Clear Money Guide
What this guide covers
A quick view of the questions and evidence developed below.
Updated July 31, 2026. Quick answer: yes, for most firms — $250,000 is the single most commonly published account minimum, so it is the balance at which the market genuinely opens. But “most” is not all, and the price is the real question. We measured both. In our own benchmark of published adviser fee schedules, at $250,000 18.9% of firms were minimum-blocked (they would not take the account) and only 28.4% published a fee you could actually price. The weighted median annual cost for those who did: $2,000 to $2,500, or 0.80% to 1.00%.
What $2,000 to $2,500 a year has to buy
Not investment selection. A single broad-market index fund does the investing part, and paying $2,250 a year for fund picking is a bad trade at any balance. What justifies the number at $250,000 is the decisions around the portfolio: which account each dollar goes into and in what order, the contribution and conversion sequence over the next few years, insurance and beneficiary hygiene, and a plan you will actually keep in a bad year. Run the arithmetic for your own balance with the AUM fee calculator, and see the fee-side detail at this size on advisor fees at $250k.
The disclosure problem, which is bigger than the fee
In our own benchmark of published adviser fee schedules, computed from Form ADV disclosures and published on the fee comparison chart, at $250,000 only 28.4% of firms published a priceable fee. Another 16.8% published an “up to” ceiling and nothing more, and 25.7% published nothing usable at all — 42.5% combined that you cannot price from the public filing. That is not a rounding problem, it is the reason comparison shopping feels impossible. The fix is a single question, and the rulebook is on your side: Form ADV Part 2A Item 5.A requires an adviser to “provide your fee schedule” and to “disclose whether the fees are negotiable.” Ask every firm for the all-in annual dollar cost on $250,000. How to read the answer.
The three real alternatives at this balance
$250,000 is the first balance where you have genuine choice, so use it. Percentage of assets, at roughly $2,000 to $2,500 a year, rising automatically as the portfolio grows. Flat fee, where the price stops scaling — often the better deal from here up, and the break-even calculator tells you exactly where. Hourly or project, if you have two or three questions rather than an ongoing need: hourly rates. Compare them properly with the fee-model decision aid.
$250,000 is where you finally have a choice of firms.
That is leverage, and it only helps if you get more than one quote. The service below matches you with 2 to 3 advisors so you can compare the all-in annual number on $250,000 rather than a percentage.
If your portfolio is $250,000 or more, this connects you — free, with no obligation to hire anyone — with 2 to 3 vetted advisors.
Before you start, what actually happens. The matching service is run by WiserAdvisor, an independent advisor-matching company. It opens on their site, asks for your ZIP code and a few questions, and matches you with 2 to 3 vetted advisors. It is free to you.
WiserAdvisor states the service is built for portfolios of $250,000 and above. By submitting, you consent to emails, phone calls and text messages from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisors, so expect to be contacted. Clear Money Guide is paid when you complete the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone.
Compare fees, scope, conflicts, credentials and fiduciary duty before you hire anyone. This is not the only way to find an adviser.
Opens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
Neighbouring questions
If the $250,000 arrived as an inheritance rather than as savings, the decision is different: an inherited $250,000. If you are below this: at $100,000. Above it: at $500,000. The whole ladder: at what net worth. And the dollar-free version of the question: the complexity checklist.