What advice-only means
What is Advice-Only Financial Planning?
Advice-only financial planning is a model in which you pay a financial planner directly for their advice — by the hour, by the project, or on a retainer, and they never sell financial products, earn commissions, or manage your money for a percentage of it.
No financial product sales. No investment minimums or management fees. Just clear financial guidance from an expert who works only for you.
Pure financial advice
Think about how you work with other professionals in your life. When you see a doctor, they examine you and give recommendations. When you work with a lawyer, they give you legal advice. You pay them for their expertise, not for products they sell.
Advice-only financial planning works the same way. Your advisor focuses purely on giving you expert guidance. You keep control of your money while getting clear direction on what to do with it.
It sits inside the broader fee-only standard, advisors paid only by their clients, but goes further by removing asset management from the arrangement entirely. If that distinction matters to you, we compare the two directly in Advice-Only vs. Fee-Only.
How it works
Finding the right financial advisor shouldn't be complicated. We connect you with experts who give straight answers and clear guidance, so you can start moving toward your goals today.
- 1
Share what matters to you
We'll match you with advisors who understand your goals.
- 2
Find your fit
Have relaxed conversations with advisors to find your perfect match.
- 3
Get advice
Get personalized guidance that helps you move forward with confidence.
Who uses advice-only planning?
Real people getting real help with their money decisions. Our advisors help everyone from young professionals to retirees take control of their financial future.
-
Sarah's Stock Option Strategy
Tech professional Sarah needed clarity on her equity compensation. Her advice-only planner helped her understand the tax implications of her stock options and RSUs, then created a clear exercise strategy that maximized her benefit while protecting her from too much company stock risk.
-
Mike and Lisa's Mortgage Decision
This couple had extra savings and couldn't decide between paying off their mortgage early or investing more for retirement. Their advisor walked them through the actual numbers for their situation, showing them how different strategies would affect their taxes and long-term wealth. This helped them make a confident choice that aligned with their goals.
-
Robert's Retirement Income Plan
With retirement approaching, Robert felt overwhelmed by all the moving pieces - Social Security timing, Medicare decisions, and which accounts to tap first. His advisor designed a tax-efficient withdrawal strategy showing him exactly which accounts to use when, and how to maximize his Social Security benefits based on his specific situation.
-
Amy's Career Transition Plan
After 15 years in marketing, Amy wanted to start her own consulting business but worried about replacing her corporate benefits. Her advisor helped her understand exactly how much savings she needed before making the leap, how to structure her health insurance, and how to create a retirement plan that worked for her new career path.
-
David and James's First Home Purchase
This couple had been saving for years but weren't sure if they were ready to buy in their expensive city market. Their advisor helped them understand their true price range, evaluate different mortgage options, and create a plan that balanced their home purchase with other goals like starting a family and saving for retirement.
Key terms in advice-only planning
How an advisor is paid shapes the advice you get, and the vocabulary is where most of the confusion lives. These are the terms worth knowing before you hire anyone.
- Advice-Only Financial Planning
Advice-only financial planning is a model where you pay a financial planner purely for their advice (an hourly rate, a flat project fee, or a retainer), and they never manage your investments, sell financial products, or earn commissions.
- Fee-Only Financial Advisor
A fee-only financial advisor is paid exclusively by clients (hourly rates, flat fees, retainers, or a percentage of assets under management) and accepts no commissions, sales loads, referral fees, or any other payment from financial product companies.
- Flat-Fee Financial Planning
Flat-fee financial planning is a model where a planner charges a fixed dollar amount (for a project, a plan, or a year of service) stated up front, instead of commissions or a percentage of your investment accounts.
- Hourly Financial Planning
Hourly financial planning is a fee model where you pay a financial planner a stated hourly rate for exactly the time you use, like hiring an attorney or CPA, with no products sold and no percentage taken from your accounts.
- Subscription Financial Planning
Subscription financial planning is a fee model where clients pay a flat recurring amount, usually monthly, for ongoing access to a financial planner, pricing advice like a membership rather than as a percentage of investments. It is the consumer-scale form of what the profession has long called a retainer.
- Assets Under Management (AUM)
Assets under management (AUM) is the total market value of investments a firm manages on behalf of clients. In financial advice, "the AUM model" refers to charging clients an annual fee calculated as a percentage of the assets the advisor manages, commonly around 1%.
- Commission
A commission is compensation paid to a financial salesperson or firm when a customer buys a product or executes a transaction: a sales load on a mutual fund, a payout on an annuity or insurance policy, a fee per trade. The advice attached to commissioned products is "free" because the product pays for it.
- Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest exists when a financial professional's own compensation or incentives could pull their advice away from what's best for the client: the central problem every advice model handles differently.
- Fiduciary
A fiduciary is a person or firm legally obligated to act in someone else's best interest. In financial advice, fiduciary duty requires an advisor to put the client's interests ahead of their own, with legal duties of loyalty and care.
- Registered Investment Adviser (RIA)
A Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) is a firm registered with the SEC or a state securities regulator to provide investment advice for compensation. RIAs owe clients a fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
- Investment Adviser Representative (IAR)
An investment adviser representative (IAR) is an individual licensed to give investment advice on behalf of a registered investment adviser (RIA). IARs typically qualify by passing the Series 65 exam (or Series 66 plus Series 7) or by holding a credential such as the CFP® certification that most states accept instead.
- Form ADV
Form ADV is the registration and disclosure document every registered investment adviser files with the SEC or state regulators. Its plain-English "brochure" (Part 2) describes the firm's services, fees, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary history, free to read at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Browse every advice-only term in the glossary, or start from the Guide to Personal Finance.
Join Us in Creating Change
Whether you're looking for financial advice or you're an advisor who shares our vision, you can be part of this positive transformation in financial services.