Complimentary Retirement Review

Finally know if your retirement plan is actually safe, without a sales pitch.

Minnesota's fee-only fiduciary advisors since 2005. We're legally required to work in your interest, not earn commissions on what we sell you. Sit down with our team, get a straight look at your plan, and leave with clarity.

Watch · 3 min

Michael Traxler · President

The 3-Minute Overview →

Book Your Free Retirement Review →

20 YearsServing Minnesota retirees

5-Person TeamYou'll know every advisor

$0 Commissions100% fee-only structure

SEC-Registered

Investment Advisor

100% Fee-Only

Fiduciary structure

Independent

No bank affiliation

Since 2005

Serving Minnesota

5-Person Team

We know every client

The Quiet Worry

You did everything right. You still don't know if it's enough.

Most pre-retirees we meet aren't disorganized or reckless. They saved. They invested. They stayed the course. They just never got a clear, independent answer to the question that's keeping them up.

"Is what I have actually enough?"

Not enough to scrape by,enough to retire the way you've pictured it for the last thirty years. Without a straight answer, the question never stops.

"What if the market drops right before I retire?"

There's a specific risk,sequence-of-returns risk,that can wreck a retirement that looked perfectly healthy on paper. Most portfolios are never stress-tested for that window.

"Can I trust the person giving me advice?"

Most advisors earn commissions on what they sell you. That quietly bends their incentives away from yours,even when they're well-meaning.

You don't need more products. You need a straight answer from someone who can't profit from giving you the wrong one.

The Fee-Only Difference

How we get paid is the whole point.

Most financial advisors in the U.S. earn commissions on the products they sell you. We are legally prohibited from doing that. Here's what that actually means in plain English.

Commission-Based Advisor

Gets paid when you buy the product they recommend,annuity, insurance bundle, specific fund.
Not legally required to put your interests ahead of their firm's.
"Free consultation" often means the advice is the sales pitch.
Incentive pushes toward products that pay the highest commission, not the best fit.
You may never see a transparent breakdown of what they earn from your account.

Fee-Only Fiduciary (Us)

Paid a transparent fee by you,zero commission on any product we recommend.
Legally required to act in your best interest. Full stop.
Our only incentive is that you make good decisions and stay a client long-term.
No products to push. Our advice is the service you're paying for.
Every dollar we earn is disclosed. No hidden splits, no mystery commissions.

What Actually Happens

What happens at the free retirement review.

No homework before you come in. No commitment to move your accounts. You bring what you have, we walk through three steps, and you leave with clarity.

1 Step One

We review what you have.

401(k), IRAs, brokerage, pension, Social Security,bring whatever statements you have, even if they're in a shoebox. We lay it out on one page.

2 Step Two

We identify gaps or risks.

Where you're exposed, where you're over-concentrated, where your plan isn't stress-tested for the five years before and after retirement.

3 Step Three

You leave with clarity.

A straight, honest assessment. If we're a fit and you want to work with us, great. If not, you still walk away with a clearer picture than you came in with.

Meet The Founder

Michael Traxler, President

Michael founded Michael Traxler Wealth Management in 2005 with a simple premise: families approaching retirement deserve independent, conflict-free financial advice from someone who can't profit by selling them the wrong product.

Twenty years later, the firm operates the same way,SEC-registered, 100% fee-only, no bank affiliation, no commissions, no proprietary products. Alongside Michael, the team includes licensed advisors Ted Hefty, Isaac Buehler, and Ernie Pepel,a five-person team small enough that every client is known by every advisor.

SEC-Registered Investment Advisor Fee-Only Fiduciary Independent · 2005 Based in New Prague, MN

"When you don't earn commissions, the advice is the service. That's the whole firm in one sentence."
, Michael P. Traxler, President

Honest Qualification

Is this review actually for you?

We'd rather be upfront than waste your hour. Here's who the retirement review is,and isn't,built for.

This is for you if…

You're 5 to 10 years from retirement, or recently retired.
You want an independent second opinion on what you already have, no matter who currently manages it.
You'd value clarity and a stress-test more than a sales pitch.
You're in Minnesota or within driving distance of New Prague,and you'd like to know the people managing your plan by name.

This isn't for you if…

You're looking for high-risk, get-rich-quick strategies or aggressive speculation.
You have a quick, one-off question,the review is a full conversation, not a Q&A.
You already have a trusted fee-only fiduciary and aren't looking for a second opinion.
You want someone who'll sell you annuities, insurance products, or commission-based investments,we don't do that.
You're not within 5–10 years of retirement and aren't planning for it yet.

Frequently Asked

The questions most people ask first.

Yes,completely. There's no fee, no setup cost, no "consultation charge" at the end. We offer it because the best way to show you how we work is to actually sit down and show you. You don't owe us anything regardless of whether you choose to work with us after.

No. We're a fee-only fiduciary firm, which means we legally cannot earn commissions on any product,annuities, insurance, mutual funds, any of it. We have no products to pitch. The review is a straight look at your plan, not a pre-packaged sales funnel.

Most U.S. advisors are compensated by commissions on the products they sell. Their incentive is tied to what you buy. As fee-only fiduciaries, we're paid a transparent fee by you,never by product sponsors, insurance companies, or fund providers. Our only incentive is helping you make good decisions.

That's often why people come in. An independent second opinion from someone who isn't selling you anything is genuinely useful,especially five to ten years out from retirement, when the stakes of a mistake get higher. You're not obligated to change anything based on what we find.

The review is built for people within roughly 5–10 years of retirement. If you're further out from retirement, the review probably isn't the right fit yet, and we'll tell you that upfront rather than waste your time.