The Define Financial Team
Retirement changes the rules. We help you navigate what comes next.
You’ve done everything right. Now the challenge is turning your wealth it into a reliable, tax-smart retirement plan.
In retirement, everything changes. Your paycheck disappears. Every decision carries a tax consequence. And small missteps—a poorly timed Roth conversion, a missed Medicare threshold, an inefficient withdrawal strategy—can compound into meaningful costs over a 30+ year retirement.
That’s where most retirement plans fall short. They tackle each piece in isolation — separate line items instead of a connected system. Change one and you affect the others. Miss the connection and it costs you.
That’s why we built the Total Retirement System™. It brings all four pillars—taxes, income, investments, and legacy—into one coordinated plan, managed by our team and built around your specific numbers. Not generic advice. Not a portfolio and a handshake. A coordinated plan designed for this stage of life.
We Are
- A team of CFP® Professionals who specialize exclusively retirement. It’s all we do, and it’s what we’ve built our entire practice around.
- Fee-only fiduciary advisors. No commissions, kickbacks, or proprietary products. Our only incentive is getting your plan and portfolio right.
- Built for coordination. We coordinate with all of your professionals — because financial decisions don’t happen in a vacuum and neither should your plan.
We Are Not
- Attempting to be everything to everyone. We work with people who’ve spent decades building wealth and now need to make it last.
- Advisors who hand you a portfolio and check in once a year. The Total Retirement System™ is ongoing and built around your numbers.
- Bound by geography. We serve clients across every state in the country, with in-person availability in San Diego.
Taylor Schulte, CFP®
Founder & CEO
After two decades in wealth management, I’ve seen how the industry works behind the scenes — and too often, it isn’t built around the client. Early in my career, I knew there had to be a better way. That’s what led me to found Define Financial in 2014 around a simple question: What would a firm look like if every decision were made in the client’s best interest?
We don’t sell products, earn commissions, or answer to a parent company. Our only obligation is to the people we serve. We also don’t try to be everything to everyone. We focus exclusively on retirement and tax planning for people over 50, because specialization matters.
But being a specialist means more than knowing the numbers. The emotional and psychological side of retirement—the questions, tradeoffs, and uncertainties that don’t fit neatly into a spreadsheet—often gets overlooked. That’s where we spend a great deal of our time. Because your life isn’t templated, and your retirement plan shouldn’t be either.
If you’re looking for a different kind of planning experience, we’d love to show you what that can look like.
It’s Time For You to Have a Tax-Smart Plan For Retirement
Schedule Your Free Strategy Session
If you’re over 50 and ready to make the most of your resources in retirement, let’s get the ball rolling with a free Strategy Session.
Google Rating
Latest Reviews as Of March 2026 | View all reviews
Taylor has built an outstanding, client focused firm. If you check out his social media content, you'll get a sense for his ability to provide substantive information in a coherent, concise way that demystifies a lot of the complexity inherent in finance. Define Financial applies that same skill to my (and I'm guessing every client) family's unique situation. They have been instrumental in helping us achieve our goals – especially Tyler. He listens really well, and is a total "finance nerd" (the highest compliment) in precisely the way you want your financial planner to be! That is to say he is very analytical, thorough, knowledgable, focused on details and sees the big picture. Karen is, in summary "on it." She is simply on top of everything, and seems to have a magic wand to remove all hassles, or friction in any form. These folks are true professionals and genuinely invested in our success.
The team at Define Financial has been great for us. While we truly trust the experience and focused care of Taylor and Tyler, as important and valued is the dedication and responsiveness from Karen in responding to every question and need.
Since August 2023, we have worked with the Define Financial team regarding our financial situation post-retirement. I listened to Taylor’s podcasts for over (6) months prior to our engagement to understand their approach and investment philosophy — should have reached out earlier. A strong fiduciary approach and working with clients like us were (2) key deciding factors. Their expertise, recommendations and implemented plans have provided us with peace of mind and a clear path forward. A special thanks to Karen, whose work regarding portfolio administration has been exceptional. High marks for attention to detail, responsiveness, and the ability to simplify the processes for our numerous requests. We believe the Define Financial team has a genuine commitment to our financial well-being. We highly recommend their services to anyone seeking expert financial advice and guidance in retirement planning.
As my wife and I transitioned from earning and working to retirement and with all the financial changes that go along with switching gears, Define Financial is the perfect fit for us. Their knowledge of this phase in our financial life and their responsiveness to our questions really allows us to enjoy our retirement knowing that we are in very capable hands.
We are very happy with the service we receive from the team at Define Financial. Knowing that we have a knowledgeable team guiding us through our retirement brings us great peace of mind.
The Define team is wonderful. They take the stress and anxiety out of finances for us. They have earned our utmost trust and respect.
We have had Define Finance as our Financial Advisor for over 2 years. I am very impressed with their attention to detail and overall approach to ensuring our finances are managed appropriately. They are insuring I am paying the least taxes, as well as keeping my nest egg appropriately invested. I can ask any question about all aspects of my wealth management and they will find the answer. I have full confidence in their team.
The team at Define Financial is excellent across the board. Their advice and portfolio management greatly exceeds the cost. I don't have to worry about the markets–my advisor is doing that for me while I get to enjoy improving my golf game.
Always provide excellent financial advice in a warm, friendly and personal manner- the team prepares for my individual needs and is easy to work with!! Highly recommend their services.
At 70 years of age I have invested a lot of time and money with different advisors and none of them can compare with the quality of care as well as the success of my portfolio! Taylor Schulte and his team of experts shine head and shoulders above the rest. Nobody could be more professional.
Disclosures
Define Financial has not provided any compensation for the testimonials shown. The testimonials shown have been selected from among all client feedback. To our knowledge, no other conflicts of interest exist regarding these testimonials.
