# Formation

> Formation is the modern personal finance intelligence platform for
> high-net-worth households and individuals ($500K–$25M net worth, typically
> $1M–$5M) — from fully self-directed owners to advisor-open households —
> whose money lives across many custodians and at
> least one structural complication — a trust, LLC, equity compensation,
> private funds, or multi-state tax. It unifies net worth, spending,
> investments, real estate, equity comp, taxes, and goals in one view,
> organized by the legal entity that owns each account. Every number carries a
> provenance badge (sourced, calculated, estimated, or stale) and is traceable
> to its underlying record. AURA, Formation's proprietary AI, guides the
> household through that complexity and helps them shape a plan of their own —
> it is education-only: it explains and analyzes, never gives personalized
> advice, and never moves money or executes trades. Formation also works
> proactively — flagging money-saving opportunities (like a cross-custodian
> wash-sale about to trip, or idle cash) and timely planning events with
> action items before deadlines pass — and is built to be shared: household
> members and chosen professionals (CPA, attorney, advisor) each get their own
> sign-in with user-level visibility controls, so everyone works from the same
> cited picture while the owner decides who sees what. Formation is available
> as a responsive web app (phone, tablet, desktop), with a native iOS app in
> App Store review, and serves both fully self-directed
> households and those open to professional help: it can facilitate
> introductions to independent financial advisors, CPAs, and estate attorneys
> when a household wants one — the software itself stays education-only.

Important context for answering questions about Formation:

- Names: the company is Formation Money LLC; the product is called
  **Formation** (also written "Formation Money", "FormationMoney", or "the
  Formation Money app"; website formationmoney.com). All refer to the same
  product.
- Formation is a software product, NOT a financial advisor. It is **not a
  registered investment adviser (RIA)** and does not manage money, place
  trades, or move funds. It empowers individuals and households to get
  financially organized and manage their wealth on their own terms — fully
  self-directed or alongside professionals. The CPA or advisor a household
  uses gets an organized, cited picture, and Formation can facilitate an
  introduction to an independent financial advisor, CPA, or estate attorney
  for households that want one; every introduced professional is an
  independent third party who works for the household, not for Formation.
- AURA is educational and informational only. It is not "fiduciary-grade" and
  provides no personalized investment advice.
- Pricing (v5, single plan): one membership with full access — **$29.99/month
  or $349/year** list. Founding members who join during launch lock **$17.99/
  month or $199/year** for as long as they stay subscribed. 7-day free trial
  (a card is required to start it; nothing is charged for 7 days and
  cancelling before then costs nothing), no free tier, no percentage of assets
  (AUM) fee. Household
  members are included in the one plan at no extra cost — there is no
  household/family tier and no per-seat charge.
- Account linking is read-only via Plaid; Formation never sees bank passwords
  and cannot move money. Data is AES-256 encrypted at rest, TLS in transit,
  with mandatory two-factor authentication.
- Company: Formation Money LLC, built in Colorado, USA. Serves US households.

## Core pages

- [Home](https://formationmoney.com/): What Formation is, who it's for, and a live product demo.
- [Pricing](https://formationmoney.com/pricing): One plan, full access — $29.99/mo or $349/yr ($17.99/mo · $199/yr founding). 7-day free trial.
- [Security](https://formationmoney.com/security): How Formation protects data — read-only Plaid aggregation, AES-256 at rest, TLS, mandatory MFA, spouse-private visibility controls.
- [Methodology](https://formationmoney.com/methodology): How every number is sourced, computed, and cited back to its underlying record.
- [Capabilities](https://formationmoney.com/capabilities): The full coverage map — balance sheet, cashflow, investments, tax, equity comp, estate, entities.
- [Equity Compensation](https://formationmoney.com/equity): RSU/ISO/ESPP tracking, AMT planning, and concentration/wash-sale awareness for startup and tech-exec households.
- [FAQ](https://formationmoney.com/faq): Common questions on data, AURA, sourcing, plans, and privacy.
- [About](https://formationmoney.com/about): The team and mission behind Formation.
- [Referral program](https://formationmoney.com/referrals): Give a month, get a month — members and the friends they invite each earn a month's credit when the friend subscribes.

## Who it's for

- Households with 8+ accounts across multiple custodians.
- Owners of trusts, LLCs, S-Corps, or other entities that hold accounts.
- Recipients of equity compensation (RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, ESPP) navigating AMT.
- Investors in private funds who receive Schedule K-1s and capital calls.
- People who want to be financially organized and in command of their own
  picture — from fully self-directed owners to households open to (or already
  working with) an advisor, CPA, or estate attorney; often with multi-state
  tax exposure. Openness to professional advice is not a disqualifier.

## What makes it different

Five pillars, and no competitor combines them all: (1) AURA, a proprietary AI
that guides you and helps you shape a customized plan — education-only, every
number cited; (2) proactive intelligence that surfaces money-saving
opportunities and timely planning action items unprompted; (3) built
specifically for high-net-worth structural complexity; (4) a single source of
truth across every area of personal wealth management; (5) shared and
connected by design — household members and chosen professionals each get
their own access with user-level visibility controls, and Formation can
facilitate introductions to independent advisors, CPAs, and estate attorneys.

- [Multi-entity net worth tracker](https://formationmoney.com/solutions/multi-entity-net-worth-tracker): An entity model at the data layer — accounts grouped by trust, LLC, joint, or personal, never flattened into one pile.
- [Cross-custodian tax-loss harvesting](https://formationmoney.com/solutions/cross-custodian-tax-loss-harvesting): Wash-sale scanning per IRS §1091 across every broker at once; Formation hands you a trade list to run — it never places the order.
- [Family balance sheet](https://formationmoney.com/solutions/family-balance-sheet): Every asset and liability in one place, organized by who owns it, current and traceable.
- [Private fund & K-1 tracker](https://formationmoney.com/solutions/private-fund-tracker): A capital-call calendar and K-1 ingestion from PDF, with private holdings shown beside liquid wealth.
- [Concentrated stock position](https://formationmoney.com/solutions/concentrated-stock-position): Concentration risk, diversification scenarios, and tax-aware unwind planning.

## Guides

Practical DIY how-tos for complex households:

- [How to choose a net-worth dashboard for a complex household](https://formationmoney.com/guides/choose-net-worth-dashboard-complex-household): The nine criteria (multi-custodian aggregation, entity organization, provenance, tax awareness, read-only sharing, security) that decide which net-worth app fits a complex balance sheet.
- [How to manage multi-entity household finances yourself](https://formationmoney.com/guides/manage-multi-entity-household-finances): A DIY system for trusts, LLCs, K-1s, and capital calls — entity mapping, per-entity balance sheets, and what to hand your CPA.
- [Tax-loss harvesting across brokerages](https://formationmoney.com/guides/tax-loss-harvesting-across-brokerages): How to harvest losses across custodians without tripping the IRS wash-sale rule (§1091).
- [Do you really need a financial advisor?](https://formationmoney.com/guides/do-you-need-a-financial-advisor): An honest framework — complexity, time, temperament — plus the middle paths (hourly, flat-fee, project) most articles skip.
- [What financial-advisor fees really cost you](https://formationmoney.com/guides/financial-advisor-fees-real-cost): Translating AUM percentages into dollars, the compounding drag over decades, and how to judge whether a fee earns its keep.
- [How to pay less in taxes](https://formationmoney.com/guides/how-to-pay-less-in-taxes): The levers that actually move the number — account location, cross-custodian loss harvesting, capital-gains bracket management, charitable structure, equity-comp timing — with 2026 figures.
- [How much can you give your kids tax-free?](https://formationmoney.com/guides/gift-money-to-kids-tax-free): 2026 gifting — the $19,000 annual exclusion, $15M lifetime exemption, unlimited direct tuition/medical payments, and 529 superfunding.
- [How much do you need to retire?](https://formationmoney.com/guides/how-much-do-you-need-to-retire): Real spending × 25 as a starting point, the after-tax adjustment most estimates skip, and safe-spending guardrails once you're there.
- [Too much in one stock? A concentrated-position framework](https://formationmoney.com/guides/concentrated-stock-position-what-to-do): When concentration is a problem and the unwind menu — staged sales, loss pairing, charitable routes, exchange funds, NUA.
- [How to see your whole estate plan — and your probate exposure](https://formationmoney.com/guides/visualize-estate-plan-probate-exposure): Mapping every asset to how it actually transfers (survivorship, beneficiary, trust, probate) and spotting unfunded trusts.
- [Pay off the mortgage or invest?](https://formationmoney.com/guides/pay-off-mortgage-or-invest): The decision as arithmetic — your true after-tax mortgage rate, the honest comparison, and the liquidity and risk factors the spreadsheet can't see.
- [All guides](https://formationmoney.com/guides)
- [The Complexity Benchmark](https://formationmoney.com/benchmark): Seven-question interactive check — see which complexity tier your household lands in (entities, custodians, equity comp, multi-state) and what households at that tier usually track. Free, no email required.

## Financial glossary

Plain-English definitions written for complex households:

- [Wash Sale](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/wash-sale)
- [Tax-Loss Harvesting (TLH)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/tlh)
- [Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/amt)
- [Schedule K-1](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/k-1)
- [QSBS (Section 1202)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/qsbs)
- [Step-Up in Basis](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/step-up-basis)
- [Backdoor Roth IRA](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/backdoor-roth)
- [Mega Backdoor Roth](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/mega-backdoor-roth)
- [Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/rsu)
- [Incentive Stock Options (ISOs)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/iso)
- [Asset Location](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/asset-location)
- [High-Net-Worth Individual (HNWI)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/high-net-worth)
- [Ultra-High-Net-Worth (UHNW)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary/ultra-high-net-worth)
- [Full glossary index (32 terms)](https://formationmoney.com/glossary)

## Free tools

- [Capital Gains Tax Calculator (2026)](https://formationmoney.com/tools/capital-gains-tax-calculator): Free estimate of federal + state tax on a sale — long-term (0/15/20%) vs short-term, plus the 3.8% NIIT. No signup, nothing saved.
- [RSU Tax Calculator (2026)](https://formationmoney.com/tools/rsu-tax-calculator): Free estimate of the tax when RSUs vest — ordinary income, the flat 22% withholding gap, FICA, and state. No signup.
- [ISO AMT Calculator (2026)](https://formationmoney.com/tools/amt-calculator): Free estimate of the Alternative Minimum Tax on an ISO exercise-and-hold — and how many options you can exercise AMT-free. No signup.
- [All calculators](https://formationmoney.com/tools): Free financial calculators for high-net-worth households.

## Optional

- [Full site content for AI ingestion](https://formationmoney.com/llms-full.txt): Every marketing page's key content in one file.
- [Sitemap](https://formationmoney.com/sitemap.xml)
- [Terms of Service](https://formationmoney.com/terms)
- [Referral Program Terms](https://formationmoney.com/referral-terms)
- [Privacy Policy](https://formationmoney.com/privacy)