Guides

Guides for advisors who like straight answers

Compliance rules without the legalese, planning math without the black box, and comparisons without the spin.

Practical, plain-language writing for advisors — the same standard as our security page: say exactly how things work, cite the real rules, and skip the fluff.

Comparisons & switching

UltimateCRM vs Redtail

An honest comparison with the industry's most-used CRM — where each shines and how to decide.

UltimateCRM vs Wealthbox

Simplicity vs depth: what the trade-off really costs, and who should pick which.

Switching from Redtail

What transfers, what rebuilds itself from your email and phone system, and the cutover checklist.

Compliance, in plain English

The books-and-records rules

Rules 204-2 and 17a-4 translated: what to keep, for how long, in what form.

Texts are records too

The $2B+ off-channel enforcement wave, and what compliant texting actually looks like.

What examiners ask for

The typical initial request list, translated — and how to be the firm that produces it fast.

How often to refresh KYC

No rule sets an interval. What the rules do say, and why KYC data really goes stale.

Planning methodology

How our retirement engine works

The full methodology: 5,000-path Monte Carlo, real tax brackets, RMDs, guardrails — and the limits.

Social Security timing for couples

Why the higher earner's delay buys longevity insurance for two lives, not one.

RMD rules, year by year

Starting ages after SECURE 2.0, the April 1 trap, QCDs, and inherited-IRA rules.

How the system is built

Why households, not accounts

Advice happens to families. Modeling it that way is a correctness issue, not a preference.

Why your CRM needs an ontology

The firm's vocabulary, written down once and enforced by the software — and what that buys you at search time, on a timeline, and in an exam.

Prefer to just see the product?

Everything these guides describe is built into UltimateCRM.