Updated on July 3, 2026
Quick answer (2026): Average investment advisor fees and average RIA fees are usually quoted as an AUM percentage or annual planning dollar amount. Common comparison anchors are about 0.50%-1.00%+ per year for portfolio management, $2,500-$10,000+/year for flat annual planning, $200-$900/month for a retainer, and $200-$400/hour for hourly or project work. In dollars, 1.00% on $1,000,000 is $10,000/year, 0.75% on $2,000,000 is $15,000/year, and 0.50% on $3,000,000 is $15,000/year before fund, platform, UMA/program, trading, tax-prep, legal, or implementation costs.
Use this page to compare investment advisor fees, RIA fee schedules, investment management fees, and portfolio management costs before you book an intro call. The useful question is not whether the percentage looks normal. It is what you pay in annual dollars, what is included, what is excluded, who does the work, and whether the same scope would cost less under a flat-fee, retainer, hourly, or project model.
Fast tools: Financial advisor fee calculator · Financial Advisor Cost Guide · Find a Financial Advisor · fee-only financial advisor near me · fiduciary financial advisor near me · AUM Fee Calculator · AUM Fees by Balance · AUM Fee Breakpoints · $1M Portfolio Fees · Financial Advisor Fee Schedule · Wealth management fee structure · Average Financial Advisor Fees · Robo advisor fees
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.
An average is a starting point for a negotiation, not a price list.
What you actually pay depends on your balance and what is genuinely included. Ask the advisers below to quote your situation in dollars per year. 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. It asks about nine questions — age, investable assets, location — then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text.
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. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
Compare fees, scope, conflicts, credentials and fiduciary duty before you hire anyone.
The Kapitalwise form opens here — you stay on this page.
Compare average RIA fees in dollars
Convert the RIA AUM percentage or flat quote into annual dollars, then compare investment management, planning scope, fund/platform costs, and what work becomes hourly or out-of-scope.
Tool path: AUM Fee Calculator (convert percentages) - Financial advisor fee calculator (compare models) - Financial Advisor Fee Schedule (RIA fee schedule check) - Wealth management fee structure (compare all-in cost) - advisor fee structure (decode models).
Average RIA fee and investment management fees by model
| Fee model | Common 2026 quote | Annual dollars | What to confirm before you book |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUM investment management | 0.50%–1.00%+ of managed assets | $5,000–$10,000+/year on $1,000,000 | Breakpoints, household aggregation, fund costs, platform costs, overlay fees, and whether tiers are billed by slice |
| Flat annual advice | $2,500–$10,000+/year | $2,500–$10,000+/year | Service calendar, meetings, written deliverables, investment scope, implementation help, and response time |
| Monthly or quarterly retainer | $200–$900/month | $2,400–$10,800/year | Cancellation terms, access rules, review cadence, renewal terms, and what becomes hourly or out-of-scope |
| Hourly or project work | $200–$400/hour or fixed project quote | $1,500–$7,500+ for a defined project | Not-to-exceed cap, written deliverable, assumptions, billing increment, and who does the work |
| Blended model | AUM plus planning, subscription, product, or project fees | Varies | What is recurring, what is one-time, what is optional, and what is paid to outside specialists |
Investment advisor and portfolio management AUM fees in dollars
| Managed portfolio | 0.50% AUM | 0.75% AUM | 1.00% AUM | Monthly cost at 1.00% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $1,250/year | $1,875/year | $2,500/year | About $208/month |
| $500,000 | $2,500/year | $3,750/year | $5,000/year | About $417/month |
| $1,000,000 | $5,000/year | $7,500/year | $10,000/year | About $833/month |
| $2,000,000 | $10,000/year | $15,000/year | $20,000/year | About $1,667/month |
| $3,000,000 | $15,000/year | $22,500/year | $30,000/year | About $2,500/month |
These are advisory-fee examples only. They do not include ETF or mutual-fund expense ratios, platform fees, overlay fees, UMA/program fees, trading costs, taxes, tax-prep costs, legal fees, or implementation charges.
RIA fee schedule example: tiered investment advisor fees
Many investment advisor fee schedules use AUM breakpoints. Ask whether the schedule is billed by slice, like tax brackets, or whether one lower rate applies to the entire balance.
| Portfolio balance | Example by-slice fee calculation | Annual advisory fee | Effective AUM rate | Flat 1.00% comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | 1.00% on first $500k | $5,000/year | 1.00% | $5,000/year |
| $1,000,000 | $5,000 + 0.80% on next $500k | $9,000/year | 0.90% | $10,000/year |
| $2,000,000 | $5,000 + $4,000 + 0.60% on next $1M | $15,000/year | 0.75% | $20,000/year |
| $3,000,000 | $5,000 + $4,000 + 0.60% on next $2M | $21,000/year | 0.70% | $30,000/year |
Use the AUM Fee Calculator or AUM Fee Breakpoints guide to model your exact schedule.
All-in investment advisor cost
The AUM percentage is usually only one layer. Ask for the advisory fee, fund expenses, platform fees, overlay fees, UMA/program fees, trading costs, tax-prep costs, legal costs, and implementation charges separately.
| Portfolio balance | By-slice advisory fee | Fund cost at 0.06% | Platform/overlay at 0.10% | All-in annual example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $5,000 | $300 | $500 | $5,800/year |
| $1,000,000 | $9,000 | $600 | $1,000 | $10,600/year |
| $2,000,000 | $15,000 | $1,200 | $2,000 | $18,200/year |
| $3,000,000 | $21,000 | $1,800 | $3,000 | $25,800/year |
Investment advisor vs financial advisor vs wealth manager
| Label | What it often emphasizes | Common fee model | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investment advisor | Portfolio management, investment policy, rebalancing, tax-aware trading, and account implementation | AUM, flat annual, retainer, or blended | What investment work is included, and what planning work is separate? |
| Financial advisor | Financial planning, investments, retirement, cash flow, tax coordination, and implementation help | AUM, flat annual, retainer, hourly, project, or blended | What written deliverables do I receive, and who does the work? |
| Wealth manager | Broader coordination across investments, taxes, estate-adjacent work, family needs, and outside specialists | AUM, flat annual, retainer, or blended | Which specialists are included, and which bill separately? |
When an investment management fee may fit
- You want ongoing discretionary portfolio management, rebalancing, and implementation help.
- The advisor is actively managing tax lots, asset location, cash reserves, concentrated positions, and risk.
- The written scope includes retirement income, tax-aware withdrawals, Roth-conversion windows, RMDs, charitable planning, or estate-adjacent coordination where relevant.
- The breakpoint schedule meaningfully lowers the effective rate as assets rise.
- Fund, platform, overlay, and program costs are low and disclosed in annual dollars.
When to compare against flat fee, retainer, or hourly
- You mainly need planning help but do not need discretionary investment management.
- Your AUM quote creates a high annual dollar cost relative to the service calendar.
- You need a narrow project: fee review, rollover analysis, Roth-conversion window, tax-aware sale, RSU planning, concentrated-stock plan, or second opinion.
- You want predictable annual dollars instead of a fee that automatically rises with portfolio value.
- The proposal does not clearly state what is included, what is excluded, and what becomes hourly or out-of-scope.
For direct model comparisons, use the Financial Advisor Fee Calculator, Flat Fee vs AUM Break-Even Calculator, and 10-Year Fee Comparison.
Copy/paste: ask for investment advisor fees in dollars
Subject: Investment advisor fee quote — annual dollars and scope Hi — I’m comparing investment advisor and financial advisor proposals and want to understand the total cost before a longer call. Could you send a short written summary covering: 1) My total first-year advisory fee in dollars for the proposed scope. 2) The pricing model: AUM, flat annual, monthly/quarterly retainer, hourly, project fee, commission, or blended. 3) If AUM: the tier schedule, whether tiers are billed by slice, whether household accounts are aggregated, and any minimum fee. 4) Any fund expense ratios, platform fees, overlay fees, UMA/program fees, trading costs, tax-prep costs, legal costs, or implementation charges. 5) What is included: investment management, financial planning, tax coordination, retirement-income planning, estate-adjacent coordination, equity-comp help, and response time. 6) What is excluded and what becomes hourly, project-based, referred out, product-based, or out-of-scope. 7) Who does the work: lead advisor, associate planner, investment team, CPA, attorney, or outside specialist. 8) What written deliverables do I receive, and when? 9) Whether you can provide a flat annual, retainer, hourly, or project-fee quote for the same planning scope. 10) Whether you act as a fiduciary at all times. My goal is to compare investment management, flat-fee, retainer, hourly, project-fee, and AUM options apples-to-apples in annual dollars. Thanks!
Related guides
Average Financial Advisor Fees · Wealth management fee structure · Financial Advisor Fee Schedule · Financial advisor fee structure · Compare financial advisor rates · AUM Fees by Balance · Flat fee financial advisor · Read Form ADV for Fees & Conflicts
Balance-specific AUM checks: Start with AUM fee meaning, then compare AUM fees at $500k, AUM fees at $1M, and AUM fees at $2M before you accept a percentage quote. For broader planning examples, use the financial advisor fees by portfolio size guide.
The other drag on the same portfolio
An investment advisory fee is one drag on a portfolio. State income tax on the withdrawals is another, and unlike the fee it is set by where you live rather than who you hire. Nine states levy no broad personal income tax at all, and several that do exempt retirement distributions outright, so the same withdrawal schedule produces materially different after-tax income depending on the address. Compare two states with the two-state comparison tool or start at retirement tax relocation.
Methodology
- Dollar-first comparison. This page converts investment advisor, AUM, flat annual, retainer, hourly, and project quotes into annual dollars so readers can compare proposals quickly.
- Benchmark ranges. Fee ranges are planning anchors for comparison, not guaranteed advisor quotes or billing schedules.
- AUM examples. Percentage examples multiply the listed portfolio balance by the stated advisory percentage. They exclude fund expenses, platform fees, overlay fees, UMA/program fees, trading costs, taxes, tax-prep costs, legal fees, and implementation charges unless stated.
- Tier examples. The tiered example uses an illustrative by-slice schedule: 1.00% on the first $500,000, 0.80% on the next $500,000, and 0.60% above $1,000,000.
- Scope-first review. An investment advisor fee is only meaningful when paired with written scope, deliverables, meeting cadence, implementation help, response-time expectations, specialist coordination, and exclusions.
- Data freshness. This page was last reviewed on July 3, 2026. Fee schedules, fund costs, platform costs, tax thresholds, and planning assumptions can change over time.
- Educational only. This is not tax, legal, or investment advice. For personal recommendations, talk to a qualified fiduciary advisor, CPA, or attorney.
Editorial standards: Editorial Policy · Corrections · Disclaimer
Advisor cost route: choose the right fee page
Use the cost guide, fee calculator, rate comparison, and fee-structure pages together so every advisor quote is checked in annual dollars, by written scope, and by what work becomes out-of-scope.
- How much does a financial advisor cost? - first-year dollar ranges for AUM, flat annual, retainer, hourly, project, and robo quotes.
- Financial advisor fee calculator - convert a quote into annual dollars before an intro call.
- Financial advisor fees comparison - compare AUM, flat, retainer, hourly, project, robo, and 10-year fee drag.
- Financial advisor fee structures - translate AUM, flat, retainer, hourly, commission, and blended pricing into the same decision frame.
- Compare financial advisor rates - check whether the quote is high, low, or missing scope details.
Balance-specific RIA fee example: Use the AUM fees at $250k guide to compare percentage pricing, minimum annual fees, and flat or hourly planning in dollars before applying broader average-fee benchmarks.
Selling a professional practice
Four provisions bite a professional practice specifically, and each decides real dollars in the deal rather than merely reporting them:
- The C-corporation recognition period — IRC §1374 taxes the corporation first, and you receive what is left
- A retiring partner's buyout — §736(b) is what the payment is in exchange for; §736(a) catches the rest
- The non-compete allocation — §197(d)(1)(E) is why the buyer wants dollars there and you do not
- Selling to a child or an associate — §1239 turns gain that would be capital into ordinary