There's no standard for knowing which one is better.
FOSH is building it.
Financial planning has sophisticated tools, licensed advisors, and fiduciary standards. What it does not have is a shared way to measure plan quality.
Two independently built plans for the same household can recommend different savings rates, different retirement timelines, and different tradeoffs. Both may come from competent, well-intentioned professionals. Both can appear entirely reasonable.
One plan might have a client retiring at 62. Another at 68. Today, there is no standard way to evaluate which recommendation is actually making better use of what that household has.
This is not a problem of intent. It is a problem of measurement.
Financial Optimization Standards for Households (FOSH) is an open standard for measuring the quality of a household financial plan.
Similar to how GAAP standardizes financial reporting or GIPS standardizes investment performance, FOSH defines what must be declared, computed, and reported — so plan quality can be evaluated consistently, across advisors and firms.
FOSH does not tell clients which plan is right for them. It gives advisors and clients an objective basis for understanding which plans are making better use of what's available — and which tradeoffs each plan involves.
Once operational, FOSH-certified firms will submit plans through authorized verification services. The result will be an auditable record of where a plan stands relative to the best outcomes available for that specific household.
No prescribed strategies. No mandated philosophy. Just measurement.
FOSH is governed by the FOSH Governance Board, a nonprofit organization incorporated in April 2026.
The Board is being structured for independence: bylaws will mandate a majority-independent board of directors and explicit anti-capture provisions, with no exclusive relationships with any verification service or planning firm.
The standard
The governance
The measurement
Academic papers introducing the FOSH framework are currently under peer review.
Demonstrate plan quality that clients and regulators can independently verify. We are forming the founding cohort now.
Learn about Founding MembershipHelp shape an independent standard for measuring financial advice quality. The Governance Board is recruiting founding directors.
Learn about the BoardFOSH Certification will open when the ecosystem is ready. Until then, Founding Member firms make an early commitment to the Governance Board — a signal that financial planning should have a measurable quality standard.
Founding Member status is reviewed directly by the Board.
The FOSH Governance Board is seeking founding directors with backgrounds in academic research, regulatory policy, and consumer advocacy. The majority of directors cannot be employed by or financially tied to the firms or verification services the Board oversees — that independence is structural, not aspirational.
If you believe financial advice quality should be independently measurable, we would like to hear from you.