Tarbox Family Office, Inc.– Form CRS

Item 1 – Introduction

Tarbox Family Office, Inc. (“we” or “us”) is registered with the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as an investment adviser. Our services and compensation structure differ from a registered broker-dealer, and it is important for you to understand the differences between those structures. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at www.investor.gov/CRS. The site also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers and investing. The italicized sentences appearing in text boxes below are intended to be “conversation starters” for you to have with us, as required by the instructions to Form CRS.

Item 2 – Relationships and Services

What investment services and advice can you provide me?

We provide financial planning and consulting, tax preparation, and investment management services to individuals and their trusts and estates (“you,” or our “clients”). We provide these services based on each client’s unique circumstances, including their financial concerns, investment objectives, risk tolerance, investment time horizon, withdrawal requirements, and other special circumstances, which we develop through discussions/meetings with our clients. We suggest strategies to accomplish agreed-upon goals and use a coordinated implementation and monitoring process for which clients are responsible to notify us of any changes in their circumstances or other information that might affect the advice or services they received or continue to receive. Our financial planning services address the specific needs of each client, which may include the following areas of concern: multi-generational estate planning and wealth transfer; establishing goals and a family financial plan; charitable giving; employee benefits; complex transactional analysis; cash-flow analysis; insurance coverage; tax planning, consulting, and coordination, etc. When we provide those services, we rely upon the information clients provide and do not verify or monitor that information while or after we provide them. We provide our investment management services on a discretionary basis, which means we have the authority to buy and sell investments in your account without speaking to you before doing so. However, you can place reasonable restrictions on the securities that we buy by notifying us, in writing. We monitor client portfolios periodically and make changes as we determine necessary. We do not have to limit the type of securities we trade for clients to proprietary products or a limited group or type of investment, but we generally construct and manage portfolios containing individual equity (stocks), debt (bonds) and fixed income securities, and/or mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”). We may also recommend that certain qualified clients invest in unaffiliated private investment funds or engage unaffiliated independent investment managers that we select. Subject to certain exceptions described in Item 7 of our Part 2A Brochure, we generally seek to work with clients having initial minimum account assets of $5 million for combined planning and investment management services. For more detailed information about our Advisory Business and the Types of Clients we generally service, please see Items 4 and 7, respectively in our Part 2A Brochure.

Conversation Starters:

  • Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Why or why not?
  • How will you choose investments to recommend to me?
  • What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education and other qualifications?
  • What do these qualifications mean?

Item 3 – Fees, Costs, Conflicts, and Standard of Conduct

What fees will I pay?

For combined financial planning and investment management services, the annual investment advisory fee varies (from 0.20% up to 1.00% of the total assets under management), and is based upon various objective and subjective factors, such as the amount of the assets under management and/or advisement, the complexity of the engagement, and the level and scope of the overall investment advisory services to be rendered. As a result, similarly situated clients could pay diverse fees. We either deduct our fees from one or more of your investment accounts or bill you for our services quarterly in arrears. Because our fee is based on the amount of your assets under our management, the more assets you designate to us for management, the more you will pay us for our services. Therefore, we have an incentive to encourage you to increase the amount of assets that you designate for our management. For stand-alone financial planning, tax preparation and/or consulting services, our negotiable fees generally range from $5,000 to $20,000 on a fixed-fee basis, or between $175.00 to $600.00 per hour on an hourly rate basis. For more detailed information about our investment advisory and other fees and expenses, please see Item 5 in our Part 2A Brochure. Your account will be held with a qualified custodian. You will be responsible for the fees and expenses charged by qualified custodians and imposed by broker dealers according to their fee schedules. Those fees and expenses include but are not limited to, certain transaction charges, wire transfer and electronic fund fees, and other fees, taxes and costs related to maintaining an account. If your assets are invested in mutual funds, ETFs, or other registered and unregistered investment companies, you will bear your pro rata share of the investment management fees and other fees of the funds, which are in addition to the fees you pay us. These fees and expenses are described in each fund’s prospectus or other offering documents. If your assets are allocated to unaffiliated independent investment managers, you will incur a separate and additional charge for their services subject to the terms of a separate agreement you sign them. You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying. For more detailed information about our fees and costs related to our management of your account, please see Item 5 in our Part 2A Brochure.

Conversation Starters:

  • Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments. If I give you $10,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?

What are your legal obligations to me when acting as my investment adviser? How else does your firm make money and what conflicts of interest do you have?

When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means:

* We may recommend that you engage a particular custodian from whom we receive support services. This presents a conflict of interest, because our receipt of their support make us more inclined to continue using and recommending them.

* We may recommend rollovers out of employer-sponsored retirement plans and into Individual Retirement Accounts that we manage for an asset-based fee. If we do not currently manage your account held with your employer’s plan, this will increase our compensation.

Conversation Starters:

  • How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?

For more detailed information about our conflicts of interest, please review Item 4, 10, 11, and 12 of our Part 2A Brochure.

How do your financial professionals make money?

Our financial professionals are compensated on a salary basis and are eligible to receive discretionary bonuses based on individual performance. In addition, certain of our financial professionals are equity owners of the firm, in which case they stand to receive a share of its profits. This presents conflicts of interest, because it can incentivize our financial professionals to recommend that you place additional assets under our management. We mitigate that conflict by making investment recommendations in conformity with each client’s investment strategy. You should discuss your financial professional’s compensation directly with your financial professional.

Item 4 – Disciplinary History

Do you or your financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history?

No. We encourage you to visit www.Investor.gov/CRS to research our firm and our financial professionals.

Conversation Starters:

  • As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history?  For what type of conduct?

Item 5 – Additional Information

Additional information about our firm is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. You may contact our Chief Compliance Officer to request a current copy of our Part 2A Brochure or our relationship summary. Our Chief Compliance Officer is available by phone at 949-721-2330.

Conversation Starters:

Who is my primary contact person? Is he or she a representative of an investment adviser or broker-dealer? Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?

A copy of our Form ADV Part 2A Brochure is available by selecting “Part 2 Brochures” at: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/106079