Guides › Financial Advisor Fees
Updated October 3, 2026. Quick answer: Creative Planning has the lower published fee at $500,000: $6,000 a year, versus up to $8,250 a year for Northwestern Mutual’s Advisory Fee alone (its stated maximum Net Advisory Fee, before investment management fees and a 0.05% Overlay Fee that are charged in addition), computed from each firm’s own published fee disclosure. Where a firm publishes only a maximum rate, the figure shown is that maximum, and what you pay may be lower. 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 | Creative Planning (annual fee) | Northwestern Mutual (maximum annual advisory fee) |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $3,000 | Up to $4,125 |
| $500,000 | $6,000 | Up to $8,250 |
| $1,000,000 | $11,000 | Up to $16,500 |
| $2,000,000 | $21,000 | Up to $33,000 |
Creative Planning discloses a tiered schedule starting at 1.20% (Creative Planning, LLC Form ADV Part 2A, March 31, 2026); Northwestern Mutual discloses a Net Advisory Fee that generally runs no more than 1.65%, with investment management fees and a 0.05% Overlay Fee charged in addition (Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Private Client Services Disclosure Brochure, September 2026).
What the fee includes, in each firm’s own words
Creative Planning (Creative Planning, LLC Form ADV Part 2A, March 31, 2026): The brochure’s Annual Fee Calculation, in its standard fee schedule, is 1.20% on the first $500,000, then 1.00% on assets of $500,001-$2,000,000, then .85% on assets of $2,000,001-$5,000,000, then .80% on assets of $5,000,001-$10,000,000, then .70% on assets of $10,000,001-$25,000,000, then .40% on assets of $25,000,001-$50,000,000, then .30% on assets of $50,000,001-$100,000,000, then .25% on assets over $100,000,000.
Creative Planning generally requires a client to have a minimum of $200,000 in assets under management, which it may waive at its discretion. The schedule shown is its standard fee schedule. Clients with assets under management below $500,000 may be charged a minimum management fee, which the brochure says is communicated in the client agreement documents, so the $250,000 figure in the table may be higher in practice.
Northwestern Mutual (Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Private Client Services Disclosure Brochure, September 2026): “NMWMC generally charges an annual Net Advisory Fee of no more than 1.65% on assets in a Private Client Services account. The corresponding annual Gross Advisory Fee is no more than 1.76% before the application of the 0.11% fee offset for proprietary investment management fees discussed below.”
Northwestern Mutual does not list a dollar-breakpoint schedule in the brochure. Your advisor selects either a tiered or a fixed-percentage Advisory Fee method, which is stated in your Statement of Investment Selection, and an advisor may negotiate the Advisory Fee. The figures above apply the 1.65% Net Advisory Fee, which the brochure says is generally the most NMWMC charges, as a flat rate and exclude investment management fees and the 0.05% Overlay Fee; some advisors offer custom schedules with maximum fees lower than 1.65%.
How this compares
The median ria charges roughly 1.0% of assets under management annually (the benchmark). At $500,000, Creative Planning runs $6,000 a year and Northwestern Mutual’s Net Advisory Fee runs up to $8,250 a year (before investment management fees and the 0.05% Overlay Fee): a difference of up to $2,250 a year between those figures at that balance. With a third-party manager fee at the top of the brochure’s 0.05% to 0.70% range and the 0.05% Overlay Fee, the total would be 2.40%, or $12,000 at $500,000, though some advisors offer custom schedules with maximum fees lower than 1.65%.
Want the full breakdown for either firm on its own? Read the Creative Planning fee page or the Northwestern Mutual 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 Northwestern Mutual, or read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors.
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- Creative Planning, LLC Form ADV Part 2A (March 31, 2026): https://creativeplanning.com/wp-content/uploads/Creative-Planning-Form-ADV-Part-2A.pdf
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Creative Planning, LLC (CRD #105348): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/105348
- Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Private Client Services Disclosure Brochure (September 2026): https://www.northwesternmutual.com/assets/pdf/brochures/private-client-services-disclosure.pdf
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (CRD #2881), a separate SEC-registered affiliate under common control with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company, the federal savings bank that issues the Private Client Services brochure cited above: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/2881
Methodology. This page was built October 3, 2026, re-pairing figures already archived and independently verified for Creative Planning and Northwestern Mutual from each firm’s own published disclosure; sources linked above. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.