Guides › Financial Advisor Fees
Updated September 19, 2026. Quick answer: Charles Schwab is less expensive at $500,000: $4,000 a year, versus $12,500 a year for Equitable Advisors, computed from each firm’s own SEC-filed fee disclosure. See the full side-by-side table below for $250,000, $1 million and $2 million.
What each firm charges, side by side
| Account balance | Charles Schwab (annual fee) | Equitable Advisors (annual fee) |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $4,000 | $6,250 |
| $500,000 | $4,000 | $12,500 |
| $1,000,000 | $8,000 | $25,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $15,500 | $50,000 |
Charles Schwab discloses a tiered schedule starting at 0.80% (Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Disclosure Brochure for the Schwab Wealth Advisory Wrap Fee Program, June 30, 2026 (Standard SWA Fee Schedule effective October 1, 2024)); Equitable Advisors discloses a maximum, individually negotiated rate of 2.5% (Equitable Advisors, LLC 2026 Firm Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), March 2026).
What the fee includes, in each firm’s own words
Charles Schwab (Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Disclosure Brochure for the Schwab Wealth Advisory Wrap Fee Program, June 30, 2026 (Standard SWA Fee Schedule effective October 1, 2024)): “Standard SWA Fee Schedule (effective October 1, 2024): Amounts up to US$1 million, 0.80%; Next US$1 million (more than US$1M up to US$2M), 0.75%; Next US$3 million (more than US$2M up to US$5M), 0.70%; Next US$5 million (more than US$5M up to US$10M), 0.50%; Next US$15 million (more than US$10M up to US$25M), 0.30%; Assets over US$25 million, 0.30% (or less, as negotiated). The SWA Fee is subject to a quarterly minimum, which represents the minimum amount charged for the advisory services provided during a quarter. The quarterly minimum is equal to the lesser of: $1,000, or 1.60% of your total billable assets, calculated on a quarterly basis.”
Schwab Wealth Advisory (SWA) bills a marginal (tiered) schedule, but every account is also subject to a quarterly minimum equal to the lesser of $1,000 or 1.6% of that quarter’s billable assets, which for any balance above about $62,500 works out to a flat $1,000-a-quarter ($4,000-a-year) floor. At $250,000, the marginal schedule alone would compute to $2,000 a year, but the $4,000 floor overrides it, so $4,000 is what is actually billed. At $500,000, the marginal schedule and the floor land on the same number, $4,000, by design: Schwab sets SWA’s own account minimum at $500,000. At $1,000,000 and $2,000,000, the marginal schedule exceeds the floor, so the schedule rate applies directly ($8,000 and $8,000 plus 0.75% on the next $1,000,000, or $15,500). Clients enrolled before October 1, 2024 sit on a different, Grandfathered SWA Fee Schedule; the figures here are for current, Standard enrollees.
Equitable Advisors (Equitable Advisors, LLC 2026 Firm Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), March 2026): “The Account Fee is customarily negotiable (in whole or in part). Each LPL Program as its own maximum Account Fee; the highest account fee in an LPL Program is 2.5% of the client’s account value on an annualized basis, and is usually payable quarterly in advance.”
Equitable Advisors’ current (March 2026) Form ADV Part 2A explicitly states in its Item 2 material-changes summary that its old advisory fee chart ‘has been removed and language has been added to provide for negotiability of fees.’ No per-tier, per-dollar-bracket schedule is published; clients invest through LPL advisory programs and the brochure states only a ceiling: the highest Account Fee across LPL Programs generally is 2.5% of account value annually (Retirement Plan/ERISA services are capped lower, generally 0.75%). dollar_at values apply this 2.5% ceiling uniformly (250,000 x 0.025 = $6,250; 500,000 x 0.025 = $12,500; 1,000,000 x 0.025 = $25,000; 2,000,000 x 0.025 = $50,000) as the worst-case/maximum figure a client could be charged; actual negotiated rates are typically lower and are not disclosed in bracket form anywhere in the brochure.
How this compares
Our benchmark of published adviser fee schedules puts the weighted median annual cost near $2,000 to $2,500 on $250,000 (the benchmark). At $500,000, Charles Schwab runs $4,000 a year and Equitable Advisors runs $12,500 a year: a difference of $8,500 a year at that balance.
Want the full breakdown for either firm on its own? Read the Charles Schwab fee page or the Equitable Advisors fee page for the complete tier table and source citations.
Thinking about leaving one of these firms instead of pricing what you would pay to stay? See what it costs to leave Charles Schwab or what it costs to leave Equitable Advisors, or read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors.
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- Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Disclosure Brochure for the Schwab Wealth Advisory Wrap Fee Program (June 30, 2026 (Standard SWA Fee Schedule effective October 1, 2024)): https://www.schwab.com/transparency
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (CRD #5393): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/5393
- Equitable Advisors, LLC 2026 Firm Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A) (March 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1036195
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Equitable Advisors, LLC (CRD #6627): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/6627
Methodology. This page was built September 19, 2026, re-pairing figures already archived and independently verified for Charles Schwab and Equitable Advisors from each firm’s own SEC-filed disclosure; sources linked above. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.
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