Fees is a Four Letter Word

Why Fees is a Four Letter Word and Should Be a Primary Concern When Choosing a Financial Advisor

"Fees" is a four-letter word and a crucial factor to consider when finding a financial advisor. If you don't understand how your financial professional is compensated, there's a risk it could be expensive, complex, or both. Let's explore the two primary fee structures:

1. Fee-based: Financial professionals using a fee-based structure may receive additional compensation from commissions on products or services they sell you. In other words, you pay a direct fee and also an indirect fee if you purchase any of the additional products or services they are selling. Personally, I've always found it difficult to understand how an advisor could be truly objective if they have additional compensation to be earned by selling you something.

   
   

2. Fee-only: Financial professionals using this fee structure only earn money from the services they provide directly to you. In other words, you pay for what you get, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's straightforward. This fee may be in the form of a percentage of your assets, typically 1%, an hourly rate, a flat fee, or a combination of these. Although fee-only is generally preferable, it doesn't guarantee transparency, affordability, or value.

Walk You To Wealth Fees

When I started Walk You To Wealth, it was important to me that it was a fee-only advisor, but I wanted to go a step further. I wanted it to be simple, transparent, fixed, and without confusing asset-based fees. I've always felt there was an inherent conflict with asset-based fees for a few reasons. First of all, it may incentivize an advisor to invest a portfolio more aggressively than necessary to achieve your goals. For example, if you are paying 1% on a $1M portfolio, or $10,000 per year, and that portfolio increases dramatically due to high-risk investment returns, then so do the fees. Secondly, there may be an added incentive for the advisor to directly manage more of your assets. In other words, the more of your money that moves to their platform or under their direct management, the more you pay. Lastly, these fees usually fall into what I would describe as "unintentional spending." You typically don't receive a monthly or quarterly invoice, and the fee is simply withdrawn from your investment account, so it's easy to forget you are even paying for it.

By comparison, Walk You To Wealth charges fixed monthly fees that are billed directly to you, which is hopefully a reminder to cancel the service if you aren't receiving enough value, and there are no confusing percentage-based fees. Although my fee structure isn't perfect, it's built on transparency, simplicity, and honesty, which are desperately needed in the financial guidance space.

Finally, although I'm biased, paying for financial guidance makes sense for most people; however, the pricing structure should be straightforward, honest, and fair – qualities that seem to be in short supply.

Disclaimer: The information in this post is provided for your convenience only and is not intended to be treated as financial, investment, tax, or other advice. The information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific individual.  It is also not intended to be relied upon as a forecast and is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy.  The opinions expressed are those of the author.  Reliance upon the guidance and information in this presentation is at the sole discretion of the individual.