Flat-Fee Financial Coaching · No AUM · No Products · No BS

GREAT ADVICE
SHOULDN'T COME
WITH A SALES
PITCH.

Most financial plans are built around a number. The right question is: what kind of life do you actually want to live — and what does your money need to do to get you there? That's where we start. The industry got this backwards. Whole Life policies. AUM fees compounding quietly against you. Advisors optimizing your balance sheet for a future you never defined. I help you cut through it: build a plan around the life you want, spend deliberately on what matters, and stop hoarding resources for a version of the future that may never arrive. CFP candidate. Aviator. Flat fee. Paid from your checking account. That's it.

✈ Book Free Discovery Call What's Broken →

Flat-fee only · Paid from your checking account · Never from your retirement

Flat

Fee Only

18+

Years Aviation

CFP

Candidate

Certified (Health + Finance)

The Problem

MOST ADVISORS
SELL PRODUCTS.
I SELL
ADVICE.

AUM fees. Whole Life commissions. "Free" plans that come with product sales. The advice that was supposed to serve you has a business model designed to extract money from you.

For military families — Guard and Reserve officers especially — this is doubly painful. You've served, you've sacrificed, and the advisors who call themselves "military-friendly" are often just there to write policies and collect a recurring percentage of everything you've built.

It doesn't have to be this way. It shouldn't be this way. And I won't do it that way.

🚫 The AUM Trap

An advisor charging 1% AUM on a $1M portfolio earns $10,000/year for work that doesn't scale with your needs. Over 20 years at 6% returns, that fee costs you close to $400K in compounding. No advice is worth that math.

🚫 The "Military-Friendly" Pitch

Walk into most financial offices near a base and you'll get the same two things: a Whole Life insurance policy and a rollover recommendation. Both pay the advisor handsomely. Neither is usually what you need most.

🚫 The Half-Pay Trap

Senior officers past 20 years are doing 100% of the work for half the pay — because they're not collecting retirement and a civilian paycheck simultaneously. Most advisors aren't equipped to model this trade-off clearly. I am.

🚫 Credentials Without Clarity

"He had all the certifications and wasted my life's work." Credentials are table stakes. What matters is whether your advisor's incentives are aligned with your outcomes. Mine are — because I don't sell financial products. Period. I sell advice. That's it.

🚫 "We Do Better When You Do Better" Is a Trap

AUM sounds aligned — but it isn't. Your advisor shouldn't earn more just because the market had a great year. Did they work harder? Take more risk on your behalf? Deliver more value? Almost certainly not. And when the market is down 15% and they're actually putting in more work — they earn less. That model doesn't make sense. It benefits the advisor, not you.

🚫 Paying From Your Retirement Account

Would you pay your doctor from your 401k? Your lawyer? Your accountant? Of course not — that's absurd. Yet AUM advisors routinely deduct fees directly from retirement accounts, where you never see the number. My fees come from your checking account. You see it. You decide if it's worth it. That's how it should work.

How I Charge

FLAT FEE.
BANK ACCOUNT.
FULL STOP.

I don't charge AUM. I don't earn commissions. I don't pitch insurance products. You pay me a flat fee for financial coaching, and that fee comes from your checking or savings account — not from your retirement assets.

"Paying today's expenses from a retirement account is just bad financial advice — even if the expense is me."

Think about it this way: would you pay your doctor from your 401k? Your lawyer? Your accountant? Of course not — everyone would immediately recognize that as a terrible financial move. So why would paying your financial advisor like that ever be the right answer? It isn't. My fees come from your bank account, where you can see exactly what you're paying every single time.

This model means my fees don't go up because the market went up. It means I have no incentive to grow assets under management vs. eliminate your debt. It means my interests and your interests are actually the same.

✓ Flat Fee — Paid Monthly or Annually

A predictable, transparent fee for ongoing coaching. You know exactly what you're paying. It doesn't change because the S&P had a good year.

✓ Invoiced to Your Bank Account

You see the cost every time you pay it. That's a feature, not a bug. If you recoil at seeing the number, that's useful information — and I'd rather you not pay me than pay for something that isn't the right fit.

✓ Project-Based or Hourly Available

Not every client needs ongoing coaching. DIYers who want a second set of eyes, specific planning questions, or a one-time financial review — I can do that too.

✗ Never From Your Retirement Account

I will never take financial planning fees from a retirement account. If I told you to pay a lawyer from your 401k, you'd fire me. This is no different.

✗ Never Commission-Based

No insurance products. No annuities. No referral fees. If I recommend something, it's because it serves you — not because it pays me.

CFP Candidate · Nashville, TN

About Your Coach

I LEARNED THIS
THE SAME WAY
YOU WILL.

I'm Adam Dunn — aviator, husband, father of two, financial coach, and CFP candidate based in Nashville, TN.

I didn't have a financial epiphany. There was no single turning point. What I had was 18+ years of operational aviation — an environment where shortcuts get people killed — and I eventually brought that same discipline to my own finances. Methodical. No shortcuts. Clear objectives. Consistent execution.

Over time, that discipline built something real. I reached CoastFIRE before most people even know what it means. And I did it while navigating the same Guard/Reserve commitments, family demands, and career trade-offs that my clients face.

I've also watched how the advice industry fails military families. The product pitchers, the AUM machines, the "military-friendly" advisors who lead with Whole Life every time. I built this practice to be the alternative — a place where you get advice, not products, from someone who actually speaks your language.

I coach clients nationwide via Zoom from Nashville, TN.

✈️

Aviator · 18+ years of operational experience

📊

CFP® Candidate · Series 65 Pursuing

💪

NBC-HWC Certified Health & Wellness Coach

🏋️

NASM Certified Personal Trainer

🎯

Reached CoastFIRE through disciplined, methodical planning

👨‍👩‍👧

Husband and father of two — I coach the way I'd want to be coached

Health + Wealth

YOUR HEALTH IS
A FINANCIAL
VARIABLE.

Most financial coaches pretend the body doesn't exist. Most personal trainers pretend money doesn't exist. But they're the same problem. Chronic stress, burnout, and declining physical health are financial risks — they affect your income, your decision-making, your career longevity, and eventually your ability to execute any plan you make.

I work at the intersection of both. As a Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and NASM Certified Personal Trainer, I can integrate behavioral health, stress management, and physical performance directly into your financial coaching — because a plan you're too burned out to follow isn't actually a plan.

For pilots, aircrew, and others in high-stakes operational roles, there's also a specific financial exposure: your income and family's security may depend on continued medical certification. That's a risk worth naming and planning around — even if it's not one most advisors know to ask about.

Talk About Health + Wealth →

🧠

Behavioral Health & Money Psychology

Most financial problems aren't math problems. They're behavior problems — avoidance, stress spending, decision fatigue, the gap between knowing and doing. As a Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach, this is the core of what I do. We address the psychology, not just the spreadsheet.

NBC-HWC Certified · Primary Focus

🔥

Stress, Burnout & Financial Decision-Making

High operational tempo, Guard/Reserve commitments stacked on top of a civilian career, sandwich generation demands — chronic stress degrades every financial decision you make. We build a sustainable system, not just a plan that collapses under pressure.

NASM CPT · Integrated Coaching

✈️

Medical Certification Risk Planning

For pilots, aircrew, and operators whose income depends on continued medical certification: this is a financial exposure that most advisors don't know to model. If your flight physical determines your family's cash flow, we build a plan that accounts for that risk — not one that ignores it.

Specific to Aviation & High-Stakes Roles

What We Work On

ADVICE THAT MOVES
THE NEEDLE.

Not generic templates. Not recycled internet advice. The kind of specific, high-stakes financial thinking you'd want from someone who's lived the same trade-offs you're navigating right now.

Cash Flow & Conscious Spending

Traditional budgets fail because they're built on restriction and guilt — and most people abandon them by the second month. We build something different: a spending plan aligned to what you actually value, where the things you love are protected and everything else gets interrogated. The goal isn't the biggest balance sheet. It's the best life your money can buy, defined entirely by you. And that requires a system you'll actually follow — not one you dread opening.

Foundation

Military Money Mastery

TSP optimization, BAH as a wealth-building tool, VA benefits navigation, deployment financial prep, the Guard/Reserve tax and benefit quirks most advisors get wrong, and the O-4-to-O-6 trade-off analysis.

Specialty

Debt Elimination Strategy

Avalanche, snowball, or hybrid — we choose the method that fits your numbers and your psychology, then execute it with enough urgency to actually finish.

High Impact

The High-Stakes Decision Framework

Staying in for O-6. Buying vs. renting. TSP contribution rate vs. paying off debt. A $5 coffee decision isn't going to change your financial life. But whether you stay in uniform another three years, or how you structure your TSP vs. Roth contribution, absolutely will. We build clarity on the decisions that actually move the needle.

Strategy

Goal-Based Planning

We start with your version of the Rich Life — what does success actually look like for you, in specific terms? Then we build backwards from that and close the gap.

Strategy

Accountability Coaching

The knowing-doing gap is real. Regular check-ins, honest conversations, and a coach who won't let you slide on the commitments you made to yourself last session.

Ongoing

Financial coaching is educational in nature. Money Pilot Pro does not provide licensed investment advice or tax planning. Adam is actively pursuing Series 65 and CFP® credentials.

The Philosophy

THE POINT ISN'T
THE BIGGEST NUMBER.

Most financial plans are built to maximize wealth accumulation — full stop. But a balance sheet that keeps growing while you delay, defer, and deprive yourself isn't a success story. It's a missed life. The real goal is converting your money into experiences, security, and freedom — in the right amounts, at the right times, for the right reasons. That means spending deliberately on what matters to you, not hoarding resources for a future that may look nothing like you've imagined. I coach people who are ready to stop optimizing a number and start building a life. Those are different problems — and most advisors aren't equipped to help with the second one.

Who This Is For

IF ANY OF THIS SOUNDS
LIKE YOUR LIFE —
WE SHOULD TALK.

I built this practice around the financial challenges I've seen closest — Guard and Reserve officers in the squeeze, military families navigating life transitions, and high-earners who've run out of excuses for not having a plan. If that's you, you're in the right place.

🎖️

Guard & Reserve Officers (O-4 to O-6)

You have a civilian career. You have a military commitment. And at some point the two started feeling like they're working against each other.

You're past 20 years and asking if staying for O-6 is a $500K mistake
Your Guard/Reserve commitment has become a logistical anchor on your civilian career
The "Military Cliff" — one medical away from a complete financial reset — is a real, unaddressed fear
You're drowning in the admin grind and nobody's helping you model the actual trade-offs

✈️

Pilots & High-Stakes Operators

Your income, lifestyle, and family security are tied to medical certification. That's a single point of failure that most financial plans don't account for.

You want a Health + Wealth protocol that treats your physical readiness as a financial asset
You've thought about what happens financially if you lose your medical
You want to stop working for half-pay past your retirement eligibility
Your "military-friendly" advisor's answer was Whole Life insurance

🏠

Military Families in Transition

Active duty, Guard, Reserve, or recently separated — navigating a financial life that keeps changing around you.

Separating or retiring and figuring out what the numbers actually look like
Deployment has disrupted your financial routine and you need to rebuild it
Sandwich generation: kids' costs and aging parent costs hitting at the same time
Spouse income variability creating cash flow stress you can't seem to solve

📈

High-Earners Who Feel Stuck

You make solid money. Your net worth doesn't reflect it. You've never actually had a real, written financial plan — just a vague sense that you should be further along.

Income is real. Savings feel impossible. Something is leaking somewhere
You've been meaning to "get serious about money" for three years
Debt from the past is quietly limiting what's available now
You want accountability from someone who will actually call you on your excuses

How It Works

STOP BEING
MANAGED.
START BEING
COACHED.

No products. No complicated onboarding. Four clear steps from where you are to Mission Ready.

Free Discovery Call

20 minutes. No pitch, no pressure. We figure out if this is the right fit and what the biggest lever is in your financial life right now.

Intake & Assessment

You complete a detailed financial intake before our first session. The more honest you are here, the more useful the work we do together.

Build the Flight Plan

Session one: full financial picture, priorities ranked and sequenced, concrete action items. You leave with a plan — not a brochure.

Execute & Recalibrate

Regular coaching sessions, honest check-ins, and real-time adjustments. The plan evolves with your life. That's the whole point.

Pricing

TRANSPARENT PRICING.
FLAT FEE. FULL STOP.

No AUM. No commissions. No hidden fees. You know exactly what you're paying before you book a single session.

Mission Brief

^$197

1 session · 90 minutes

✓90-minute deep-dive coaching session
✓Written summary & prioritized action items
✓Follow-up email support
✓Best for a specific decision or a financial gut-check

Get Started

A MANIFESTO FOR
REAL FINANCIAL COACHING.

Most financial content tells you what to do. Very little tells you why the industry is structured against you, how to think about advice vs. advice-mixed-with-product-sales, and what it actually means to make the highest-leverage financial decisions of your life without someone else's incentives in the room.

I'm writing that. A full framework for what financial coaching should be, how to evaluate advisors, and what "mission ready" finances actually look like for military families and high-earners. It will be free.

Coming to Substack: The Money Pilot Manifesto Subscribe to get it the day it drops.

✈ Get Notified When It Drops

FAQ

THE QUESTIONS YOU ACTUALLY HAVE.

Why do you charge flat fees instead of AUM?

Because AUM fees are fundamentally misaligned with your interests. An advisor charging a percentage of your assets earns more when your portfolio grows — not when you make better decisions. My fee doesn't change based on how the market performs. I'm paid to give you good advice, period. And you pay it from your bank account, where you can see it clearly, not from a retirement account where it disappears quietly.

You're not a licensed financial planner yet — why would I work with you?

Fair question. I'm actively pursuing Series 65 and CFP® credentials. In the meantime, what I offer is financial coaching — education, budgeting, cash flow strategy, accountability, and goal-based planning. Honestly? Most people need this more urgently than they need investment management. Ramit Sethi built an eight-figure business without traditional credentials because the advice he gives is genuinely useful and his incentives are aligned with his audience's. I'm building the same thing.

What is the "Medical Cliff" and why do you coach on it?

If you're in a role where your income and family's security depend on medical certification — pilot, controller, flight doc — you have a single point of failure in your financial plan that most advisors never address. One unexpected finding and your financial picture changes completely. I'm NBC-HWC certified and NASM certified, so I can work with you on both the financial contingency planning AND the physical performance habits that keep you medically viable longer.

Do I need to be in Nashville to work with you?

No. All sessions are via Zoom. I work with clients across the country. The Guard/Reserve officer navigating the O-5 dilemma in Colorado Springs has the same questions as the one in Nashville.

What does "coaching first" mean — how is this different from financial advice?

Financial advice (from a licensed advisor) includes investment recommendations, portfolio management, and regulated guidance. Financial coaching is education, accountability, behavior, and planning — the foundational work that most people need before (and often instead of) portfolio management. I don't tell you which stocks to buy. I help you figure out why you're still broke despite a good salary, build the plan that changes that, and hold you accountable to it.

How is this different from just watching YouTube or reading Reddit?

YouTube can't ask you why you've known you should be funding your Roth IRA for two years and you still haven't. Reddit can't model whether staying for O-6 is worth it given your specific civilian income opportunity cost. And neither one will follow up the week after your session to ask what happened with that debt payoff plan you agreed to. Information isn't the problem for most people. Execution and accountability are.

GREAT ADVICESHOULDN'T COMEWITH A SALESPITCH.

MOST ADVISORSSELL PRODUCTS.I SELLADVICE.

FLAT FEE.BANK ACCOUNT.FULL STOP.

I LEARNED THISTHE SAME WAYYOU WILL.

YOUR HEALTH ISA FINANCIALVARIABLE.

ADVICE THAT MOVESTHE NEEDLE.

THE POINT ISN'TTHE BIGGEST NUMBER.

IF ANY OF THIS SOUNDSLIKE YOUR LIFE —WE SHOULD TALK.

STOP BEINGMANAGED.START BEINGCOACHED.

TRANSPARENT PRICING.FLAT FEE. FULL STOP.

A MANIFESTO FORREAL FINANCIAL COACHING.