A fiduciary financial advisor typically costs about 1% of your portfolio each year under the most common pricing model, but the total depends on how you buy the advice. Hourly rates run $200 to $400. A one-time comprehensive financial plan runs roughly $2,500 to $5,000. Flat annual retainers for ongoing planning fall between $2,500 and $9,200. Robo-advisors sit well below all of these at 0.25% to 0.50% a year. On top of whatever your advisor charges, the funds inside your portfolio carry their own expenses.
The 1% Assets Under Management Model
Most human fiduciaries charge a percentage of the money they manage for you, called assets under management, or AUM. The industry benchmark is around 1% per year for accounts up to $1 million. The fee is pulled directly from your investment accounts each month or quarter, so you don’t write a check.
Many firms tier the rate so the percentage drops as the account grows. A client with $500,000 might pay 1.25%, or $6,250 a year. Above a threshold like $2 million, the rate on the balance over the line might fall to 0.75%. Because the fee moves with your balance, the advisor earns more when the portfolio grows and less when it falls.
Account minimums matter here. Smaller advisory practices may take clients starting at $25,000. Larger wealth management firms often require $500,000 or more. If your portfolio sits below a firm’s cutoff, hourly or retainer pricing is usually the better route.
Every registered investment adviser has to disclose its fee schedule, whether fees are negotiable, and how they’re calculated in a document called Form ADV Part 2A.1U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Form ADV Part 2 – Uniform Requirements for the Investment Adviser Brochure and Brochure Supplements Ask for it before signing, or pull it free from the SEC’s online database.
Hourly and Project Pricing
If you only need help with a specific question — a retirement plan review, a stock option decision, timing Social Security — you can hire a fiduciary by the hour or by the project. Hourly rates typically run $200 to $400. These “advice-only” advisors give guidance without taking custody of your investment accounts, so you keep control of the money.
A full financial plan under this model, covering income, spending, tax, insurance, and long-term goals, generally costs $2,500 to $5,000 depending on complexity. A narrower project like a retirement readiness review or a Social Security claiming strategy might run $1,500 to $3,000 flat. The price is agreed on before the work starts.
The tradeoff: you get a snapshot, not continuous monitoring. This works well for one-time decisions or second opinions.
Flat Annual Retainers
A growing number of fiduciary firms charge a flat monthly or quarterly fee for ongoing planning and investment help. Annual retainers in this model typically run $2,500 to $9,200, depending on the breadth of services and how complicated your finances are. Some firms bill monthly to spread the cost.
The appeal of a retainer is that your fee stops tracking your portfolio size. Whether your accounts hold $100,000 or $1 million, the price is the same. For larger portfolios this often beats the AUM model on cost, and it removes any incentive for the advisor to push you to move more assets under their management.
Robo-Advisors as the Low-Cost Floor
Automated digital platforms, usually called robo-advisors, charge 0.25% to 0.50% per year. That’s roughly a quarter to half the cost of a traditional human advisor. On a $500,000 portfolio, you’d pay $1,250 to $2,500 a year against roughly $5,000 to $6,250 with a human advisor at 1% to 1.25%.
Robo-advisors handle portfolio construction, automatic rebalancing, and basic tax-loss harvesting through algorithms. What you generally don’t get is personalized guidance on complicated situations like a business sale, multi-state tax exposure, or coordinating with an estate plan. Hybrid platforms that add human advisor access typically price in the 0.40% to 0.90% range.
Fee-Only vs Fee-Based: A Hidden Cost Warning
Two terms sound alike and don’t mean the same thing. A fee-only advisor is paid entirely by the fees you pay. No commissions, no referral bonuses, no payments from mutual fund companies. A fee-based advisor charges you a fee but may also earn commissions from selling products like insurance or certain mutual fund share classes.
That matters for your total cost. When a fee-based advisor recommends a product that pays them a commission, you may be paying both the advisory fee and a product cost built into what you bought. Under the SEC’s fiduciary standard, an investment adviser has to either eliminate conflicts of interest or fully disclose them so you can give informed consent.2U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Commission Interpretation Regarding Standard of Conduct for Investment Advisers Ask directly whether the advisor receives any compensation from third parties, and read the conflict disclosures in the Form ADV before signing.
Fund Expenses and Other Costs Stacked on Top
The advisor’s fee isn’t the only thing you pay. The mutual funds and ETFs inside your portfolio charge their own annual expense ratios, deducted from fund returns before you see them. Passive index funds, which most fiduciaries favor, average about 0.05% per year, or $5 per $10,000 invested. Actively managed funds average roughly 0.42%.
Some older mutual fund share classes also carry 12b-1 marketing and distribution fees of up to 0.25% a year on top of the expense ratio. A fiduciary should place you in the cheapest available share class. If you spot 12b-1 fees on your statement, ask why.
Custodian fees are the third layer. The brokerage holding your accounts, such as Schwab or Fidelity, may charge for certain account types, wire transfers, or alternative investments. Standard accounts at most major custodians no longer carry custody fees or trading commissions, but specialty assets like private placements can still trigger per-transaction charges.
What Pushes Your Price Up or Down
Several things move the quote you’ll see:
- Portfolio size. Larger accounts get lower AUM percentages through tiered pricing, though the total dollar cost still rises with the balance.
- Financial complexity. A business owner with stock options, rental properties, and multi-state filings pays more than someone with one employer retirement plan and a savings account. More analysis hours drive the price up under any model.
- Advisor credentials. Holders of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation often charge more, reflecting coursework, exams, and continuing education.
- Location. Firms in major metro areas tend to charge more than those in smaller markets, though virtual advisory firms have narrowed the gap.
- Service scope. An advisor who only handles investments charges less than one who also coordinates estate planning, reviews insurance, and runs annual tax projections.
You Can’t Deduct the Fee
Investment advisory fees are not deductible on your federal return. Before 2018, you could claim them as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to a 2% floor. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the deduction through 2025, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, made the elimination permanent.3Internal Revenue Service. One Big Beautiful Bill Act Provisions
When your fee is deducted directly from a traditional IRA, the payment is generally not treated as a taxable distribution; it’s a reduction in your account balance. That money would eventually be taxed on withdrawal, so paying fees from a taxable brokerage account preserves more tax-deferred growth. For a Roth IRA, where growth is tax-free, paying fees from outside the Roth keeps more of your tax-free balance intact.
Confirming You’re Actually Paying a Fiduciary
Before hiring anyone, confirm the registration. The SEC runs a free, public database called the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) system where you can look up any registered investment adviser, read their Form ADV filings, and check for disciplinary history.4U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. IAPD – Investment Adviser Public Disclosure You can also search individual advisor representatives for employment history and reported misconduct.
Registered advisors and broker-dealers also have to give you a Form CRS, a short plain-language summary of services, fees, conflicts of interest, and whether the firm operates under a fiduciary standard or the lower suitability standard that applies to broker-dealers.5U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Form CRS If an advisor can’t or won’t hand one over, treat that as a warning.