A financial advisor may charge a percentage of your investments, a flat annual fee, an hourly rate, or a project fee. The most common arrangement is still a percentage: about 1% a year up to $1 million, or $10,000 a year on a $1 million portfolio.
- Planning billed separately: advisors who bill for planning separately reported median fees of $300 an hour, $3,000 for a one-time plan, and $4,500 a year for a subscription.
- Tax preparation: usually extra.
- The useful comparison: the total dollar cost for the same work, because a cheaper quote can include less help.
What do financial advisors charge in 2026, by fee model?
| Fee model | Typical price | In dollars |
|---|---|---|
| AUM | 1.00% to 0.75%, graduated | $10,000/yr on $1M |
| Flat retainer | Median $4,500/yr | $4,500 to $11,000/yr |
| Flat-fee firms | $2,600 to $12,500/yr | Filing on upper tiers only |
| Hourly | Median $300/hr | $2,400 for 8 hours |
| Project plan | Median $3,000 | $3,000 + later work |
| Robo-advisor | 0.25%/yr | $2,500/yr on $1M |
| Tax prep | $300 to $600 (itemized 1040) | More for K-1s, business, states |
Many firms mix these models. In Kitces’ analysis of its 2024 research, 86% of firms used AUM as their primary method and 72% used more than one, such as an AUM fee plus a separate planning fee.
Two cautions about these numbers:
- Medians are not quotes. Survey medians describe what advisors report charging, not what you will be quoted.
- Tax prep can run higher. The NSA survey leans toward small firms where half the respondents are enrolled agents, so a CPA preparing a return with equity compensation or rental properties can quote well above the average.
What do AUM fees cost at $500,000, $1 million, $2 million, and $5 million?
Most AUM schedules are graduated: each rate applies to the slice of the portfolio in that tier, so the blended rate falls more slowly than the headline schedule. Kitces found blended fees stay near 1.00% until about $2 million and reach about 0.85% at $5 million. AdvisoryHQ’s 2023 averages are similar.
| Balance | Kitces rate | Fee/yr | AdvisoryHQ rate | Fee/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | 1.00% | $5,000 | 1.05% | $5,250 |
| $1 million | 1.00% | $10,000 | 1.02% | $10,200 |
| $2 million | ~1.00% | ~$20,000 | 0.91% | $18,200 |
| $5 million | 0.85% | $42,500 | 0.84% | $42,000 |
- Fund expenses come on top.
- Minimum fees: some firms also set a minimum annual fee, which can push the effective rate on a smaller account well above 1%.
- Hybrid services price in between: Betterment Premium, which adds access to an advisor, charges 0.65% on the first $1 million and requires $100,000.
Cerulli Associates expects average fees to stay roughly flat through 2026, at about 1.06% for a $750,000 client and 0.92% at $1.5 million, as summarized by Kitces.
How much do financial advisors charge per year?
Turn every quote into an annual dollar figure before comparing.
- A 1% fee on $1 million is $10,000.
- A $350 monthly retainer is $4,200 a year.
- For hourly work, ask for an estimate and what happens if the work runs over.
- A project price should name the deliverable and say whether follow-up is included.
For an AUM quote, ask for the fee in dollars at your actual balance. Then confirm:
- Which accounts count toward the bill
- How often balances are measured
- Whether a minimum fee applies
A headline “starting at” percentage can miss all three.
When is a flat fee cheaper?
With a constant 1% fee and a $4,000 annual retainer for equivalent services, the break-even balance is $400,000: $4,000 ÷ 0.01.
| Balance | 1% fee | $4,000 flat | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $2,500 | $4,000 | AUM |
| $500,000 | $5,000 | $4,000 | Flat |
| $1 million | $10,000 | $4,000 | Flat |
The $1 million household pays $6,000 less that year under the flat quote. That is a fee difference, not a promised improvement in returns.
The same fees over 20 years
A percentage fee grows with the portfolio, and every dollar paid in fees also stops compounding. To see the size of that effect, the table assumes:
- A 6% annual return before fees
- Fees taken from the portfolio after each year’s growth
- A 1% AUM fee, and a $5,000 flat fee that never changes
| Start | 1% fees | Flat fees | End, 1% | End, flat | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $174,000 | $100,000 | $1,312,000 | $1,420,000 | $108,000 |
| $1 million | $348,000 | $100,000 | $2,623,000 | $3,023,000 | $400,000 |
| $2 million | $697,000 | $100,000 | $5,246,000 | $6,230,000 | $984,000 |
Real outcomes will differ: returns vary, flat fees can rise at renewal, graduated AUM schedules lower the rate on larger balances, and the two advisors may not do the same work. Run your own numbers in the AUM vs flat-fee calculator.
What’s included, and what costs extra?
An AUM fee usually pays for investment management, and many firms fold planning into it. Tax preparation is the most common gap.
The flat-fee firms show how much the answer varies by tier:
- Facet: the Core plan does not include filing; Plus and Complete do, through its partner Taxfyle.
- Range: files personal returns only on Titanium, its $12,500 tier.
- Domain Money: includes filing on Strategic and Comprehensive through Taxfyle, and says on its pricing page that it is not a CPA or accounting firm.
Ask for a total that covers what applies to you:
- Investment costs: fund expense ratios, trading charges, and custody or platform fees. Domain Money, for example, notes that its custodian may charge up to 0.12% on some model portfolios.
- Separate professional work: tax preparation, estate documents, or business accounting. Facet sells estate documents as a $1,200 add-on through Wealth.com.
- Extra planning: additional entities, states, household members, or special projects. Range charges $500 for each state return beyond three on Titanium.
- Other compensation: product commissions or referral payments.
Investment expenses may come out of the account or fund rather than showing on the advisor’s invoice. You still pay them. Review the firm’s Form ADV and relationship summary, where one exists, alongside the agreement.
What are you paying the advisor to do?
Start with the decision you need help making. A retirement plan, a stock option exercise analysis, and ongoing portfolio management are different jobs. Send each provider the same short list so the quotes line up.
A written plan does not necessarily include help carrying it out. Confirm that before signing.
Why does how an advisor is paid matter as much as how much?
Three labels describe where an advisor’s income comes from:
- Fee-only: paid only by clients, through AUM, flat, hourly, or project fees.
- Fee-based: charges client fees and can also earn commissions on products such as insurance or annuities.
- Commission-based: an advisor or broker paid mainly by the products sold, so the cost shows up inside the product instead of on an invoice.
The differences, and how to check which applies, are in fee-only vs fee-based financial advisors.
Ask the advisor to put every form of compensation in writing. A registered investment adviser’s Form ADV Part 2A must describe its fees and conflicts, so read that section before you sign.
What should you ask before hiring an advisor?
- What is my all-in annual cost in dollars? Include the advisory fee, fund expenses, platform fees, and any minimum.
- Who prepares and signs my tax return, and is it included? Name your states, K-1s, and rental properties.
- How many meetings do I get, and how do I reach you between them? Several firms cap meetings by tier.
- What happens at renewal? Ask whether the price changes after the first year and how much notice you get.
- How are you paid besides my fee? Commissions and referral payments change incentives.
- What are the cancellation terms? Facet, for one, describes its memberships as annual and non-refundable.
- Which work costs extra? Estate documents, additional states, and one-off projects are common add-ons.
Where Nino fits
Nino charges flat fees, not a percentage of assets. Advisor plans pair you with an in-house CPA and financial planner team and include federal and state tax filing:
- Essential is $3,600 a year for one person.
- Plus is $4,800 and adds joint and multi-state filing.
- Premier is $12,000 and adds business and international filing.
Final pricing can vary with complexity. If you would rather work through questions yourself, Nino’s AI software costs $20, $100, or $200 a month. Current details are on Nino pricing.