Questions about the firm

The Financial Sciences Company is a fee-only wealth management firm and a registered investment adviser. We build one written plan for each household and manage the portfolio from it, with tax planning coordinated with your CPA and estate planning coordinated with your attorney, reviewed every quarter. We work with individuals, families and business owners whose finances involve more decisions than a simple portfolio can handle, such as retirement income, equity compensation and concentrated stock.

It means we owe you a fiduciary duty to act in your best interest, and our clients are the only people who pay us. As a registered investment adviser, The Financial Sciences Company acts as a fiduciary to its advisory clients. Fee-only means no commissions, no product sales and no payments from fund companies or sponsors. That is a different standard from fee-based, where an adviser can charge a fee and also earn commissions.

The firm is led by its founder, Theo Halbardier, CFP®, CIMA®, CAIA®, Founder and Private Wealth Advisor. The three credentials map to the work: the CFP® to the plan, the CIMA® to portfolio construction and manager evaluation, and the CAIA® to the diligence behind any alternative investment. Each requires ongoing education and can be verified with its issuing body. His background is on his biography page.

By video, and in person in Frisco, Texas, by arrangement. Most meetings happen by video, which lets us work with households across Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio (see the areas we serve). The firm can advise clients only in states where it is registered, notice-filed or exempt from registration.

Yes. The Financial Sciences Company, LLC is a registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The firm's Form ADV brochure, which describes its services, fees, conflicts of interest and custody, is public on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site at adviserinfo.sec.gov and is available from us on request. Theo Halbardier's individual registration record is on the same site.

It is a 30-minute conversation about where you are and what matters most to you, and an open discussion of whether the firm is a fit. No preparation is needed and there is no charge. The conversation does not make you a client or create an advisory relationship. If another firm would serve you better, we will say so and point you there. You can pick a time here.

We sign a written advisory agreement that sets the scope of the work. You then share statements, tax returns, Social Security records, benefit summaries, insurance policies and estate documents through a secure upload rather than email. Within 60 days of receiving complete information, we deliver the initial planning analysis. From it we write your investment policy statement and move existing holdings in on a tax-aware schedule.

At least once a year for a full review, and through our Quarterly Rounds, which give each quarter one part of the plan: Q1 cash flow, Q2 risk, Q3 estate and Q4 tax. Decisions that come up between rounds, such as a job change, a home sale, an inheritance or a vesting date, are handled when they happen rather than saved for the next meeting.

Households whose finances have more moving parts than a simple portfolio: executives and professionals with equity compensation, business owners weighing liquidity and the proceeds of a sale, retirees and those preparing to retire, real estate investors, and families receiving an inheritance. The common thread is complexity and decisions with real tax consequences, not a job title. Who we serve has a page for each situation, including 14 employers.

Yes. Standalone planning is available as a one-time financial plan or a consulting project scoped to a single question, such as a pension election or a stock sale. It is delivered within 60 days of receiving your complete information and billed as a fixed or hourly fee agreed in writing before work begins. Ongoing planning, with the Quarterly Rounds and annual review, comes with investment management at no additional charge.

We are a fee-only firm: our only compensation is a simple advisory fee based on the assets we manage for you. No commissions, no product sales, no hidden or layered fees. This structure keeps our interests aligned with yours. In other words, we do better when you do better.

No. The Financial Sciences Company is compensated only by its clients, under the written advisory agreement. We receive no commissions, revenue sharing or payments from fund companies, managers, product sponsors or issuers for anything we recommend, and we neither pay nor receive fees for client referrals. We do not sell insurance, annuities or any other product, so what we recommend does not change what we earn.

In accounts in your own name at an independent qualified custodian, such as Charles Schwab, which sends statements directly to you at least quarterly. We never take possession of your funds or securities. Our only form of custody is the authority you give us to have our fee deducted from the account, which appears on every custodian statement. Our reports reconcile to those statements, so you can check our work against an independent source.

One relationship covering five services: financial planning, investment management, tax planning with your CPA, estate planning coordination with your attorney, and alternative investments and private markets where they fit the plan. Our strategy pages explain the methods behind the work. For companies, we consult on 401(k) plans and executive benefits; see for employers.

No. We do not provide legal or tax advice, prepare tax returns or draft documents; we plan and coordinate with your CPA and attorney. We build the multi-year tax projection, size decisions such as Roth conversions and gain sales, and share the plan with your CPA in writing before year end. We review beneficiaries and titling against your documents and work with your estate attorney on any changes. If you need a CPA, we can suggest a few.

Yes. We plan around RSU vesting and withholding, ESPP purchases, incentive and nonqualified stock options, IPO lock-ups, and reducing a concentrated position at a pace the tax bill and the plan can bear. Our equity compensation strategy page compares the tools, from staged sales and 10b5-1 plans to charitable gifts and exchange funds. The equity compensation calendar tracks lock-up and ESPP dates from company filings.

A two-minute questionnaire that gives you a written readout of your retirement decisions. Nine questions show which of six decisions you have settled and which are still open, with steps you can take on your own and the Social Security, Medicare and required-distribution dates for your birth year. It asks for no email or phone number, and your answers stay in your browser. It is educational, not a financial plan. Take the Retirement Checkup.

Short, sourced guides to the decisions that shape retirement and family wealth: Social Security, tax planning, required minimum distributions, Roth conversions, Medicare, income planning, family wealth and equity compensation. Each guide gives the short answer first, works through the 2026 rules with examples, and cites its sources. The Planning Library is free to read, with no sign-up.