Insights on investment management, retirement planning and tax strategies.

A no frills financial educator whose goal is to reduce financial anxiety and complexity for the people I work with.

Zac Murphy, CFA, CFP®

Problems we help you think through

If any of these feel familiar, you are in the right place.

Capturing your full 401(k) match

Whether you are contributing enough to capture every dollar your employer is willing to add, and what the match is actually worth over a career.

Knowing if you are saving enough for retirement

Translating a future retirement income target into a current savings rate, and seeing if the math actually works for the life you want.

Whether your investment mix fits your situation

Understanding how your allocation relates to your time horizon, risk tolerance, and the actual fund options inside your plan.

Using your plan's self-directed brokerage window

Many large 401(k) plans include a Schwab PCRA, Fidelity BrokerageLink, or similar window. Most participants never use it. Understanding when it makes sense is half the battle.

Roth versus traditional, and when to use each

Both have a place. The right answer depends on your current bracket, expected future bracket, and what other accounts you are building alongside the 401(k).

How your accounts work together

401(k), IRA, HSA, brokerage, savings. Each has different rules and different jobs. A coherent plan treats them as one system, not five separate buckets.

Ready to talk through your situation?

A free 30-minute conversation. No pitch, no obligation.

How we work together

Four entry points, depending on how you prefer to learn.

1

Browse your employer's 401(k) plan

Our directory covers hundreds of major employer plans. Match formulas, fund options, vesting schedules, and brokerage window details, all in plain English.

Browse the directory
2

Read the article library

Framework articles covering retirement planning, tax strategy, investment basics, and financial wellness. Written to teach, not to sell.

Open the library
3

Try the free planning tool

Walk through budget, savings goals, and retirement projection in one workflow. No bank linking, no signup fees, no investment advice.

Start planning
4

Schedule a conversation

If you would rather talk it through, book a free 30-minute call. We cover cash flow, tax planning concepts, retirement readiness, and how your plan fits in.

Schedule a call

What makes Waterfall Planning different

Waterfall Planning

  • CFA charterholder and CFP® professional
  • Plain-English education on real financial topics
  • No AUM minimum to start a conversation
  • Plan-specific 401(k) research for hundreds of employers
  • No sales-driven calls or product pushes
  • Education first, advisory relationship optional

Typical alternatives

  • Free online tools with generic, one-size-fits-all guidance
  • Traditional advisors with $500K to $1M AUM minimums
  • Robo-advisors that optimize allocation but not strategy
  • YouTube and TikTok personalities without credentials or accountability
  • Sales-driven calls where the advice depends on the product being sold
  • Blogs that recycle the same five articles without depth

Recent insights

Pulled from the article library.

Why Your Budget Should Start With Take-Home Pay, Not Your Salary

Gross salary overstates available dollars by 25 to 35 percent for most workers. The take-home pay foundation: start the budget from monthly net deposits, not …

Read article

When Should You Update Your Financial Plan? Eight Life Events That Change the Math

No fixed-interval rule survives real life. The trigger-based update framework: a financial plan has three layers (budget, goals, retirement), and eight life events recalibrate one …

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How to Save for Two or More Goals at Once Without Losing Track

Saving for multiple goals fails when tracking does. The framework: three goal categories, four-step allocation, per-goal visibility instead of aggregate totals, and a triage rule …

Read article
See all articles

About Zac Murphy

I am a CFA charterholder and CFP® professional based in Jacksonville, Florida. I built Waterfall Planning because most people are stuck between two bad options: free tools that give you a calculator and call it advice, or traditional advisors who will not talk to you unless you already have a million dollars saved.

The middle ground is real financial education. Not a 20-page PDF you never read. Not a TikTok hot take. The actual frameworks that financial professionals use, explained in language anyone can follow, applied to the specific accounts and decisions in front of you.

That is what we do here. Sometimes it looks like an article. Sometimes a 30-minute call. Either way, the goal is the same: less confusion, less anxiety, and a clearer sense of what to do next.

Ready when you are

Schedule a free 30-minute call, or pick up the phone.

Important disclosures. Waterfall Planning LLC provides financial planning education. Information on this site and conversations on calls are educational in nature and do not constitute personalized investment, tax, or legal advice, nor a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Information may be incomplete or out of date relative to your specific situation. Submissions are subject to our Privacy Policy.