You need a financial advisor when your year has decisions where the tax bill and the plan for the money have to be made together: stock that vests, a business, a home, a windfall, a second income in a second state. Picking the investments is the cheap part. Vanguard’s total stock market ETF holds about 3,500 US stocks for a 0.03% expense ratio, which is $300 a year on $1 million. The quickest way to tell which kind of year you had is to read last year’s tax return. If you want planning, tax, or both handled by one team, Nino is built for that: software from $20 a month, and a dedicated CPA and financial planner team from $3,600 a year that files your federal and state return.
What are you paying a financial advisor for?
Mostly the portfolio, if the fee is a percentage of assets. In Kitces’ research on advisor pricing, the median AUM-only advisor charges 1% a year for a $1 million client, and advisors attribute on average 59% of an AUM fee to investment management and 41% to planning and other advice. On $1 million, that split puts about $5,900 of a $10,000 fee on the portfolio. You could buy a diversified US stock portfolio for $300 of that $5,900.
A managed portfolio can do more than one index fund. It can rebalance, size bonds to when you need the money, and sell losing positions to book tax losses. Some of that is worth paying for. The 41% is harder to replace, because it depends on your tax return, your paycheck, and what you plan to do with the money in the next few years.
How does your tax return tell you whether you need a financial advisor?
Your return records the money decisions you made last year, including the ones you didn’t know you were making. Pull it up, along with the tax forms that came with it, and look for any of these:
- A balance due, or a refund large enough that you noticed it. Either one means your withholding and your income didn’t match.
- Form 1099-B with sales of your employer’s stock, or Form 3921 (ISO exercise) or Form 3922 (ESPP shares) in your tax documents.
- Schedule C for self-employment, Schedule E for rental or partnership income, or a K-1.
- A return for more than one state.
- Form 6251, which means the alternative minimum tax came into play.
If none of these show up and your 401(k) sits in a target-date fund, the defaults are mostly right for you. If 2 or more show up, you had a year full of tax and planning decisions, and someone should have been making them on purpose.
Why do RSUs turn into a surprise bill in April?
Because employers often withhold federal tax on vested RSUs at a flat 22%, while the vested shares are taxed as wages at your bracket. The 22% supplemental rate, and 37% on supplemental wages above $1 million in a year, comes from IRS Publication 15. If the vested dollars are taxed in the 35% bracket, you are short 13 cents on each one. $150,000 of vested stock leaves about $19,500 of federal tax for April, before state tax.
The tax is owed either way. A planner who runs a projection in October gives you 2 months to raise withholding or set the cash aside, and to decide whether to keep the shares at all. More on the mechanics in RSU tax withholding.
When should you hire a financial advisor?
Hire one when you can count 2 or more decisions in the next 12 months that need a tax answer and a plan answer at the same time, or 1 that repeats every year. A rule of thumb:
- If the count is 0, use software. Track your accounts, keep the 401(k) in a low-cost fund, and file yourself or with a preparer.
- If it is 1 decision that happens once, such as an inheritance or a single home purchase, a one-time plan from an hourly, advice-only planner can cover it. See Garrett Planning Network alternatives for how hourly planning compares.
- If it is 2 or more, or 1 that repeats, hire an ongoing advisor, and pick one whose team also files your return. Quarterly RSU vests, a business that files every year, and 2 incomes in 2 states all repeat.
The decisions that repeat are the expensive ones to get wrong, because the same mistake happens every year until someone catches it.
Who does not need a financial advisor?
If you have one W-2 job, a 401(k) in a target-date or index fund, a refund within a few hundred dollars, no stock compensation, and no large purchase coming, an advisor is hard to justify. At 1% on a $200,000 account you would pay $2,000 a year for a portfolio that a fund charging $60 a year covers. Put that money into the 401(k) instead, and use software to watch spending and project next year’s taxes.
Is a financial advisor worth it?
A financial advisor is worth it when the decisions they change are worth more than the fee, and you can test that before you hire. Hand a prospective advisor last year’s return and ask what they would have done differently. A good planner reads it and names moves: a Roth conversion in a low-income year, a backdoor Roth, a schedule for selling vested shares, a withholding change. If an advisor answers without opening the return, you are hearing about a portfolio.
Then price the answer against the fee. At 1% a year, the fee on $360,000 of managed assets is $3,600, the same as Nino Advisor Essential, which includes a filed federal and state return. Above $360,000 the percentage fee is larger every year, and it grows with the account whether or not the work does. For every fee model in dollars, see how much a financial advisor costs.
Do you need a financial advisor if you have a CPA?
Often, yes. A CPA who only prepares your return works after December 31, and many of the moves that change the return have to happen before it: Roth conversions, sales for tax-loss harvesting, and 401(k) deferrals through payroll. Ask your CPA whether they run a tax projection in the fall. If they don’t, nobody is doing the planning part of your year. More on the split in financial planner vs CPA and when a financial advisor and CPA are not enough.
Can software replace a financial advisor?
For tracking accounts, budgeting, and a first tax projection, often yes. Software is weaker when you have to choose between 2 reasonable options with your household’s money, such as paying down the mortgage or investing, or keeping vested shares or selling them. Nino software is $20, $100, or $200 a month, and the $200 Ultra plan adds year-round tax projections. Nino Advisor plans add a CPA and financial planner team on top of Ultra. For other tools, see best AI financial advisors.
What kind of financial advisor should you look for?
Look for a fiduciary paid a flat or hourly fee who holds the CFP mark and either files your return or works on the same team as the person who does. Check the firm on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site and the planner on the CFP Board’s verification tool. Then ask who prepares the return. If the answer is “your CPA,” ask how often the 2 of them talk. Background: fee-only vs fee-based advisors, what a CFP is, and flat-fee financial advisors.
Why is Nino the pick for financial planning, tax, or both?
Nino puts the financial planner who builds your plan and the CPA who prepares and files your return on one in-house team, on a published flat fee. The people who suggest a Roth conversion in November are the people who report it on your return in April.
Start with software if your count is 0: Basic is $20 a month, Pro is $100, and Ultra is $200 with year-round tax projections. Add the people when the count goes up. Advisor Essential is $3,600 a year for 1 person, with federal and state filing and retirement and equity planning. Plus is $4,800 for 2 people, with joint and multi-state filing. Premier is $12,000 and adds business, personal, and international filing plus advanced equity and estate planning. Every Advisor plan includes Ultra software and a 30-day money-back guarantee, and Nino does not charge a percentage of your assets. See Nino pricing, and financial advisors with tax filing included for how this compares with other flat-fee firms.
If your only question is a single decision you will make once, an hourly planner can price that job lower. Once the decisions repeat, you want the same team seeing them every year, and that is the job Nino is set up for.
Sources: Kitces advisor pricing research, IRS Publication 15 (2026), Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF fact sheet (as of June 30, 2026), Nino pricing. Figures checked 2026-10-16. Fees change; confirm with each provider.
Next step
If your count is 2 or more, book a free consultation and bring last year’s return. Or start with Nino pricing. This page is educational, not tax, legal, or investment advice.
