Why Dovetail Financial Exists
Retirement changes the questions people bring to financial planning.
A paycheck may be ending. A tax choice may affect more than this year’s return. A family or health question may change what should stay available.
Dovetail exists for moments when the numbers matter, and the life around them matters too.
Through Human-First Financial Guidance®, we begin by understanding what is changing and what the decision needs to support. Then we bring the financial pieces into that context.
The Firm
Dovetail Financial is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, with an office in Duluth, Georgia. We work with people nearing or living in retirement in person and virtually across the country.
The firm has served households from the same Wilmington location for more than 20 years.
People come to Dovetail before retirement, after it begins, or when a change creates a new decision.
The firm provides ongoing financial planning and investment management so those decisions can be reviewed together over time.
Leadership
Ross Marino is the founder and CEO of Dovetail Financial and the creator of Human-First Financial Guidance®.
For more than 30 years, his work has focused on helping people make financial decisions during periods of change, especially as retirement gets closer or unfolds.
He taught Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits in the CFP® curriculum at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and is the co-author of Shaping Change: How to Respond When Life Disrupts Your Retirement Plan.
His work has been recognized by ThinkAdvisor.com and WealthManagement.com. ThinkAdvisor.com named him the 2022 and 2024 LUMINARIES Thought Leader of the Year in the RIA category.
That experience shaped Dovetail’s approach: understand the situation first, explain the decision clearly, and review the financial implications together.
Collaborative Approach
Some retirement questions involve more than the advisor and the client.
When a decision may affect tax filing, estate documents, healthcare choices, or another professional area, Dovetail can coordinate with the appropriate professional.
The point is not coordination for its own sake. It is to help the people involved work from the same picture before one choice creates a problem somewhere else.
Professional Standards
Dovetail Financial Group LLC is a fee-only Registered Investment Adviser that operates under a fiduciary standard of care.
Our Human-First Advisors™ provide fee-only financial planning and investment management and are compensated through advisory fees rather than commissions from investment or insurance product sales.
That means advice is provided with an obligation to act in the client’s best interest. It also means recommendations should be explained in the context of the retirement decisions they are meant to support.
The relationship is designed for ongoing planning and investment management, not isolated product transactions or one-time recommendations.
A Thoughtful Next Step
Seeing whether Dovetail is the right fit starts with a conversation.
We will talk about your situation, what is changing, and whether the way we work fits what you are looking for.
