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Average Financial Advisor Fees 2026: AUM, Flat, Hourly

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What that rate costs you, in your own dollarsAverage financial advisor fees by modelAUM fee examples by portfolio size

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Updated July 6, 2026. Quick answer: average financial advisor fees in 2026 should be compared by annual dollars and planning scope. A 1.00% AUM fee costs $10,000 per year on $1,000,000, while a 0.75% fee costs $7,500 per year and a 0.50% fee costs $5,000 per year before fund, platform, tax, legal, or separate planning costs.

This page summarizes financial advisor fees 2026 across AUM, flat annual, retainer, hourly, project, robo/hybrid, and commission or blended models. Use it as the starting point before you run the financial advisor fee calculator, compare the financial advisor fee comparison chart, or review financial advisor rates.

What that rate costs you, in your own dollars

Percentages are hard to feel. The same rate that sounds small as a number is a specific amount of money leaving a specific account every year, and it compounds against you because the dollars taken out stop earning. Enter your balance and the rate you pay or have been quoted, and this converts it into dollars.

You have the averages. An average has never quoted anyone a price.

On $1,000,000 the rates above are $10,000 a year at 1.00%, $7,500 at 0.75% and $5,000 at 0.50%, for work that is often described the same way in all three pitches. Benchmarks tell you whether a number is unusual, not whether it is right for your balance. The advisers below pay to be introduced to you, so make one of them put a figure against yours. It is free to you, and it is not the only way to find an adviser.

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.

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What the benchmark is for. A rate only means something against what you would pay another way. The break-even calculator shows the balance at which a flat fee beats a percentage, and the AUM fee calculator converts a rate into the dollars it costs you over a decade.

Average financial advisor fees by model

Fee model Common quote shape Best comparison metric Watchout
AUM fee Percentage of managed assets Annual dollars at your portfolio balance Fee rises as assets grow unless breakpoints reduce the effective rate
Flat annual fee Set annual planning or advisory fee Annual dollars and included scope Investment management or implementation may be excluded
Retainer Monthly, quarterly, or annual planning fee Annual dollars and meeting cadence Retainer can duplicate AUM fees if scope is vague
Hourly Hourly rate times expected hours Total project dollars and cap Open-ended hours can make a small quote grow
Project fee Fixed price for defined deliverables Deliverables, revision window, and follow-up Implementation help may be separate
Robo or hybrid Lower percentage or subscription Advisory fee plus fund costs and planning limits Human planning access may be limited
Commission or blended Product compensation, planning fee, AUM fee, or several layers Every compensation layer in dollars Conflicts can be harder to see

AUM fee examples by portfolio size

Portfolio 0.50% 0.75% 1.00% 1.25%
$250,000 $1,250/yr $1,875/yr $2,500/yr $3,125/yr
$500,000 $2,500/yr $3,750/yr $5,000/yr $6,250/yr
$1,000,000 $5,000/yr $7,500/yr $10,000/yr $12,500/yr
$2,000,000 $10,000/yr $15,000/yr $20,000/yr $25,000/yr
The sixteen cells of the table above, drawn as moneyFour lanes on an axis of annual dollars from zero to $25,000, one lane per portfolio balance. On $250,000 the four quoted rates cost $1,250 to $3,125 a year; on $500,000, $2,500 to $6,250; on $1,000,000, $5,000 to $12,500; and on $2,000,000, $10,000 to $25,000. Dashed lines link the pairs of cells that cost the same: $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000.The sixteen cells of the table above,drawn as moneyOne lane per portfolio balance, one mark perquoted rate, on an axis of annual dollars. Themarks run left to right in the order 0.50%,0.75%, 1.00%, 1.25% in every lane, and arelabelled in the bottom one. The six taller goldmarks, linked by dashes, are the three billsthe table prints twice.$250,000 portfolio$1,250–$3,125 a year, a span of $1,875$500,000 portfolio$2,500–$6,250 a year, a span of $3,750$1,000,000 portfolio$5,000–$12,500 a year, a span of $7,500$2,000,000 portfolio0.50%0.75%1.00%1.25%$10,000–$25,000 a year, a span of $15,000$0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000Three annual bills appear twice in the table:$2,500, $5,000 and $10,000. Each time, onerate on one balance is the same money as halfthat rate on twice the balance — 1.00% on$1,000,000 and 0.50% on $2,000,000 both cost$10,000 a year. A rate on its own does not saywhat the fee is.In every lane the span from 0.50% to 1.25% isexactly one and a half times the cheapest feein that lane. At $2,000,000 that span is$15,000 a year — $2,500 more than the wholefee at the highest rate the table quotes on$1,000,000, which is $12,500.Every figure here is one of the table's owncells, recomputed from its rate and balance.The lanes are not to scale against each other:the balances double, so the same rate landsfurther right each time.An advisory rate is not the whole cost. Fundexpense ratios, platform and custody charges,and separate planning or tax work sit outsideit, as the page's own quick answer says.Every value read from the AUM fee examples table on thispage, and independently recomputed from the rate and thebalance before it was drawn.
Figure 1. The same grid, as money rather than percentages. Three of the sixteen bills are printed twice, because half the rate on twice the balance is the same money: $10,000 a year is 1.00% on $1,000,000 and 0.50% on $2,000,000 alike. In every lane the distance between the cheapest and dearest quoted rate is one and a half times the cheapest fee. Figures as published in the table above.

What is a normal financial advisor fee?

A normal financial advisor fee depends on the service model. A percentage fee may be normal for full-service portfolio management and planning. A flat annual fee may be normal for planning-heavy relationships. An hourly or project fee may be normal for a focused second opinion. A robo or hybrid fee may be normal for simpler portfolio management with limited human planning.

The better question is whether the fee is fair for the written work. Compare financial advisor fee structures, then use RIA fee schedule examples and AUM fees by balance if the proposal uses a tiered AUM schedule or breakpoint.

What the calculator at the top of this page computes, on $1,000,000Four stacked bars on an axis of dollars from zero to $750,000, one per quoted rate, showing what each fee removes from $1,000,000 over 20 years at an assumed 6% gross return. At 0.50% the total is $305,927, at 0.75% $448,288, at 1.00% $583,997 and at 1.25% $713,348. In each bar the solid segment is the fees paid and the lighter segment the growth those dollars would have earned.What the calculator at the top of thispage computes, on $1,000,000The same four rates over the 20 years and theassumed 6% steady gross return the tool uses.The solid part of each bar is the fees actuallypaid; the lighter part is the growth thosedollars would have earned had they stayedinvested. This is a 20-year total rather thanan annual fee, so the axis here is not the onein the figure above.0.50% — $5,000 in the first year$305,927 removed — $173,785 of it fees paid,$132,142 growth never earned0.75% — $7,500 in the first year$448,288 removed — $253,436 of it fees paid,$194,852 growth never earned1.00% — $10,000 in the first year$583,997 removed — $328,571 of it fees paid,$255,426 growth never earned1.25% — $12,500 in the first year$713,348 removed — $399,408 of it fees paid,$313,940 growth never earned$0$250,000$500,000$750,000At every rate the fee removes about 1.8 timeswhat it collects: at 1.00% the account is$583,997 smaller after 20 years, of which$328,571 is fees paid and $255,426 is growththe money taken out never earned.The distance between being quoted 0.50% and1.25% on this balance is $407,421 over the 20years — more than the entire 0.50% total of$305,927.This is arithmetic on an assumption, not astatement about any real account: a steady 6%gross return every year, no deposits and nowithdrawals. It also excludes fund expenseratios and platform fees, so a real all-infigure is higher. Read the shape rather thanthe last digit.A fee buys advice, and these bars are the sizeof the decision rather than a verdict on anyadviser. The question they leave is whetherthe price matches the service actuallydelivered — which is a question about a firm,not about an average.Computed with the arithmetic this page's own calculatorpublishes above: the fee is taken each year on the balancethen remaining, over 20 years at the tool's own default 6%gross return. The first-year figures are the $1,000,000 rowof the table above. Without any fee the same balance ends at$3,207,135 on the same assumption.
Figure 2. What the calculator above computes, drawn. On $1,000,000 over 20 years at an assumed steady 6% gross return, a 1.00% fee removes $583,997 — $328,571 of it fees actually paid and $255,426 growth the money taken out never earned. The same arithmetic as the tool at the top of this page, on its own default assumption; it is not a statement about any real account, and a fee buys advice.

How to compare two advisor quotes

  1. Convert each quote into first-year and ongoing annual dollars.
  2. Separate advisory fees from fund, platform, UMA, overlay, custody, tax, legal, and insurance costs.
  3. Write down the included planning topics and implementation responsibilities.
  4. Ask whether the advisor acts as a fiduciary for planning, investments, and implementation.
  5. Compare the fee against lower-cost alternatives, including flat annual, hourly/project, robo/hybrid, or self-directed options.

When a higher advisor fee may be worth it

A higher advisor fee may be worth comparing when the scope includes retirement-income planning, Roth conversion windows, tax-aware withdrawal sequencing, concentrated stock, employer equity, charitable giving, estate coordination, business-owner planning, and ongoing implementation help. It is harder to justify a higher fee when the work is mostly asset allocation and rebalancing. Whether that wider scope is real is a question about the firm rather than the average, so pair this benchmark with how to check planning scope, conflicts, and fiduciary status before the first call.

When to compare wealth management fees

If the proposal includes private wealth, tax coordination, estate coordination, concentrated-stock planning, platform layers, or UMA costs, compare it with average wealth management fees. Wealth management can be valuable, but the fee should map to services beyond a portfolio model.

Copy/paste: request the fee schedule in dollars

  • What is my total first-year financial advisor fee in dollars?
  • What is my ongoing annual fee in dollars at my current portfolio size?
  • Which fee model applies: AUM, flat annual, retainer, hourly, project, commission, robo, or blended?
  • What costs are separate from the advisory fee?
  • What planning work is included and what is excluded?
  • How does the fee change if my assets grow, fall, or move elsewhere?

Fee schedule route

For a detailed tiered-schedule example, use the financial advisor fee schedule guide to compare RIA breakpoints, minimums, by-slice billing, all-assets billing, and blended effective rates.

Advisor cost guide route

For a reader-friendly cost walkthrough, pair this benchmark page with how much does a financial advisor cost?, then run the quote through the advisor fee calculator.

Methodology

This guide summarizes average financial advisor fees by converting common fee models into annual dollars and comparing them against planning scope, service layers, and conflicts. It is educational, not individualized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our editorial policy, corrections policy, and disclaimer.

This page was materially reviewed on July 6, 2026.

For a current reading against your own balance: check your fee against the 2026 benchmark.

A benchmark tells you where a fee sits, not whether changing is worth it, and what leaving costs and when it pays back runs that second question on your own figures, including the tax on positions that cannot transfer in kind.

Edition and next update

This is the 2026 edition of the advisor fee snapshot. The figures on this page are current for 2026. ⚠️ The web address still ends in 2025, and the page does not. We are saying that here rather than quietly renaming the URL: the address has earned its links and moving it would break them, so the edition is stated on the page instead of in the slug. Trust the label, not the URL.

Next update: after the 2027 ADV amendment season (roughly April 2027).

What moves it: Form ADV amendment season, roughly 31 March each year, when firms refile their fee schedules.

What we do not promise. There is no automated watcher behind this page. What exists is a dated register of changes we already know are coming, checked at every batch close rather than waited on, plus a re-read whenever we touch the page for another reason. We would rather describe that plainly than claim a monitoring cadence we do not run.

Cite as: “2026 Edition Of Advisor Fee Snapshot,” Clear Money Guide, 2026 edition, retrieved [date].

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