What Forbes Financial Planning does

Forbes Financial Planning, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser headquartered in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, founded in 2007 by Daniel P. Forbes, CFP®. The firm provides fee-based, comprehensive financial planning and investment management services to individual investors and families, addressing budgeting, purposeful investing, retirement and education savings prioritization, tax liability minimization, and family protection. Its core offering pairs Financial Planning Services with Investment Management Services (IMS) under a percentage-of-assets-under-management fee model with no sales charges or commissions.

The firm's underlying technology stack is built around third-party integrations rather than proprietary AI: clients access accounts through a Client Portal powered by eMoney (wealth management platform) and Fidelity (investment platform), with Riskalyze providing portfolio risk analysis. Supporting capabilities include a proprietary college planning software that projects Student Aid Index (SAI) values to diagnose FAFSA errors and assist with financial aid appeals, plus authored content (the Friday Financial Five series). The firm does not have a native mobile app or public API.

From a go-to-market standpoint, Forbes Financial Planning runs a consultative, sales-led motion: prospects receive a complimentary initial meeting, followed by a structured presentation meeting and pre-implementation meeting for engaged clients. Distribution is single-country/domestic and concentrated in Rhode Island, supplemented by content marketing (blog, monthly newsletter), community/cause marketing (Women in Need, Frances C. Forbes Scholarship), and founder-level earned media (CFP Board blog, Jill on Money). Headcount is 1-10, the firm is privately held with no institutional investors, and a 2024 Q4 13F filing indicates a ~$15.6M position in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, suggesting total AUM in the mid-eight-figure range.

Name

Forbes Financial Planning

Legal name

Forbes Financial Planning, Inc.

Website

https://forbesplanning.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Forbes Financial Planning is an SEC-registered investment adviser in East Greenwich, RI that provides fee-based, comprehensive financial planning and AUM-based investment management services to individual investors and families, primarily in Rhode Island.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Advisory Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Comprehensive Financial Planning (FSAEAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Financial Planning & Goals-Based Advice (Mass Affluent) (FSAAAAAF)

Keywords

• Financial planning services
• Investment advisory
• Wealth management
• Retirement planning
• Investment management

Headquarters

HQ city

East Greenwich

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Investment Management Services (IMS): Fee-based investment management services where the fee structure is based on the percentage of assets under management. The firm does not impose sales charges on mutual funds or commissions, and maintains flexibility to choose from a large universe of mutual funds and ETFs. Transparent pricing model with no load funds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Forbes Financial Planning provides comprehensive financial planning and fee-based investment management services to individual investors and families. Their offering covers budgeting, retirement and education savings prioritization, purposeful investing, tax liability minimization, and family protection, paired with portfolio management across mutual funds and ETFs under a percentage-of-assets-under-management fee structure with no sales charges or commissions.

Product overview

Forbes Financial Planning offers a unified financial planning and investment management service for individual clients. The core offering consists of Financial Planning Services paired with Investment Management Services (IMS), which includes fee-based portfolio management without sales commissions. The firm also provides a Client Portal integrating eMoney and Fidelity for account access, and Riskalyze for portfolio risk analysis. Supporting offerings include College Planning Software (with proprietary SAI projection tools) and the Friday Financial Five authored content series. Services are delivered through a structured process: Initial Meeting (fact-finding and risk profiling), Presentation Meeting (financial analysis and projections), Pre-implementation Meeting, and ongoing Investment Management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Financial Planning Services Comprehensive financial planning services covering budgeting, investing with purpose, retirement and education savings prioritization, tax liability minimization, and family protection against unforeseen events for individual investors and families.
• Investment Management Services (IMS) Fee-based investment management service with a percentage-of-assets fee structure, no sales charges on mutual funds or commissions, and access to a broad universe of mutual funds and ETFs for individual clients.
• College Planning Software Proprietary college planning software that provides projected Student Aid Index (SAI) calculations to diagnose FAFSA errors and assist families with financial aid appeals for college-bound students.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• eMoney (Wealth Management Platform)coreTechnology or IntegrationForbes Financial Planning provides clients access to the eMoney client portal for account management and financial planning tools. eMoney is a comprehensive wealth management platform used for client account access.
• FidelitycoreTechnology or IntegrationForbes Financial Planning offers clients access to Fidelity's platform for investment management and account services. Fidelity logo is displayed on their client portal page as a supported platform.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Facet (acquired by Focus Financial): Digital-first flat-fee planning firm serving mass-affluent clients nationally, representing the disruptive model that traditional small RIAs like Forbes Financial Planning must compete against.
• Facet Wealth: Tech-enabled financial planning firm offering flat-fee advice to mass-affluent individuals, directly competing for the same horizontal customer segment with a digital-first delivery model.

Regional players

• Northstar Financial Advisors: Mid-sized fee-only RIA with a comparable comprehensive financial planning and investment management offering, but serving a different regional market with a similar practitioner-led service model.

Broad incumbents

• Mariner Wealth Advisors: National RIA delivering holistic financial planning, investment management, and tax services to HNW individuals and families—overlapping offerings and customer base with much greater geographic breadth.
• Edelman Financial Engines: Largest independent RIA in the U.S., providing goal-based financial planning and investment management to mass-affluent households—competing for the same horizontal segment with a much larger advisor base.
• Personal Capital (Empower): Large hybrid digital wealth manager combining technology dashboards with human advisors, serving mass-affluent and HNW clients—directly overlapping Forbes Financial Planning's target customer and value proposition.
• Fisher Investments: Large RIA primarily focused on portfolio management for HNW individuals, overlapping in investment advisory services but with a much narrower planning offering and greater scale.
• Creative Planning: Large national RIA providing comprehensive financial planning and wealth management to individuals and families, comparable in service mix but operating at much greater scale and geographic reach.

Others

• Commonwealth Financial Network: Independent broker-dealer and RIA-support platform serving independent financial advisors; comparable through shared advisor-services ecosystem, though not a direct client-facing competitor.

Direct peers

• Modera Wealth Management: Fee-only RIA providing comprehensive financial planning and investment management to individuals and families, with a comparable practitioner-led service model and percentage-of-AUM pricing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/forbesplanning

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Forbes Financial Planning