Dana Whitlock, CFP®
Founder, lead planner
Plans for families in the last decade before retirement. Twenty-eight years in the business.
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Four people on Church Street.
Corbel Planning started in 2009 with one planner who was tired of being paid by the products he sold. Today we're four people, about 150 client households, and still no commissions.
- Founded
- 2009
- CFP® professionals
- 2
- Households
- ~150
Why the name
A corbel carries weight so the wall doesn't have to.
It's the stepped bracket of brick or stone that holds up a balcony or a cornice. Walk down Broad or Church Street and you'll pass dozens of them, most of them older than the street signs.
Each course steps out a little past the one below it. That's how we build a plan: cash flow first, then everything else resting on it, until it can carry the years you won't be earning a paycheck.
A note from our founder
I started Corbel so the advice and the bill would point the same way.
For eleven years I sat across the table from people at a brokerage and got paid by what they bought. Most of the advice was fine. I just could never promise them my paycheck had nothing to do with it.
So in 2009 I put a flat fee on the door instead. You pay us for the plan and the advice, the same amount no matter what you invest in or buy, and you know that number before we start.
We keep the list to about 150 households on purpose. It's how I still know your kids' names and why your call gets answered by someone who knows your plan.
Dana Whitlock
How we got here
Seventeen years, one step at a time.
We've grown on purpose, slowly. Every hire was made so a planner never has more clients than they can know by name.
- 2009
Corbel opens
Dana Whitlock leaves a brokerage after eleven years to charge flat fees instead.
- 2013
Owners join the mix
Marcus Avery, a CFP® professional and enrolled agent, starts our business owner planning.
- 2017
Church Street
We move into Suite 240 and publish our fees on the website.
- 2020
Video meetings
Every meeting can happen by video, and plenty of clients still choose the table.
- 2022
Four of us
Priya Raman joins as associate planner. Lena Ortiz runs client service.
- 2026
About 150 households
Which is about where we plan to stay.
The team
Who you'll talk to.
You'll have one lead planner and you'll know everyone else by voice. Nobody here is on commission.
Marcus Avery, CFP®, EA
Tax and business owner planning
Works with owners on pay, retirement plans and selling the company, side by side with their CPA.
Priya Raman
Associate planner
Builds the numbers behind each plan and runs the quarterly check-ins.
Lena Ortiz
Client service director
Sets up accounts, schedules meetings and is usually the one who answers the phone.
In writing
Our fiduciary promise.
- 1We put your interests first in every recommendation, and we sign that in our client agreement.
- 2We are paid only by you, only the flat fees on our fees page.
- 3We take no commissions, referral fees or revenue sharing from anyone.
- 4If we ever have a conflict, we tell you about it in writing before you decide.