What Red Mountain Financial does

Red Mountain Financial is a private, fee-based financial advisory practice operating under the legal entity Talbot & Talbot, Inc. (D/B/A Red Mountain Financial), headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 2017 by Todd Talbot, the firm focuses on tax-first retirement planning for high-earning W-2 professionals approaching or in retirement, business owners planning an exit, widows and widowers reconsidering an existing plan, and individuals who have been advised to consider Roth conversions. Its central premise is that few households have ever seen the cumulative lifetime federal income tax bill across all retirement years projected in one place, because CPAs file last year's return, advisors manage portfolios, and tax software shows only the current year.

The firm's product surface is built around three trademarked offerings: the free Retirement Tax Diagnostic™ (a 20-minute intake plus 30-minute review projecting a household's lifetime federal income tax bill, including RMDs, IRMAA surcharges, and Social Security taxation), the free Retirement Map™ (a two-page orientation tool showing timing of retirement tax pressure points), and the Retirement ℞ Plan™ (a $4,200 fixed-fee, one-time comprehensive plan covering income, taxes, investments, healthcare, and legacy, independently reviewed by a CPA before delivery). Clients who continue move into Ongoing Advisory Management at Charles Schwab, with annual revisits and bracket/IRMAA monitoring. The diagnostic and map are no-cost, no-obligation lead qualification tools, while the $4,200 plan is a mandatory gate before any recurring advisory relationship.

The business model is a deliberate two-tier arrangement: investment advisory services are offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC (an unaffiliated Registered Investment Advisor), making Red Mountain effectively a fee-based advisory practice operating under CreativeOne's RIA registration, with Charles Schwab as custodian. Underlying projections rely on Holistiplan (tax planning) and eMoney (financial planning) software. The practice markets through content (educational articles, hypothetical case studies, the Red Mountain Review newsletter) and product-led free tools. The firm operates with two disclosed advisors — Todd Talbot (Founder & Lead Advisor, holding CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, CTS™, and NSSA® designations) and Parks Lee (Investment Advisor Representative) — and explicitly markets itself as a small, intentionally boutique practice rather than a scaling enterprise.

Name

Red Mountain Financial

Legal name

Talbot & Talbot, Inc.

Website

https://redmountainfinancial.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Red Mountain Financial is a Birmingham, Alabama-based, fee-based advisory practice (legal entity Talbot & Talbot, Inc.) that provides tax-first retirement planning for high-earning professionals, business owners approaching exit, and widows — built around proprietary lifetime-tax projection tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retirement Tax Planning / Wealth Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Wealth Planning (Tax, Estate & Succession) (FSAAABAE)

Keywords

• Retirement tax planning
• Wealth management services
• Financial advisory services
• Roth conversion planning
• Retirement income planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retirement ℞ Plan™ (One-time Planning Engagement): One-time fixed-fee planning engagement at $4,200, comprehensive across income, taxes, investments, healthcare, and legacy. Required step before any ongoing relationship. Includes independent CPA review.
2. Ongoing Advisory Management: Ongoing advisory fee for households that want the plan implemented and maintained. Includes advisory management at Schwab, annual revisits, and bracket and IRMAA monitoring each year.
3. Insurance Services: Insurance products and services offered by licensed insurance professionals. Advisors may receive commission for sale of insurance and annuity products.
4. Investment Advisory Services: Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. Red Mountain Financial operates as fee-based advisory practice with CreativeOne Wealth.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Red Mountain Financial is a Birmingham, Alabama-based wealth management practice delivering tax-first retirement planning for high-earning households approaching or in retirement. Its core deliverables are a fixed-fee comprehensive planning engagement (the Retirement ℞ Plan™) covering income, taxes, investments, healthcare, and legacy, plus ongoing advisory management at Charles Schwab with annual revisits and bracket/IRMAA monitoring. Every plan is independently reviewed by a CPA before delivery to the client.

Product overview

Red Mountain Financial is a financial advisory practice, not a software company. It offers a service-based offering centered on tax-first retirement planning, comprising three named products: the Retirement Tax Diagnostic™ (free diagnostic showing projected lifetime tax bill), the Retirement Map™ (free orientation tool), and the Retirement ℞ Plan™ ($4,200 one-time planning engagement). Clients who engage may continue with Ongoing Advisory Management at Schwab. The practice does not offer a software platform, API, or digital product — all services are delivered through direct advisor-client engagements with CPA review.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Retirement Tax Diagnostic™ A no-cost diagnostic that projects a household's projected lifetime federal income tax bill across retirement (including RMDs, IRMAA surcharges, and Social Security taxation), delivered through a 20-minute intake conversation and a 30-minute review of the household's numbers. Intended for high-earning households approaching or in retirement.
• Retirement Map™ A free, two-page personalized overview showing when key retirement tax pressure points fall — forced-income years, the IRMAA window, and years of household control versus IRS-forced decisions. Designed as a no-conversation orientation tool for prospective clients.
• Retirement ℞ Plan™ A one-time, fixed-fee ($4,200) comprehensive retirement planning engagement covering income, taxes, investments, healthcare, and legacy. Recommendations are modeled against the household's actual numbers and independently reviewed by a CPA before being delivered as a written action plan. Required step before any ongoing advisory relationship.
• Ongoing Advisory Management Recurring advisory management at Charles Schwab for households that want the Retirement ℞ Plan™ implemented and maintained. Includes annual revisits and bracket/IRMAA monitoring as life and tax law change. Investment advisory services are offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor.
• Insurance Services Insurance products and services offered by licensed insurance professionals at Red Mountain Financial, including fixed insurance and annuity products. Advisors may receive commissions for the sale of insurance and annuity products, subject to a best-interest standard and the Insurance Agent Disclosure for Annuities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hypothetical case study: $5M IRA household reduced projected lifetime federal income tax from $9.5M to $7M ($2.5M savings) and increased after-tax estate by $2.1M through Roth conversion sequencing
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CreativeOne Wealth, LLCcoreTechnology or IntegrationCreativeOne Wealth, LLC is the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) through which investment advisory services are offered. Red Mountain Financial operates as a fee-based advisory practice with CreativeOne Wealth, providing fiduciary investment advisory services under their RIA registration.
• Charles SchwabcoreTechnology or IntegrationCharles Schwab serves as the custodial platform for client investment accounts. Ongoing advisory management is conducted at Schwab, with annual revisits and ongoing monitoring services.
• Independent CPAcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEvery Retirement ℞ Plan™ is independently reviewed by a CPA before it reaches the client—a second, independent set of eyes on the tax work that most households never receive.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• NewRetirement: DIY and advisor-supported retirement planning software that helps households model lifetime taxes, Roth conversions, IRMAA, and withdrawal sequencing. Competes at the 'projection layer' that Red Mountain's Retirement Tax Diagnostic™ also targets, but without advisor-led service.
• Income Lab: Retirement income planning software used by advisors to model sustainable withdrawals, taxes, and Social Security timing. Closely aligned with Red Mountain's tax-and-income coordination methodology and serves a similar HNW retiree audience.
• Facet Wealth: Digital-first financial planning firm offering flat-fee retirement and tax planning for HNW households nationwide. Directly competitive on the 'modern, fee-based retirement planning' positioning and competes virtually with Red Mountain's Birmingham-based practice.

Others

• Holistiplan: Tax planning software platform that Red Mountain itself uses to generate its Retirement Tax Diagnostic™ projections. Adjacent infrastructure provider rather than direct competitor, but its consumer-facing tools could disintermediate pure-projection value.
• CreativeOne Wealth, LLC: Registered Investment Advisor that hosts Red Mountain's investment advisory services under its RIA registration. Indirect peer as a platform alternative for independent advisors building tax-first retirement practices.

Broad incumbents

• Buckingham Strategic Wealth: Large national fee-only RIA with a strong focus on retirement income planning, tax-efficient withdrawal strategies, and evidence-based investing. Overlaps with Red Mountain's retirement tax-planning methodology but serves clients nationally and at much greater scale.
• Carson Group: National RIA platform supporting independent advisors with planning, tax, and wealth services. Represents the kind of scaled, partner-ecosystem competitor that Red Mountain's CreativeOne Wealth relationship mirrors at a fraction of the size.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: Large, multi-service wealth manager with deep retirement and tax planning capabilities for HNW households. Competes for the same high-earning pre-retiree segment Red Mountain targets, but operates as a broad platform rather than a boutique tax-first practice.
• Edelman Financial Engines: Largest U.S. independent RIA, with retirement income planning, tax planning, and ongoing advisory for HNW households. Represents the broad-incumbent competitor with national scale and integrated planning capabilities that small tax-first boutiques like Red Mountain compete against.

Direct peers

• Sensible Money: Fee-only retirement-focused financial planning firm specializing in helping near-retirees and retirees with tax-efficient income, Roth conversions, and withdrawal sequencing. Closely matches Red Mountain's tax-first, retirement-only niche with a similar advisor-led service model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/RedMountainFinancialGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/red-mountain-financial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Red Mountain Financial