Frequently Asked Questions
Questions, answered.
The things people ask before they reach out — about fit, fees, our services, and the firm behind the plan. If yours isn't here, it makes a great first message.
Working Together
The things people ask before they reach out.
What does "fee-only fiduciary" mean?
It means we're paid only by our clients, and we're legally bound to act in your best interest. The advice you get is the advice we'd want in your position, with no incentives pulling in another direction.
Who do you typically work with?
Business owners and high-earning families building first-generation wealth — people whose financial lives have outgrown one-off advice and need tax, investments, estate, and business decisions working together.
Do you replace my CPA or attorney?
No — we coordinate with them. Your CPA files; we plan year-round so the opportunities are found before the window closes. Your attorney drafts; we make sure the estate plan actually matches your life and your accounts. Everyone plays their position, and the strategy stays coordinated.
What does working together look like?
Three steps: a comprehensive discovery of your full financial picture, a personalized wealth strategy that connects every piece of it, and ongoing stewardship as your life evolves — including quarterly sessions to review what changed and adjust proactively.
Where are you located — and do you work virtually?
We work virtually and are registered in Maryland and Florida, serving clients nationwide where exemptions apply. Most of our work happens comfortably over video.
How do we get started?
With a 30-minute introductory call — no obligation, no pitch. We'll hear what you're building, share how we think, and you'll know quickly whether it's a fit.
What if I don't have a CPA or attorney?
Then we bring the team to you. For clients without existing tax, legal, or business advisors, we've built a curated network of experienced specialists — high-net-worth tax planners, estate attorneys, business valuation and M&A advisors, and more — and coordinate them as your central advisor so every piece works toward the same goals. If you already have trusted professionals, we're just as happy to collaborate with them.
Is Investably Right for You?
The honest fit questions people ask before their first call.
Is Investably right for someone like me?
If you're building first-generation wealth — a business, a strong income, a transition you didn't choose — and your financial life has outgrown one-off advice, you're who this firm was built for. The 30-minute call exists to answer exactly this question, honestly.
I've never worked with an advisor before. What's the first step?
A 30-minute conversation — no pitch, no jargon, no obligation. If it feels like a fit, we begin with a comprehensive discovery of your full financial picture before a single recommendation is made.
I'd rather hand this off to a professional than manage it myself. Is that how you work?
That's exactly how we work. Clients delegate to Michelle the way they'd delegate to a trusted operator: she implements, monitors, and evolves the plan, meets with you quarterly, and stays responsive in between. You stay informed and in control of the decisions — without carrying the day-to-day.
My financial life is scattered across accounts, advisors, and old plans. Is it too messy?
Scattered is the normal starting point. Discovery is built to gather the pieces — accounts, taxes, business interests, estate documents — into one picture, and the plan brings them into one integrated strategy.
Do you work with women navigating divorce or widowhood?
Yes — it's a specialty. Over the years Michelle has seen how women face a distinct set of financial realities: longer lifespans, wage gaps, caregiving costs, and the financial aftermath of divorce or loss. These are real, quantifiable risks that demand a specialized approach, and she's guided women through divorce, widowhood, inheritance, and business sales with clarity, confidence, and care.
What if I'm not ready to make changes yet?
Then a conversation is still the right first step. We'll listen, tell you honestly where you stand, and you'll leave knowing what matters and when. No obligation, and no pressure to act before you're ready.
What challenges do clients usually come to you with?
Most arrive at a pivotal moment: a business or real estate sale, a large liquidity or compensation event, an inheritance, the decade before retirement, or a divorce or loss that suddenly puts complex decisions in their hands. What they share is a financial life that's grown too complex to manage in pieces — and the wish for one trusted advisor connecting investments, taxes, estate, and business into a single plan.
Our Services
How the disciplines fit together, and what that means for you.
Do I need all six services, or can I start with just one?
It's one integrated relationship. We start where the pressure is — a business sale on the horizon, a tax year to get ahead of — and build out from there, connecting each piece so the strategy always accounts for your whole picture.
I don't own a business or investment property. Are these still relevant?
You engage the disciplines that fit your life. Business and real estate integration matter enormously for the families who have them and simply don't apply for those who don't. The tax, investment, retirement-income, and estate work is where most relationships begin either way.
Do you replace my CPA, attorney, or M&A advisor?
No — we coordinate with them. Across tax, estate, and a business exit, the plan only works when everyone plays their position: your CPA files, your attorney drafts, your M&A partners run the deal, and we keep the strategy connected so the documents and the numbers actually match your life.
How do you actually manage the investments?
Evidence-based and low-cost: globally diversified, institutional-style ETF portfolios built around your goals, timeline, and tax profile — not stock picking or market timing. Most clients grant us discretionary authority, so we can rebalance, invest deposits, raise cash, and act on tax opportunities promptly without approving every trade — while your accounts stay in your name with secure 24/7 access. Asset location, rebalancing, and tax-loss harvesting run in the background to reduce drag, and the portfolio is monitored and adjusted as your life changes.
What does it cost to work across all of this?
One flat planning fee covers the full advisory relationship regardless of how many disciplines are in play, plus a transparent 0.50% on the assets we manage. The complete breakdown lives on our How We Work page, and a 30-minute call is the honest way to see what your situation would involve.
How are my assets protected?
Your assets are held in your name at Altruist Financial, an independent custodian and SIPC member, so you retain ownership at all times. SIPC covers up to $500,000 per customer (including $250,000 in cash) if a brokerage fails, backed by additional excess coverage, and Altruist's high-yield cash program sweeps uninvested cash to FDIC-insured banks for expanded protection. None of this protects against normal market losses — it protects the custody of your assets.
Do you use proprietary investment products?
No. We're an independent fiduciary firm with no proprietary funds and no obligation to any fund family. That independence lets us select from a broad universe — stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs, plus select private-market opportunities when appropriate — and choose each investment on its own merits and how it fits your overall portfolio. We work for you, not a product shelf.
How We Work & Fees
What it costs, how it is billed, and why it is structured this way.
Why a flat planning fee instead of a percentage of assets?
Because your need for strategy doesn't shrink when markets decline, and it shouldn't cost more when they rise. The flat fee covers expertise, access, and coordination; the investment management fee covers portfolio stewardship. Keeping them separate keeps it clear what you're paying for, and why.
What if I have high income but limited investable assets?
That's often where planning has the most leverage: tax coordination, equity compensation, cash flow structure, protection gaps. The flat fee covers a full planning relationship, and we work with high earners who are building toward — or already past — our $500K asset minimum.
What does the 0.50% investment management fee cover?
It covers active stewardship of your discretionary portfolio — allocation, trading, rebalancing, tax-aware implementation, performance monitoring, and ongoing investment oversight. It's kept separate from the flat planning fee so you can always see exactly what you're paying for advice versus portfolio management, and it may be reduced based on the scope of the relationship and total managed assets.
How are the fees billed?
Both fees are billed monthly: the planning fee to your household, and the investment management fee at roughly 0.0417% per month, deducted directly from managed accounts.
Is the founder advisory fee tax deductible?
It's billed to your operating entity as a business advisory and planning expense. Whether it qualifies as deductible depends on your specific situation. That's a question for your tax professional, and we coordinate with them directly.
Is there a minimum to work with Investably?
Yes — we ask for a minimum of $500,000 in investable assets. That's the level where coordinated tax, estate, retirement, and investment strategy really starts to earn its keep. If you're a high earner building toward that level, a 30-minute conversation is the honest way to find out whether it's a fit yet.
Why are the Wealth Management and Founder fees separate?
Because they cover genuinely different work. The Wealth Management relationship coordinates your personal financial life — investments, retirement, estate, risk, and family wealth. Founder Wealth adds a whole separate layer for business owners: succession and exit planning, owner compensation, entity and equity strategy, and coordination with your business advisors. Keeping them separate means clients without a business don't subsidize services they don't need — and owners get planning built for the added complexity of what's often their largest asset.
What is a Virtual Family Office, and who is it for?
A Virtual Family Office (VFO) brings the strategic coordination of a traditional family office to successful founders and affluent families — without the cost of building full-time, in-house staff. It pairs experienced advisors and specialized professionals with modern technology to coordinate every part of your financial life: investments, tax, estate, business, real estate, insurance, and retirement. For founders whose wealth has outgrown ordinary advice, our Founder Wealth relationship delivers that VFO-style experience — one coordinated team instead of a dozen disconnected ones.
Can I hire you for planning only and manage my own investments?
In most cases, no. The portfolio is the primary tool for implementing your plan — taxes, retirement income, estate, charitable giving, concentrated positions, and cash reserves all shape how it should be managed — and when planning and investing are separated, opportunities get missed and even well-designed plans go only partly implemented. Managing your investments in-house is what lets us keep the strategy coordinated and fully executed.
About Michelle
Straight answers about who you would actually be working with.
Who is Michelle Gordon?
Michelle is the Founder & CEO of Investably, a boutique, fee-only fiduciary wealth management firm. She is an NYU graduate with 20 years of institutional investment experience, an Accredited Investment Fiduciary, and a weekly financial contributor on Comercio TV.
What does the AIF® designation mean?
AIF® stands for Accredited Investment Fiduciary, a designation for advisors trained in fiduciary standards of care. In practice, it means Michelle is legally bound to act in your best interest with every recommendation she makes.
Will I work with Michelle directly?
Yes. Clients work directly with Michelle, not a rotating team — you'll always know who to call, even during life's hardest moments. Think of her as the quarterback of your financial team: she oversees your strategy and coordinates specialists — tax, estate, valuation, M&A — bringing in the right expertise at the right time, so you get a multidisciplinary approach with the simplicity of one trusted relationship. She meets with you quarterly and stays responsive in between when life doesn't wait.
How is Michelle compensated?
As a fiduciary, Michelle is legally bound to act in your best interest. Investably is fee-only and independent — compensated by its clients — so every recommendation is made with one objective: your long-term goals.
Where is Michelle based, and who can work with her?
Investably is a virtual firm registered in Maryland and Florida. Michelle serves clients nationwide, where exemptions apply.
Where can I watch her TV segments?
Michelle appears weekly on Comercio TV, the only 24/7 Spanish-language financial news channel, broadcast nationally and internationally — check with your local cable provider for the channel number in your area. Replays of her weekly segment, "Invierte Inteligentemente" ("Investing Intelligently"), are available on YouTube, embedded in the media section above.
About the Firm
Who Investably is, and how it is built.
What kind of firm is Investably?
Investably, LLC is a boutique, fee-only registered investment advisor (RIA) founded and led by Michelle Gordon, AIF®. The firm serves business owners and high-income families with one coordinated strategy across tax, investments, estate, business, and retirement.
What does "fee-only" actually mean?
It means Investably is paid only by its clients. Combined with the fiduciary standard, it means every recommendation has exactly one agenda: yours.
What does "boutique by design" mean in practice?
Capacity is intentionally limited so every client relationship receives Michelle's direct attention. You work with the founder of the firm, not a call center or a rotating team, and that only stays possible when the client list stays deliberately small.
How is Investably different from a traditional advisory firm?
Tax-smart planning is embedded in every decision rather than handled separately, fees are flat and fully transparent, you have direct ongoing access to your advisor, and business equity and investment real estate are managed as part of the plan. Those last two are areas most advisors don't address.
Who does Investably serve, and where?
Business owners and founders, high-earning professionals, women navigating transitions, and families preparing for retirement. The firm is registered in Maryland and Florida and serves clients nationwide, where exemptions apply.
Wealth with intention starts with a conversation.
Bring your questions, challenges, and goals. We'll listen and provide insight on what your options are for moving forward.