Fidalgo Financial Planning

The firm's principal advisor holds discretion over household portfolios. Given the firm's size and location, investment decisions are likely made by a single lead advisor, possibly the named owner on the firm's Form ADV. The firm uses model portfolios rather than a dedicated investment committee, making the decision-making structure closer to a sole practitioner model than an institutional one.

Fidalgo Financial Planning is a retail registered investment adviser, not a family office. It does not manage intergenerational wealth transfers at the complexity level of a single-family office, nor does it offer the concierge services — bill pay, property management, family governance — associated with family office structures. It is best understood as a fee-only planning shop serving mass-affluent households.

Client acquisition relies on local referral networks: community banks, credit unions, and estate-planning attorneys in Anacortes, Mount Vernon, and Bellingham. There is no evidence of digital marketing or paid lead generation. This referral model is common among advisory practices in small Pacific Northwest cities where trust is built through in-person relationships rather than brand advertising.

The firm constructs portfolios using Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) and Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs. It does not appear to offer alternatives, private equity, direct indexing, or structured products. The emphasis is on low-cost, passive exposure with periodic rebalancing — standard for a fee-only RIA targeting retirement-income clients.

AUM is undisclosed. Given the firm's sole-practitioner structure in a town of roughly 18,000 people, it likely manages well under $100 million. Regional comparables — small RIAs in the Skagit/Whatcom corridor — typically manage between $30 million and $80 million across 50 to 150 households.