Frequently Asked Questions

A fiduciary is a financial professional who is legally and ethically required to act in your best interest. Registered investment advisers — including Wilco Financial — are held to the fiduciary standard under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

This is different from the “suitability” standard that applies to many brokers and insurance agents, which only requires that a recommendation be suitable — not optimal. Read more about the fiduciary standard.

We work with households at a range of asset levels. The best way to find out whether we’re a good fit is to schedule a short introductory call — we’ll be upfront about it, and if we aren’t the right fit we’ll happily point you toward someone who is.

Your assets are held at Charles Schwab — the largest custodian in the world, with over $10 trillion in client assets. The account is titled in your name, not ours.

Schwab’s loyalty is to you, the account owner. What we do is trade the account to your plan and deduct our quarterly advisory fee. We never have authority to withdraw your funds, and you can log in to Schwab directly any time to see everything.

This is one of the most important investor-protection features of working with a registered investment adviser — and a key reason we don’t take custody of client assets ourselves.

No. Wilco Financial is registered as an investment adviser with the State of Tennessee. We work primarily with Tennessee clients, but we can also work with select clients in other states under applicable exemptions from registration (such as the de minimis exemption).

If you’re unsure whether we can work together in your state, reach out and we’ll let you know directly.

1. Schedule a 30-minute introductory call. Free, no obligation. We’ll talk about your situation and answer any questions you have. Schedule here.
2. Share some documents. If we agree it’s worth exploring, we’ll ask for a few statements and key data points.
3. Review a proposal. We put together a clear picture of what we’d do, what it would cost, and what you could expect.
4. Decide. If you choose to engage us, we’ll walk you through account opening and transfers. Most clients are fully onboarded within a few weeks.

Less than most people expect. The transfer process is standard — you sign paperwork authorizing the new custodian to pull assets over, and in most cases the move happens behind the scenes over 1–3 weeks. You don’t pay taxes to switch advisors (as long as no assets are sold and the account types match).

The bigger decision is usually about whether it’s worth the change. We’re happy to do a no-cost review of what you have today — sometimes our honest advice is that your current setup is fine.

We charge a simple, flat advisory fee of 0.85% per year of the assets we manage, billed quarterly. That’s it.

No commissions, no product kickbacks, no sales loads, no surrender charges, no layered “wrap” fees. Many portfolio holdings are individual stocks and bonds, which have zero expense ratio. Any ETFs we use are low-cost — typically a small fraction of a percent.

See our Fees page for full details.

No. Wilco Financial, LLC is an independent registered investment adviser. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Southwest Airlines Co. or SWAPA (Southwest Airlines Pilots Association).

Our Southwest Airlines specialty means we understand the SWA retirement plan, the common planning issues pilots and employees face, and how to integrate those with the rest of your financial life. SWAPA’s own resources remain an important complement, and we work alongside them — not in place of them.

We do comprehensive tax planning — looking forward — and coordinate closely with your CPA or tax preparer. This includes Roth conversions, tax-loss harvesting, asset location between account types, QCDs, and charitable strategies.

We don’t prepare tax returns ourselves. If you need a CPA, we’re happy to recommend one we know and trust.