Pricing

What Our Work Costs

Every fee we charge, published in full. You can price your own engagement before you speak to anyone.

How we set fees

Every engagement is quoted in writing before any work begins. You know the number before you commit, and it does not move once the work starts.

The fee does not change based on what we recommend, or on whether you act on it. We are paid the same to tell you to keep what you have, restructure it, or unwind it.

These figures assume ordinary complexity. If something about your situation makes the work materially larger, we tell you before we start and quote it then, never afterward.

Recurring work is quoted with the first-year fee and the annual fee stated at the same time. You will not find out what year two costs in year two.

What you pay runs on the volume of work involved: participants, arrangements, policies, and carriers. Never on assets under management, cash value, death benefit, or revenue.

Scope outside the engagement is quoted as an add-on and named as one. It is never folded quietly into a tier.

Engagements that combine several of these, or that arrive through a competitive process, are quoted as a whole rather than summed from this page. The components interact, and the analysis has to account for that.

Why we charge when others don’t

A free consultation is paid for somewhere. In this field it is usually paid by a commission inside the product that gets placed, and the amount is rarely volunteered. We charge a fee because there is no other place our revenue comes from.

Download this schedule (PDF)

Building or rebuilding a plan

Three phases, each quoted separately. Phase 01 is a flat fee. Phases 02 and 03 are built from the work involved, and are quoted once discovery has established what that is.

Phase 01

Discovery and strategic design

Whether a program is needed at all, and what shape it should take.

$3,500One flat fee, the same for every organization.

Phase 02

Technical modeling and plan architecture

The design, the economics, the tax and accounting impact, and the board materials.

Base fee, covering one arrangement and up to three participants$3,500

Each additional arrangement+$1,500

Each participant beyond three, up to ten+$500

Participants beyond tenincluded

An arrangement is a distinct benefit structure. A 457(f), a split-dollar agreement, a restricted bonus plan, and a death benefit only agreement are four arrangements, whether one executive participates or twenty.

Two executives in a single 457(f). One arrangement, two participants, so the base fee covers it. $3,500.

Two executives, one with a 457(f) and a split-dollar agreement, the other with a 457(f). Two arrangements, two participants. $3,500 plus $1,500, so $5,000.

Phase 03

Product evaluation and recommendation

Only if the plan will be funded with insurance. Which carrier and contract structure fits the objective.

Base fee, covering up to two carriers$2,500

Each additional carrier evaluated+$750

The first example above, evaluated across two carriers. $2,500.

The second example, evaluated across three carriers. $2,500 plus $750, so $3,250.

The first engagement, all three phases, is $9,500. The second is $11,750. You would know the Phase 01 figure before starting, and the other two before either phase began. Ongoing governance after implementation is quoted annually and stated at the same time.

Prefunding and charitable donation accounts

For programs authorized under NCUA §701.19(b) and §721.3(b)(2). Priced on the number of programs and the number of funding vehicles analyzed, because working through the authority and the regulatory limits for each one is the engagement.

Base fee, one programFeasibility, authority analysis, policy structure, board materials$4,500

Each additional program+$2,500

Each funding vehicle analyzed beyond two+$1,500

Annual monitoring and board reporting, after year one$2,500

A program is a distinct authority. Employee benefit prefunding under §701.19(b) and a charitable donation account under §721.3(b)(2) are two programs, governed by different rules and different limits. A funding vehicle is a category of instrument, not an individual holding.

A prefunding program alongside a charitable donation account, with four funding vehicle categories under consideration. $4,500 plus $2,500 plus $3,000, so $10,000.

Reviews and analysis

One defined question, scoped and priced on its own, with no expectation that it leads anywhere else.

Engagement	Year one	Annual after
Vendor proposal second opinionUp to three proposals, including the illustrations behind themEach additional proposal compared, +$500	$1,500	—
Illustration reviewProduct mechanics only, for a policy not yet purchased. Up to three illustrationsEach additional illustration compared, +$250	$800	—
Independent Plan ReviewBanded on arrangement and participant count	$3,500 – $6,500	$1,500 – $2,750
In-force policy portfolio reviewBanded on policy and carrier count	$2,500 – $8,500	$1,500 – $4,000
§7872 imputed income analysis	$2,500	$1,000
§4960 excise tax exposure	$2,750	—
Funding adequacy review	$3,500	—
Replacement and 1035 review	$1,750	—
Board education session	$1,500	—
Governance retainerOngoing oversight across every arrangement, not a single review	$2,500 – $5,000	same
HourlyTwo-hour minimum	$400 / hr	—

The proposal second opinion reads a firm’s pitch and the illustrations supporting it. The illustration review goes into the contract mechanics themselves, whether or not anyone has pitched you.

Executive-level reviews

For the individual executive who participates in an arrangement someone else designed. Arctis is engaged by the executive, and the employer is not the client.

Review	Fee
Split-dollar position review	$950
Restricted bonus review	$950
Death benefit only arrangement	$950
Plan and policy interaction	$1,250
Insurable capacityIncluded at no charge with any other review in this section	$450
Full position reviewEvery arrangement you participate in, reviewed togetherAdd $750 where a premium-financed arrangement is involved	$1,750
Premium-financed arrangementLoan terms, collateral, rate stress, and the exit	$1,500

Individual policy reviews

Personally owned or trust-owned life insurance, priced on the number of policies and carriers.

Review	Fee
Single policy, one carrier	$475
Two or three policies	$675
Four or more, or multiple carriers	$875
Premium-financed arrangementLoan terms, collateral, rate stress, and the exit	$1,500

Not every situation requires an advisor

Describe what is in front of you. We will tell you which engagement fits, what it would cost, and whether you need us at all. That conversation is free and it is not a sales call.

Schedule a conversation