Comprehensive planning and investment management for high-net-worth Bay Area households.
Fee-only fiduciary advisory practice helping Bay Area households navigate the complex financial decisions of high-net-worth life — accumulation, retirement, taxes, equity compensation, and the path that connects them. CFP®, ChFC®, in practice since 2004.
We are a fee-only fiduciary advisory practice built around one premise: the financial decisions of high-net-worth life are too important and too connected to handle in isolation. Our work integrates planning, investment management, and tax-aware decision modeling across every stage of a client's financial life — from peak earnings through retirement and beyond.
How we work with clients.
Our practice is structured around six interconnected service areas. Most clients engage in two or three of them, evolving over time as their financial life evolves. Each area links to a dedicated page with the full detail.
Financial planning for HNW households
For households in their accumulation and peak-earning years. Real estate, equity compensation, tax optimization, college funding, charitable giving, and estate foundations — modeled side by side against alternatives.
Learn more →Retirement income planning
For households transitioning into and through retirement. Built on the Retirement Lifestyle Plan framework — Needs, Wants, Wishes — and the Confidence Zone target. Powered by DrawDownIQ for tax-aware withdrawal modeling.
Learn more →Active investment management
For $1M+ portfolios. Anchored in the Innovation Moat philosophy: profitable large-cap leaders with durable competitive advantages, applied through a strategic and tactical framework.
Learn more →Equity compensation planning
For Bay Area employees and executives with stock options, RSUs, ESPP, and concentrated employer stock. Exercise timing, AMT modeling, sale strategy, 10b5-1 plans, and Net Unrealized Appreciation.
Learn more →Retirement plans for business owners
For self-employed professionals and small business owners seeking to accelerate retirement savings and reduce current-year taxable income. Defined Benefit, Cash Balance, and hybrid plan design. Free proposal available.
Learn more →About Faruk Jaffer
CFP® and ChFC® professional, founder of Index Gurus in 2004. Twenty-plus years of experience spanning investment firms, brokerages, and technology companies. Teaches CFP® candidates at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz.
Read the story →Our philosophy and method.
Two anchoring frameworks shape every engagement: a planning methodology that starts with the client, and an investment philosophy that focuses on durable competitive advantage. Together, they are how we think about our work.
Foundation first: Needs, Wants, Wishes.
Every Index Gurus plan starts with what matters to the client, organized into a structured hierarchy: the Needs you must fund, the Wants you would like to fund, and the Wishes you dream about. Investment strategy, withdrawal sequencing, and tax planning all serve this hierarchy — not the other way around.
We design every plan to land inside the Confidence Zone — a probability-of-success range typically between 70% and 90%, balancing current lifestyle against protection from future shocks.
See the full process →The Innovation Moat: where durable growth lives.
We build portfolios around the companies actually driving the major indexes: profitable large-cap leaders with durable competitive advantages — proprietary data, controlled energy and infrastructure, deep R&D budgets, and strong free cash flow.
The approach is both strategic (long-term conviction in the structural moats) and tactical (adjusting how the thesis is expressed as market conditions evolve). Quality tilt, sensible valuations, no overconcentration.
Read the full philosophy →DrawDownIQ — tax-aware withdrawal modeling.
Software we built in-house to answer one of the highest-stakes annual questions in retirement: what is the best withdrawal mix for this year, given current taxes, IRMAA thresholds, and Required Minimum Distributions? DrawDownIQ models three competing withdrawal strategies side by side and produces a recommended action plan for the current tax year.
Every comprehensive retirement income engagement includes specific DrawDownIQ analysis. Learn more on the retirement income planning page →
The founder.
Twenty years of fee-only fiduciary practice, built on industry experience that began in middle school.
Faruk Jaffer founded Index Gurus, Inc. in 2004 after a career spanning investment firms, mutual fund and asset management companies, and technology companies including Intuit and Google. He learned the financial services industry from the inside — and built Index Gurus as a fee-only fiduciary practice to do the work without the structural conflicts he observed elsewhere.
Faruk also teaches the next generation of CFP® candidates at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, bringing real-world planning work into the classroom. Read the full story →
The structural commitment behind the practice.
Index Gurus, Inc. is a registered investment adviser operating as a fee-only fiduciary. In practice, this means three specific things:
Fee-only — Our only revenue is the fee our clients pay us. We accept no commissions, no referral fees, no product placement payments, and no third-party compensation from anyone.
Fiduciary — We are legally required to act in our clients' best interest at all times, on all accounts, in all aspects of the relationship. Not a marketing claim; a structural commitment.
Why it matters — When an advisor's only revenue is the client's fee, the incentives finally point in one direction. The advice you receive reflects only what we believe is in your best interest, not what generates the most compensation.
Let's talk about your situation.
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute discovery call. We will listen, ask focused questions about the financial decisions on your horizon, and tell you honestly whether the engagement is a fit. No sales pressure, no obligation.
Index Gurus, Inc. is a registered investment adviser. Information on this site is educational and does not constitute personalized investment, financial, tax, or legal advice. References to types of client situations and categories of work the firm has performed are illustrative; they are not testimonials and do not represent the experience of any specific client. Tax laws, IRS limits, and regulatory rules referenced throughout the site reflect rules in effect as of publication and are subject to change. All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please review Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS for additional information regarding services, fees, and conflicts of interest.
CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® in the U.S.