Questions We Hear Most,
Answered Plainly

How does The Pinnacle Group charge for financial planning?

We explicitly show you our value, in writing, before you hire us. If we can't prove it, you don't pay. There are several ways to work with us, chosen around what you need from DAITT® — price isn't the point; the value you can see is.

She picked the starting line. Then she kept asking for the next one.

"A recent client asked what it costs to work with us. We told her it depends on what we're working on. She said: start with taxes."

"Layer one — taxes. We found $37,426 she'd already overpaid, plus another $12,112 at risk without proper tax sequencing. We showed it to her in writing. She said: "Okay, we'll keep going.""

"Layer two — debt. $227,516 the old structure was leaving on the table. Found, shown, documented."

"Layer three — investments. She didn't want to change investments. She just wanted to understand what they were costing her. Same investments, about half a percent less in internal costs — no tech fee, no platform fee. Another $4,318 a year back in her pocket."

"That's $281,372 in value found and shown — and she asked for every layer herself."

"Now we're on layer four — her trust and advanced planning."

"Nobody sold her the next step. Each layer proved the last one, and she kept going. That's why people want a system and a method — and that's why we built the DAITT® Advisory Method. Several experts built this with us; our job as coordinator is making sure the plan actually gets executed. We anchored our cost against that $281,372."

What if you can't show me the value?

Here's how it works. We start by showing you, in writing, the value we've found for you that you didn't know existed: taxes overpaid or at risk, debt costs, investment costs, and gaps in your plan. Whichever way you choose to work with us, you see the value first, side by side with what you'd pay.

What this isn't: it isn't a promise about investment returns or market performance. The value we show is specific and documented, like the $281,372 one client saw layer by layer in the answer above.

How do I choose a financial advisor I can trust?

Ask three questions and get the answers in writing: Are you a fiduciary on every account and every recommendation? Exactly how are you paid? What conflicts of interest do you have?

A fiduciary has to put your interests first. Registered investment advisers owe you that duty; brokers are held to a different "best interest" standard when they recommend a product. Pinnacle Private Wealth® is a marketing name used by Pinnacle Financial Planning, a Registered Investment Advisor. Ask me the same three questions. A good advisor will welcome them.

What does DAITT® stand for?

DAITT® — pronounced "date" — is a registered methodology built on five coordinated wealth disciplines: D — Debt Optimization; A — Advanced Planning; I — Private Wealth Investments; T — Tax Strategy and Tax Filing; T — Trust Planning. Every Pinnacle engagement moves through all five in order — nothing siloed, nothing skipped.

Why does the DAITT® sequence matter?

Order is the strategy. Debt is optimized first because freed cash flow funds everything downstream. Advanced planning comes second because the full picture determines where capital goes. Investments follow because portfolio strategy should serve your tax and estate goals — not sit apart from them. Tax strategy runs year-round because decisions made without tax awareness cost more. Trust planning completes it because protection is the point of everything built before it.

What is the Pinnacle Decision Engineering OS™?

The Pinnacle Decision Engineering OS™ is a proprietary platform that runs behind every DAITT® engagement. It orchestrates AI-powered analysis, leakage detection (surfacing hidden fees, tax inefficiencies, and structural waste), sequencing strategy (ranking every financial decision by impact and dependency), and client-ready outputs. It is what allows Dr. Pat Pachciarz® to deliver institutional-level advisory capability — with the value shown to you in writing before you ever hire us.

How is cash flow engineering different from debt consolidation?

Debt consolidation reduces your number of payments. Cash flow engineering restructures your entire cash flow — eliminating drag, lowering your cost of capital, and redirecting freed dollars into compounding strategies. The goal isn't fewer payments. It's more wealth, faster.

How do you pronounce DAITT®?

Like "date." D — Debt Optimization; A — Advanced Planning; I — Private Wealth Investments; T — Tax Strategy and Tax Filing; T — Trust Planning.

Going through a divorce?

Read the 12 divorce questions we hear most, answered in plain language: Divorce and Money: The Questions We Hear Most →

For the full picture (cash flow, QDROs and QILDROs, the house, taxes, and rebuilding after the decree), see Divorce Financial Planning in Aurora, Illinois →

I just received an inheritance. What should I do first?

Put it somewhere safe and boring, and give yourself time. An FDIC-insured bank account is a fine place to park cash while you learn what you received and how each piece is taxed.

Under federal law, an inheritance generally isn't taxable income to you, and Illinois has no inheritance tax (any Illinois estate tax is the estate's to pay, not yours). The details depend on what you inherited. An inherited IRA or 401(k) is taxed as you withdraw it, and most beneficiaries other than a spouse must empty it within 10 years. A house or stock usually gets a stepped-up cost basis. Before you pay off debt, help family, or invest, we map it into one plan through DAITT® (debt, planning, investments, taxes, and trust) so the money serves the life you want.

This is education, not legal or tax advice. Your attorney or CPA can confirm how it applies to you.

What is a stepped-up basis on inherited assets?

It means inherited assets usually get a fresh tax starting point: their value on the date of death. If you sell soon after, there's often little or no capital-gains tax.

For example, if your mother bought stock for $20,000 and it was worth $100,000 when she died, your basis is generally $100,000, so selling at that price means no taxable gain. If you're a surviving spouse and you owned something jointly, generally only your spouse's half gets the new basis. The big exception is retirement money: IRAs and 401(k)s don't get a step-up, and withdrawals from pre-tax accounts are taxed as income. Ask the executor for date-of-death values and keep them with your records; you'll need them when you sell.

This is education, not legal or tax advice. Your attorney or CPA can confirm how it applies to you.

I'm leaving my job to care for a parent, or after a layoff. What happens to my 401(k) and my retirement?

Your vested 401(k) is still yours, and you usually have time to decide, so don't cash it out in a hurry. You can generally leave it in the plan, move it to a new employer's plan, or roll it into an IRA.

If you move it, ask for a direct rollover. If the plan pays the money to you instead, it must withhold 20% for taxes, and you'd have 60 days to redeposit the full amount. Cashing out before 59½ generally adds a 10% penalty, but if you leave your job in or after the year you turn 55, withdrawals from that employer's plan avoid the penalty, which can be a reason not to roll it over. If you're stepping away to care for a parent, ask HR about FMLA first: eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. Social Security is based on your highest 35 years of earnings, so years at zero can lower your benefit; if you're married and file jointly, a spousal IRA can keep your own savings growing. COBRA or a Marketplace plan can bridge the health-coverage gap.

Our kids are grown. How do we catch up on retirement savings?

Use the next few years to catch up; the tax code helps. In 2026 you can put up to $24,500 into a 401(k), plus an extra $8,000 if you're 50 or older, or an extra $11,250 if you're 60 to 63 and your plan allows it. IRAs allow $7,500, plus $1,100 more at 50 and older.

Start with the money that used to go to the kids (activities, tuition, the bigger grocery bill) and redirect it on purpose before it disappears into everyday spending. Then check three things: whether your savings rate gets you to the retirement age you want, whether your house still fits, and whether your beneficiaries and estate documents still reflect grown children. This is the season where DAITT® sequencing pays off: freed-up cash flow first, then tax-smart saving.

Five to ten years out? Use our pre-retirement planning checklist: income, health coverage to 65, Social Security, the Rule of 55 and trust planning →