We’re paid one way — by the people we advise.

The one way we’re paid

Clients of The Financial Sciences Company pay an advisory fee for advice and investment management. It’s agreed in writing before any work begins, and it’s paid by the client alone — no third party is involved in it, adds to it, or shares in it. That’s the standard fee-only structure: our revenue comes from the people we advise, never from anyone with something to sell them.

The specific fee schedule is stated in our Form ADV, the disclosure document every registered investment adviser files with regulators. You can read ours anytime at adviserinfo.sec.gov.

What we’re never paid

• 01Commissions. We don’t sell products for a commission — not funds, not annuities, not insurance. No sale ever pays us.
• 02Product placements. No fund company or product sponsor pays to be in a portfolio, on a shelf, or on a page we publish.
• 03Referral fees. No fund company or other firm pays us for sending business its way.
• 04Advertising on this site. No ad slots, no sponsored content, no affiliate links — and we don’t sell your information. (More in our privacy policy.)

That list isn’t a slogan; it’s how a fee-only firm is built. Our only revenue is the fee our clients pay us.

Why this site is free

Retirement Made Clear is an educational platform owned and operated by The Financial Sciences Company, LLC, a registered investment adviser. It is the firm’s education arm — we build it for the same reason a firm might teach a class: because the best first conversations happen after you’ve seen your own numbers. Some readers will eventually want to talk with us. Most won’t, and the tools are theirs either way. That is the entire economic logic of this site.

What that means for you

“Free” content usually has a business model behind it. Often it’s advertising — the site is paid by advertisers, so the content has a second audience to please. Often it’s referrals — the site earns a fee when you click through to a product it features. Those are legitimate models, but they shape what gets written and what gets recommended.

This site’s model is neither. There’s no advertiser to please and no referral fee to earn, so nothing here is written to make you click, buy, or switch. A page only has one job: be accurate and useful. And where we’d like something from you, we say it plainly — if a conversation with the firm ever makes sense, we’d welcome it. That’s the one ask on the site, and it’s always optional.

Prefer to talk it through instead? Book a free 30-minute conversation — no cost, no pitch, no obligation.

The Financial Sciences Company, LLC is an investment adviser registered with the State of Texas. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Our Form ADV is available at adviserinfo.sec.gov.