You went looking for a number and came back with adjectives. Advisor websites talk about relationships and philosophy, the pricing page either doesn't exist or says "contact us," and the only way to learn the fee seems to be a meeting where someone gets to size you up first. That feels backwards, and it's the reason most people stall right here.
Underneath the annoyance is a real question. Advisory fees usually get deducted from your account rather than billed to your card, so once the relationship starts, the cost stops being visible. You want to know the number before it disappears into a quarterly line item you never look at. Fair enough. Here's how the pricing actually works, ours included.
The four ways fee-only advisors charge
Every fee-only arrangement is a variation on one of four structures. Some firms use only one. Others price differently depending on whether you want ongoing management or a one-time plan.
Read past the label to the mechanics. A percentage that sounds small applies to a growing balance every year, and a flat fee that sounds large may cover work an hourly engagement would bill several times over.
- Percentage of assets under management. You pay an annual rate on the balance the firm manages, usually billed quarterly and deducted from the account. Many firms use a tiered schedule where the rate steps down as the balance grows.
- Flat annual fee. One number for the year, set by the complexity of your situation rather than your balance. Common when a household has significant assets outside the advisor's management, like real estate or a business.
- Monthly or quarterly retainer. A subscription for ongoing planning and access, sometimes paired with a smaller asset-based fee. This shows up more often with clients who are still accumulating.
- Hourly or project-based. You pay for defined work: a plan, a second opinion, an equity compensation decision. Useful when you want an answer rather than an ongoing relationship.
Why so few firms publish a number
Part of it is that the honest answer varies. A household with one brokerage account, one 401(k), and a mortgage takes a fraction of the work of a family with a business, an equity grant, three rental properties, and a trust. Firms that quote one figure for everyone tend to overcharge the simple cases and underprice the complicated ones.
The rest of it is that nobody has to publish. What every registered investment adviser does have to do is file Form ADV Part 2 and hand it to you, and Item 5 of that document describes the fee schedule in plain language. You can pull it yourself from the SEC's adviser search before you ever speak to anyone. Ours is there. We'd also just tell you on the phone.
What should the fee include?
Two firms quoting the same rate can be selling very different things. One manages the portfolio and rebalances it. The other does that and also builds the retirement projection, coordinates with your CPA on the tax plan, reviews your insurance, works through your equity compensation, and sits in on the estate attorney call.
Ask for the scope in writing before you compare prices. The question that separates the two: what happens between review meetings when something changes in my life, and is that included?
- Ongoing financial planning, or portfolio management only
- Tax coordination with your CPA, and whether the advisor reviews your return
- Estate document review and coordination with your attorney
- Insurance and disability coverage review, and whether the firm sells any of it
- Access between scheduled meetings, and who actually answers when you call
- The number of people working on your household, and whether you talk to the person who does the planning
The costs that sit underneath the advisory fee
The advisory fee isn't the whole cost of owning a portfolio. Underneath it sit the expense ratios of the funds you hold, custodian and account fees, transaction costs, and the taxes generated by whatever trading happens. None of that goes to your advisor, and all of it comes out of your money.
Add those layers up before you compare two firms. A lower advisory fee attached to expensive funds can cost more in total than a higher fee attached to cheap ones, and the only way to know is to ask for the all-in number. Any advisor who can't produce it on request has told you something useful.
How do you tell whether the fee is worth paying?
Nobody can promise you a return, and any advisor who quantifies what their advice will earn you is claiming to know something they can't. What you can evaluate is whether the work being done is work you weren't going to do, and whether the decisions in front of you are large enough that getting them wrong costs more than the fee.
For most of the families we work with, the decisions that justify the cost are the irreversible ones. What to do with a huge commission year. How to unwind a concentrated stock position. Which retirement plan to open when you're self-employed, or when to take distributions from an inherited account. Those get decided once. The fee is annual, so run the comparison over years, not a single quarter.
What to do next
- Write down the four or five decisions actually on your table this year. That list, more than your account balance, tells you which pricing model fits.
- Pull Form ADV Part 2 for any firm you're considering from the SEC adviser search and read Item 5. Then ask for the all-in cost, including fund expenses and custodian fees.
- Book a 20-minute introductory call with us. We'll tell you exactly how we're paid and what the engagement would cover before you share a single statement.
Frequently asked questions
Is a percentage of assets better than a flat fee?
Neither wins on its own. A percentage-of-assets fee scales with your balance, which some clients like because the advisor's revenue moves with the portfolio, and others dislike for the same reason. A flat fee is predictable and doesn't grow as the account does, but it can look expensive next to a small balance. Match the model to where your complexity actually sits.
What does Envision Wealth Planners charge?
Our minimum annual fee is $10,000, charged based on assets under management. If your assets don't reach the minimum on their own, we can work out other ways to meet it. The full schedule is in Form ADV Part 2 under CRD 298244, and we walk through it on the introductory call before any paperwork. No surprises.
Are there costs beyond what the advisor charges?
Yes. Fund expense ratios, custodian and account maintenance fees, transaction costs, and taxes on realized gains all reduce your return, and none of them are advisory revenue. Ask any firm, including ours, for the total annual cost of the portfolio they'd build for you, not just their own fee.
Can I deduct investment advisory fees on my tax return?
For most individuals, investment advisory fees aren't deductible on a federal return under current law. There are narrow situations tied to account type and entity structure where the treatment differs, and the rules here have changed more than once in recent years. Ask your CPA about your specific return rather than assuming either way.
Do I pay for the first conversation?
No. The 20-minute introductory call costs nothing and carries no obligation. It exists so we can both find out whether the fit makes sense before anyone spends real time on it.
