Clear Money Guide
What this guide covers
A quick view of the questions and evidence developed below.
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Updated August 1, 2026. Quick answer: on a $5 million portfolio, the published schedules we can measure top out at 0.80%–0.87%, which at $5 million would be $40,000–$43,350 a year — and at this size that is a ceiling to negotiate down from, not a going rate. That is computed from the fee schedules 176 SEC-registered advisers publish in their own Form ADV brochures, not from a survey of what people say they pay.
An honest limit on this figure. Our benchmark measures fee schedules at balances from $250,000 to $3,000,000. $5 million sits above the measured range, so the rates below are the $3,000,000 figures carried forward, not measured at $5 million. In practice published schedules keep tiering down above $3 million, so treat these as an upper bound — a quote at this balance that matches the $3M rate is probably not competitive.
$5 million portfolio advisor fee table
| Annual rate | Cost per year | Over 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| 0.50% | $25,000 | $250,000 |
| 0.75% | $37,500 | $375,000 |
| 1.00% | $50,000 | $500,000 |
| 1.25% | $62,500 | $625,000 |
| 1.50% | $75,000 | $750,000 |
The row that matters is the gap between them. A quarter of a percentage point is $12,500 a year at $5 million — $125,000 over a decade, before any growth on the money you did not pay away. That is the whole reason to price a quote rather than accept one.
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Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionWhat actually moves the number at this balance
At $5 million you are usually past the point where percentage-of-assets pricing is the only option. Flat-fee and hourly arrangements exist precisely because the work does not scale with the balance the way the fee does, and the crossover is arithmetic you can do: divide the annual dollar cost above by a realistic flat quote and see which is lower. If the answer is close, the percentage arrangement is being paid for something other than the work.
Two things worth establishing before you agree to anything, whichever structure you choose: whether they are a fiduciary at all times, in writing, and whether they are fee-only or fee-based. Neither is implied by the price.
Price the quote you were actually given
Our fee checker compares a quote against these measured medians and tells you whether it is competitive at your balance. If it is not, the negotiation scripts are the cheapest possible fix — at $5 million a successful quarter-point negotiation is worth $12,500 every year you stay.
Methodology
Figures come from Clear Money Guide’s 2026 advisor fee benchmark: an original analysis of the fee schedules 176 SEC-registered investment advisers publish in Form ADV Part 2A, weighted to a screened frame, with costs reported as identification intervals because the filings disclose ranges. Open data under CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21741167. Full method and limitations: State of Advisor Fees 2026.
Related balances: $500k · $1 million · $2 million · $3 million.