Guides › Switching Financial Advisors
Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: you open the account at the receiving firm and sign the transfer form there; the new firm pulls the account through ACATS. RBC Wealth Management prices the account transfer at $125 per account, per occurrence, and charges the identical $125 again under a separate line if the account is an IRA being terminated. The annual IRA fee is $85, waived if you are enrolled in an advisory wrap-fee program, hold Premier household status, or your household carries $500,000 or more in assets. This page states only what the firm itself publishes.
The published numbers
Every figure below comes from RBC Wealth Management’s own Schedule of Fees (document 26-56-4575140_56283, dated 06/26), fetched directly from rbcwealthmanagement.com.
| What it charges | Amount | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Account transfer fee | $125 | Per account, per occurrence |
| IRA account termination | $125 | Per account, per occurrence |
| Individual Retirement Account (IRA) fee | $85 | Per account, annual, billed on account anniversary |
Three separate conditions each independently waive the $85 annual IRA fee: not the $125 transfer or termination charge. The schedule’s own line reads: “Fee waiver criteria: Advisory wrap-fee program, Premier household, household assets of $500,000.” Meeting any one of the three, not all three, is enough. None of them is stated to reduce the $125 you pay when the account actually leaves.
No full/partial distinction is published for the $125 account-transfer line; separately listed physical-securities items (DRS eligible $650/transaction, Non-DRS eligible $200/transaction) are not labeled as partial-account-transfer fees.
Find the right next step for your situation
Answer three quick questions to see the option that fits you best.
Since you have $250,000 or more, a network of vetted advisers may fit.
If your portfolio is $250,000 or more, this connects you, free and 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.
Opens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
A $125 exit fee decides nothing. What you move to decides everything.
Price the destination before you pay to leave. The matching service below introduces you to advisers who pay to meet you.
Before you start, what actually happens. The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide is paid when you submit the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. This is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
The Kapitalwise form opens here; you stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It asks about nine questions (age, investable assets, location), then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
Compare flat-fee and hourly ranges before you call anyone.
Flat-fee and hourly advisers price the work directly instead of as a percentage of your assets. The comparison guide below has current per-year, per-project and per-hour ranges so you can price a quote before you book a call.
The sequence
1. Pull a current statement for every account, showing the exact registration, account numbers and complete holdings list. 2. Check the holdings for anything that will not move. Ask the receiving firm directly: “Can you hold every position on this statement?” Anything they cannot hold has to be sold, and in a taxable account that is a realised gain in the year you switch: the categories that commonly do not transfer. 3. Open the receiving account and sign the transfer form there. Under FINRA Rule 11870 the delivering firm then has one business day to validate and three business days after validation to complete. 4. Send a dated termination letter for the record, the generator writes it, and confirm in writing that billing has stopped.
Two things to get right
Cost basis. Under IRC §6045A the delivering broker must furnish a transfer statement carrying basis for covered securities within 15 days of the transfer. Keep your final statements anyway, and check the first statement at the new firm for positions showing a missing or zero basis. Retirement accounts move as a direct transfer, trustee to trustee, not as a distribution to you. Why that distinction matters. Budget $125 for the exit charge and leave the cash to cover it in the account rather than sweeping the balance to zero first. Whether the fee is worth paying at all is a question of what you are moving to: our benchmark of published adviser fee schedules puts the weighted median annual cost near $2,000 to $2,500 on $250,000: the benchmark. The general mechanics: switching financial advisors. To put the exit charge next to the fee you would stop paying, the switching advisors cost calculator returns the break-even in months.