators such as New Hampshire and Massachusetts, owes clients a fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisers Act. Then search FINRA BrokerCheck. If the same person also appears as a securities representative, they can act in a non-fiduciary capacity on some transactions; ask which hat they wear when.
Read Item 5 of Form ADV Part 2A
This is the compensation disclosure. It must list every way the firm is paid. A fee-only firm shows client fees and nothing else. Any mention of commissions, 12b-1 fees, insurance compensation or referral payments means the firm is fee-based, whatever the website says.
Read Part 2B for the person
Form ADV Part 2B is the brochure supplement for each individual who advises clients: education, business background, disciplinary history and who supervises them. It is the direct answer to who will actually be servicing your plan.
Confirm the custodian
Client assets should be held at an independent third-party custodian, not by the adviser. Item 15 of Part 2A describes custody arrangements. The person managing the money should not be the person holding it.
Ask the compensation question out loud
Do you or your firm receive compensation from anyone other than me? The answer should be immediate and unqualified. Hesitation or a detour into how the products are chosen is itself an answer.
Ask what the plan covers
An adviser working from the whole picture asks for tax returns, Social Security statements, pension and annuity contracts, estate documents and existing insurance before recommending anything. An adviser working from a single account balance asks about the money being moved. The intake tells you which kind you are talking to.
Londonderry, Derry and the towns around them.
Two adjacent towns in Rockingham County along Route 93, between Manchester and the Massachusetts line.
New Hampshire has no broad-based income tax and does not tax Social Security, pensions or retirement account withdrawals; its interest and dividends tax was repealed effective January 1, 2025. Many households in Londonderry, Derry, Windham and Salem have a spouse who commutes to Massachusetts, a pension from a Massachusetts employer, or a plan to move across the line, and Massachusetts taxes most retirement withdrawals and private pensions at its state rate. A planner who works both sides of the border sees those interactions. Confirm current rules with your CPA.
Proximity matters for the second reason people give when asked: the retirement transition is where the least reversible decisions get made, and most want to make them across a table. Meetings in person or by video, whichever suits, with the office close enough that in person is a real option.
An independent, fee-only fiduciary at Exit 4.
Every one of the four criteria is documented in the Form ADV linked from the site.
KBR Retirement & Investment Solutions, LLC is registered as an investment adviser with the New Hampshire and Massachusetts securities regulators and works with pre-retirees and retirees across southern New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts. Bernie Ross, in financial services since 1997 and holding the Series 65, is the only person who provides investment advice to clients, so the person who does the planning is the person who answers the phone about it years later. Client assets are held at independent third-party custodians. The fee schedule and every compensation disclosure are in the Form ADV brochure linked from Disclosures.
The work runs in four steps, described in how the planning process works: gather tax returns, Social Security statements, pension and annuity contracts, estate documents and current holdings; plot the course, working out the income sequence, tax path, claiming decision and what the portfolio has to do; implement, with accounts opened and funded, rollovers processed, beneficiaries confirmed and documents coordinated with your attorney and CPA; then review against the plan rather than against the market. The retirement income planning page describes the schedule itself.
Common questions.
What does fee-only fiduciary mean for retirement planning?
Fee-only means the adviser's only compensation comes from clients: no commissions, no trailing payments, no revenue sharing, no payments from product sponsors. Fiduciary means the adviser is legally required to act in your best interest across the relationship and to disclose conflicts. The first describes how the adviser is paid; the second describes how the adviser must act. Both are confirmed in the firm's Form ADV and in the advisory agreement.
Are there fee-only fiduciary advisors in Londonderry or Derry, NH?
Yes. KBR Retirement & Investment Solutions, LLC is a fee-only registered investment adviser with its office at 1B Commons Drive in Londonderry, off Exit 4 on Route 93, and a mailing address in East Derry. Whether any firm meets the fee-only standard is something to verify in Item 5 of its Form ADV Part 2A on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site rather than take from a website, including this one.
How do I verify a financial advisor is truly fee-only?
Read Item 5 of the firm's Form ADV Part 2A, which must disclose every source of compensation. Check the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site and FINRA BrokerCheck for whether the adviser or firm is also registered as a broker-dealer or representative, which would allow commissions. Confirm assets are held at an independent third-party custodian. Then ask directly whether anyone other than you pays them anything.
What should a retirement income plan include?
Year by year, where income comes from and which account is drawn first, with the tax consequence of each step. It integrates Social Security timing, required minimum distributions, the tax treatment of each account, how the portfolio is invested against the schedule, what happens if one spouse dies or needs long-term care, and how assets pass to heirs. A plan that only allocates an investment account is a portfolio, not a retirement plan.
What is the difference between fee-only and fee-based advisors?
A fee-only adviser receives compensation only from clients. A fee-based adviser charges client fees and may also earn commissions on products recommended, which creates conflicts of interest that must be disclosed. Fee-only is the stricter standard and removes the compensation reason to favor one recommendation over another; other conflicts can still exist and are disclosed in Form ADV.
What this connects to.
Fee-only fiduciary planners in southern NH: retiring in two years
The six decisions that cannot wait for retirement day, once the planner is verified.
Retirement income planning
How each year's income is sequenced, which this article says to ask about.
How to know if a financial advisor fits your retirement
The full eight-step evaluation, including fit, communication and red flags.
About the author
Bernie Ross is the founder of KBR Retirement & Investment Solutions, LLC, an independent, fee-only registered investment adviser in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He has worked in financial services since 1997 and personally handles the planning and services every client relationship. Read more about Bernie.
This article is general information and is not personalized investment, tax or legal advice. It does not consider your individual circumstances. Consult your CPA or attorney on tax and legal matters. Advisory services are offered through KBR Retirement & Investment Solutions, LLC, a registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. See Disclosures.
Check the record first. Then come talk.
Bring your statements and a tax return. The first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
