Fee-only · Fiduciary · CFP® · CAIA

Money should fund your life. Not replace it.

You’re smart enough to keep it simple.

For people who’d rather understand their money than be sold on it.

Come for the ideas. Stay for the advice.

I’m Genti Cici. I plan around what your money is for, then build the system that keeps it pointed there. No products. No commissions. The only thing I sell is advice. Based in Maryland, meeting by video or in person.

Book a free call 30 minutes, by video. No pitch.
You leave with one clear next step.

Not ready to talk? Try the 13 free calculators (no email) or get your free Napkin Plan.

This firm started on a napkin, after 2 years, 48 states, and one question that kept coming up: “I have the money. Now what?”

Genti · CFP®, CAIA · fee-only since 2009

Why StandUP

Three things the industry quietly avoids.

01 · LITERACY FIRST

Every tool here is free, with no email gate.

I grew up in bread lines in communist Albania and watched 1997 wipe out my country’s savings, because nobody had the tools to see it coming.

For you: check my math before you ever pay me.

02 · INTEGRITY BUILT IN

Fee-only. No products, no commissions, no sales targets.

Integrity shouldn’t need a cop. So I removed commissions and product conflicts instead of managing them.

For you: the only thing I can sell you is advice.

03 · LIFE OVER BALANCE

We start with what the money is for.

Money is a tool, not a scoreboard. Accumulation for its own sake wastes it.

For you: a plan pointed at your life, not at a benchmark.

Free tools

Check the math yourself.

The same calculators I use in my own planning. Free, no sign-up, no email gate. Each one shows the math behind it.

Wealth Investment Growth What your money becomes over time. Starting balance, monthly contributions, return rate, time horizon. Wealth Freedom Money Coast FI / Walk-Away / Full FI. The number where money stops trapping you. Retirement Social Security Timing 62 vs FRA vs 70. The full tradeoff, with mortality scenarios and the break-even ages most calcs skip. Real Estate Rent vs. Buy, The Honest Version The real comparison, with the costs the “just buy” pitch always leaves out put back in. Retirement Roth Conversion Window Multi-year Roth conversion schedule for the sweet-spot window between retirement and RMDs. Advice Do You Even Need an Advisor? An honest gut-check, not a pitch. Some people genuinely don’t need one, this tool says so.

See all 13 tools, no email needed

Who this is for

You might be our kind of person.

You’re the one everyone counts on, and you’d like someone in your corner when the call is big.
It’s gotten too complex to run alone: the business, the taxes, the accounts, the next move. You want a professional you can lean on.
You want a second opinion from someone who earns nothing from what you buy, or you’ve outgrown your advisor.
You built something from nothing, and you’re not sure your money reflects what it cost you.
The spreadsheet is fine. You’re just not sure it’s pointed at the right life.

The fear underneath is almost never the money. It’s making a big call alone and getting it wrong. Chapter 12 of Who’s Steering? is about exactly that. Read the system: The Crisis Script

Probably not a fit if

You want stock tips, or someone to beat the market for you.
You want a product sold to you, not a plan built with you.

The longer story: bread lines, 1997, and a 48-state road trip

48 states · where the question came from

What are you afraid of?

Name the fear. Then run its system.

Every chapter of Who’s Steering? names one fear and gives it a simple system you can run this week, free. Pick the one that sounds like you.

“I’m behind, and it’s too late.” Chapter 2 · The Three Proofs “I haven’t looked at the number in years.” Chapter 6 · The One Look “I’m afraid to commit to a plan and pick wrong.” Chapter 7 · The Pre-Decision “Everyone else seems to be getting rich.” Chapter 10 · The Denominator “When markets fall, everyone looks to me.” Chapter 12 · The Crisis Script “I could stop. I’m afraid of who I’d be.” Chapter 18 · Your Enough

See all 21 fears and systems

Who you’d be working with

One person. Your side of the table.

I came to the U.S. at seventeen, with an accent and not much money. I spent less than a year inside an insurance company, learned how that machine works, and walked out. I’ve been fee-only since 2009. I’ve taught financial literacy at universities, Goodwill and community events, and I wrote down the systems I use in a book.

When you hire StandUP, you work with me. Not a call center, not a junior associate, not a product desk.

The full story · My public record (IAPD)

Genti

The napkins

Money, small enough to fit on a napkin.

If I can’t draw it on a napkin, I don’t understand it well enough to explain it to you. 31 lessons, free.

See all 31 napkins

The Besa Standard: five questions to ask before you trust any advisor, fund, app or AI. I score my own firm against it first. Run it

Three ways in

Pick the door that fits today.

Same planning engine behind all three. The difference is how much of me you get.

FREE

Hypothetical example: 8% a year assumed, not guaranteed. Taxes and fees not included.

The Napkin Plan

A dozen numbers, one page, and what to do first, drawn on a napkin and sent to your inbox. About two minutes.

Get my free Napkin Plan

You’ll also get Field Notes, about once a month. Unsubscribe with one click.

Education only. Not investment advice.

STARTER

Coming soon

The Starter Plan

A one-time plan, built with me in a Pit Stop session, in person or by video. Priced by complexity: a business, equity compensation, estate planning. Want us to manage your investments too? We can take that off your plate.

Book a free call

RELATIONSHIP

Coming soon