A. Retirement Researcher, LLC (the "Firm") is a limited liability company formed in March 2018 in
the Commonwealth of Virginia.
B. The Firm is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser.
The Firm is principally owned by Alejandro (Alex) Murguia, Robert French, Wade Pfau, Paula
Friedman, and Dean Umemoto.
As discussed below, the Firm offers to its clients online educational content designed to address
a broad range of concepts, including general investment concepts and retirement planning;
high-level investment consulting services; and solicitation activities regarding investments
managed through affiliated and/or unaffiliated investment advisory firms. The firm also offers
subscription-based access to its Membership Academy, a secure portal through which members
can access a broad range of services described more fully below. In limited instances, to the
extent specifically requested by a client, the Firm may provide limited consulting services to its
clients regarding non-investment related matters that are generally ancillary to the other
advisory activities provided, such as estate planning, tax planning, and insurance.
ONLINE COURSES & WORKSHOPS
The Firm provides online courses and workshops to educate clients on general investment
strategies and related topics. The Firm's courses and workshops cover themes such as:
• Investment portfolio construction
• Retirement income distribution planning
• Financial planning strategies
MEMBERSHIP ACADEMY
The Firm's Membership Academy is a subscription-based platform that provides subscribers
with access to numerous educational, informational, and cooperative activities and services. A
Membership Academy subscription can include:
• Access to a secure online community, including a members-only forum for discussion of
various topics of interest with other community members and professional advisers
• Unlimited access to the archived courses, workshops, and webinar recordings
• Access to the Portfolio Hot Seat: a recurring group discussion in which one Academy
member submits investment portfolio allocations on an anonymous basis for analysis
and discussion amongst the participants
• Discounts on certain financial planning services through affiliates (for annual
subscriptions only)
• Access to interactive calculators to assist in determining retirement preparedness
• Access to the Retirement Income Style Awareness Profile® (the "RISA® Profile") (see
Item 10 for further discussion)
LIMITED CONSULTING
The Firm provides general investment consulting services to the extent requested by clients. The
advice is general in nature and may include guidance on asset allocation strategies and
alternatives to achieve such strategies. The Firm's Limited Consulting services do not include
investment supervisory or management services, or investment implementation.
SOLICITATION ACTIVITIES
In the event the client desires investment supervisory or management and/or insurance analysis
services, the Firm shall recommend that the client engage the services of another investment
adviser(s) ("Independent Manager(s)"), including Independent Manager(s) affiliated with the
Firm, to be recommended by the Firm but neither supervised nor reviewed by the Firm. The
Firm does not provide investment supervisory, investment management, investment reporting,
or investment implementation services. The Firm acts in the capacity as solicitor when
recommending other investment advisers and shall present a separate solicitor disclosure
statement describing the nature of the relationship between the Firm, the Independent
Manager(s) for which the Firm acts as solicitor, and the compensation arrangement. The terms
and conditions under which the client shall engage the Independent Manager(s) shall be set
forth in a separate written agreement between the client and the relevant Independent
Manager(s).
MISCELLANEOUS
Limitation of Financial Planning or Non-Investment Consulting/Implementation Services. To
the extent requested by the client, the Firm may provide limited consulting services regarding
non-investment related matters, such as estate planning, tax planning, insurance, etc. Please
Note: The Firm does not serve as an attorney or accountant, and no portion of our services
should be construed as legal or accounting services. Accordingly, we do not prepare estate
planning documents or tax returns. To the extent requested by a client, we may recommend the
services of other professionals for certain non-investment implementation purposes (i.e.
attorneys, accountants, etc.). You are under no obligation to engage the services of any such
recommended professional. The client retains absolute discretion over all such implementation
decisions and is free to accept or reject any recommendation made by the Firm or its
representatives. Please Note: If the client engages any unaffiliated recommended professional,
and a dispute arises thereafter relative to such engagement, the client agrees to seek recourse
exclusively from and against the engaged professional.
When appropriate for a client, the Firm may recommend that the client engage the Firm's
affiliated registered investment adviser, McLean Asset Management Corporation ("MAMC") for
analysis of the client's insurance needs. This analysis could result in a recommendation to
purchase commission-based insurance products, including through the Firm's affiliated
insurance agency, McLean Insurance
Solutions, LLC ("MIS") and Firm representatives in their
separate capacities as insurance agents. The recommendation that a client engage MAMC for
an insurance analysis and/or purchase of an insurance commission product presents material
conflicts of interest. Recommendations to use MAMC to conduct an insurance analysis could be
made on the basis of compensation to be received by MAMC. Furthermore, the
recommendation to purchase a commission-based insurance product provides an incentive to
recommend insurance products based on commissions received rather than on a particular
client's need. No client is under any obligation to engage MAMC for an insurance analysis or to
purchase any commission products from MIS or any of the Firm's licensed insurance agents.
Clients are reminded that they may purchase insurance products recommended by the Firm
through other, non-affiliated insurance agents and agencies.
Retirement Plan Rollovers – No Obligation / Potential for Conflict of Interest: A client or
prospective client leaving an employer typically has four options regarding an existing
retirement plan (and may engage in a combination of these options): (i) if permitted, leave the
money in the former employer's plan, (ii) roll over the assets to the new employer's plan, if one
is available and rollovers are permitted, (iii) roll over to an Individual Retirement Account ("IRA"),
or (iv) cash out the account value (which could, depending upon the client's age, result in
adverse tax consequences). If the Firm recommends that a client roll over their retirement plan
assets into an account to be managed by an Independent Manager, such a recommendation
creates a conflict of interest if the recommended Independent Manager is an affiliate of the
Firm. No client is under any obligation to roll over retirement plan assets to an account
managed by an Independent Manager. The Firm's Chief Compliance Officer remains available
to address any questions that a client or prospective client may have regarding the potential
for conflict of interest presented by such rollover recommendation.
ERISA / IRC Fiduciary Acknowledgment. When the Firm provides investment advice to a client
regarding the client’s retirement plan account or individual retirement account, it does so as a
fiduciary within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”)
and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), as applicable, which are laws governing retirement
accounts. The way the Firm makes money creates some conflicts with client interests, so the
Firm operates under a special rule that requires it to act in the client’s best interest and not put
its interests ahead of the client’s.
Under this special rule's provisions, the Firm must:
• Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give
prudent advice);
• Never put its financial interests ahead of the client’s when making recommendations
(give loyal advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that the Firm gives advice that is in
the client’s best interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for the Firm’s services; and
• Give the client basic information about conflicts of interest.
Membership Academy - Interactive Calculators. To the extent that any client or prospective
client utilizes any economic calculator or similar interactive device made available within the
Firm's Membership Academy, the client acknowledges and understands that the information
resulting from the use of any such calculator/device is not, and should not be construed, in any
manner whatsoever, as the receipt of, or a substitute for, personalized individual advice from
the Firm, or from any other investment professional.
Client Obligations. In performing its services, the Firm shall not be required to verify any
information received from the client or from the client's other professionals and is expressly
authorized to rely thereon. Moreover, each client is advised that it remains their responsibility
to promptly notify the Firm if there is ever any change in their financial situation or investment
objectives for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating, or revising the Firm's previous
recommendations and/or services.
Form ADV. A copy of the Firm's Form ADV Parts 2A (Disclosure Brochure), 2B (Brochure
Supplement), and 3 (Client Relationship Summary) shall be provided to each client prior to, or
contemporaneously with, the execution of an agreement between the Firm and the client for
the provision of the services described herein.
C. The Firm does not provide investment supervisory, investment management, investment
reporting, or investment implementation services. The client may impose restrictions in writing
on Independent Manager(s) considered for solicitation and on investing in certain securities or
types of securities to the extent permitted by the solicited Independent Manager(s).
The Firm will assess a client's individual circumstances prior to recommending the use of any
Independent Manager(s). The Firm will tailor its recommendation to use any particular
Independent Manager(s) based on an evaluation of the client's stated investment objectives and
risk profile, as well as the management style, performance, reputation, financial strength, and
pricing of the Independent Manager(s).
D. The Firm does not participate in a wrap fee program.
E. The Firm does not provide advisory services on a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis as
of December 31, 2023.