Total Wealth Planning

Total Wealth Planning

Total Wealth Planning was founded in 1989 by David Bross and has remained anchored in Cincinnati, serving a client base concentrated in the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana tri-state corridor. The firm emerged during an era when most financial advice was delivered by commissioned brokers; Total Wealth Planning structured itself as a fee-only fiduciary, aligning compensation with client outcomes rather than product distribution. This orientation attracted family-owned manufacturing and distribution businesses typical of the regional economy, creating a natural specialization in pre- and post-exit planning for entrepreneurs transitioning illiquid operating assets into financial wealth. The firm deploys capital across publicly traded equities, fixed income, and alternative investments, with a pronounced tilt toward tax-aware portfolio construction. Total Wealth Planning operates a centralized investment committee that builds model portfolios in-house, avoiding outsourced CIO platforms common at comparably sized RIAs. Reported holdings span U.S. large-cap value equities, municipal bond ladders for Ohio-based residents, and curated private credit and private real estate allocations accessed through institutional fund structures. The practice maintains a deliberate geographic footprint, with client relationships extending from Cincinnati to Dayton, Louisville, and Indianapolis, reflecting the regional concentration of privately held businesses and professional practices. The firm runs a lean partnership structure, with a team of CFPs and CPAs operating from a single Cincinnati headquarters. No additional offices or adjacent vehicles have been publicly disclosed. The practice has navigated generational transition within its own leadership ranks, with Bross remaining active in client relationships while developing a next-tier partnership to extend continuity beyond the founding era. Total Wealth Planning's structural differentiator is its bundled-family-CFO architecture — combining investment management, tax preparation, estate planning, and insurance review within a single fee arrangement. This model contrasts with the industry's dominant trend toward unbundling, where clients separately hire a wealth manager, a CPA firm, and an estate attorney. By housing tax and planning professionals in-house, Total Wealth Planning captures cross-disciplinary information advantages — an integrated balance-sheet view that most competitors can only approximate through inter-firm coordination.