Flat-Fee Financial Planners: How Hourly, Project and Retainer Advice Is Priced

There are four arrangements. A single firm may offer more than one, and may also manage assets for a percentage alongside them.

Hourly

You pay for the planner’s time: meetings, analysis and writing up recommendations. There is usually no minimum portfolio and no commitment beyond the engagement. The Garrett Planning Network, whose members work this way, says the cost “is calculated from multiple elements on which the advisor spends their time” and that members “will provide prospective clients with quotes of their estimated fees based on the scope of a project” after an initial session. The bill depends on how many hours your situation takes, which is why an estimate in writing matters.

Project, or one-time plan

A fixed price for a defined piece of work, most often a written financial plan, quoted before the work starts. The scope, number of meetings and any follow-up period are set out in an engagement letter. When the plan is delivered the engagement ends. Kitces Research found that 29% of teams charge standalone project fees to at least some clients.

Annual retainer or subscription

A recurring fee, billed monthly, quarterly or annually, for ongoing planning: an initial plan, then updates, tax-season check-ins and questions as they come up. Kitces Research reports that subscription fees are used by 34% of advisers but are the primary revenue source for just 9%, and that only 17% of firms charging them rely on them exclusively. In other words, a retainer is often sold next to an asset-based fee rather than instead of one.

Flat annual fee that includes investment management

A smaller group of firms manages the portfolio as well as the plan for one dollar figure a year, often tiered by complexity or net worth rather than by account size. The fee is usually deducted from the account, as a percentage fee would be. We could not find a published survey that isolates this model’s pricing, so we give no range for it. The firm’s Form ADV Part 2A, Item 5, states the amount.

One-time plans are not only sold by small firms. Some national wealth managers’ brochures describe them too, at fixed fees ranging from the low thousands of dollars upward, sometimes waived for clients who go on to invest with the firm. Our firm-by-firm notes quote what each brochure says.

The most detailed public source is Kitces Research’s biennial study of how planners price their services. The 2024 edition is based on 621 qualifying responses from US financial planners. The table gives what teams reported charging in 2024, from the 10th percentile to the 90th.

Three things in the study are worth knowing before you use these numbers.

• Prices rose. The median hourly rate went from $250 in 2022 to $300 in 2024, and the median subscription fee from $3,000 to $4,500. The median standalone plan fee was unchanged at $3,000.
• Hours drive the hourly bill. A full plan took from 5 hours at the 10th percentile to 20 at the 90th. At the median rate of $300, that span alone is $1,500 to $6,000.
• Fees are increasingly individual. The study found teams moving away from one standard subscription fee toward a fee set for each client’s expected time and complexity. Expect a quote, not a price list.

One of the directories publishes its own ranges. The Advice-Only Network’s FAQ says its advisers’ common structures include “hourly rates (often $150–$400/hour), flat fees for comprehensive financial plans (typically $1,000–$5,000), monthly subscriptions ($100–$500/month), or annual retainers” (Advice-Only Network, read November 14, 2026). The Garrett Planning Network and NAPFA do not publish price figures; Garrett says hourly rates “vary by Garrett member.”

Three of these words describe how a planner is paid and one describes a legal duty. Only one of the four comes from federal securities law. The others are defined by the bodies that police their own members.

Fee-only. NAPFA, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, defines a fee-only adviser as one “who is compensated solely by the client with neither the advisor nor any related party receiving compensation that is contingent on the purchase or sale of a financial product” (NAPFA membership standards). CFP Board’s standards let a certificant use the term only if the professional and the firm “receive no Sales-Related Compensation,” which it defines to include commissions, trailing commissions, 12b-1 fees, revenue sharing and referral fees (CFP Board Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct). Neither definition says anything about the fee being flat. NAPFA’s consumer page says fee-only advisers “may be paid hourly, as a retainer, as a percentage of assets (AUM), or as a flat fee.”

Fee-based. CFP Board’s standards say a certificant who uses “fee-based” or a similar term “may not use the term in a manner that suggests” the professional or firm is fee-only. The two phrases sound alike and mean different things; a fee-based adviser can earn commissions on products as well as fees from you.

Advice-only. The Advice-Only Network describes it as planning “without selling any financial products, receiving commissions, or charging based off of assets under management,” and Kitces Research uses the term for advisers “who exclusively offer advice without managing investments at all,” whom it puts at 5% of all advisers. Because no regulator defines the term, check it against the planner’s Form ADV.

Fiduciary. In its 2019 interpretation, the SEC said “an investment adviser’s fiduciary duty under the Advisers Act comprises a duty of care and a duty of loyalty,” and that the duty “is broad and applies to the entire adviser-client relationship” (SEC Release No. IA-5248). That applies to every registered investment adviser however it charges. Broker-dealers are instead subject to the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest, which FINRA describes as establishing a “best interest” standard of conduct “when they make a recommendation to a retail customer” (FINRA). CFP Board separately requires that “at all times when providing Financial Advice to a Client, a CFP® professional must act as a fiduciary.”

There is no standard definition, so the engagement letter is the definition. For a household at or near retirement, a plan commonly addresses the items below. Each links to our guide on the subject so you can see what the analysis involves before you pay for it.

What you receive is usually a written report and one or more meetings to go through it. Ask what form the deliverable takes, whether you get the underlying projections or only a summary, how long after delivery you can ask questions, and what an update costs in a year or two. A plan is a snapshot: tax law, markets and health all move.

Each arrangement buys something different and leaves something different to you. The table sets out the trade-offs; it is a description, not a recommendation.

The models can be combined. Some households keep an asset-based adviser and pay an hourly planner for an independent review of the plan or the fees. Others buy a one-time plan first and decide afterward whether they want ongoing help. If you are weighing whether to manage the portfolio yourself, our guide to taking over your own portfolio describes what that involves.

A flat fee is the same number of dollars whatever the balance; a percentage fee scales with it. The table prices both at four portfolio sizes. The percentage columns use a flat 1% and the typical tiered schedule reported by Kitces Research for 2024 (1.00% on the first $1 million, 0.80% to $2.5 million, 0.65% to $5 million, 0.50% above). The flat columns show the survey’s median and 90th-percentile subscription fees as a share of each balance.

The direction reverses on a smaller portfolio. On $300,000, a $4,500 fee is 1.50% of the balance, more than a 1% fee of $3,000.

Over a 30-year retirement

The gap compounds, because a dollar paid in fees stops earning a return. The next table runs a $2 million portfolio through the model on our fee-drag page: 6% a year before costs, 0.1% fund expenses, a 4% initial withdrawal rising 2.5% a year, for 30 years. The flat fees are assumed to rise with inflation.

Nor is 1% what every percentage-fee firm charges. Across the nine programs of seven national firms in our comparison, the published annual fee on $2 million runs from $6,000 to $23,750.

Implementation is left to you. An hourly or project planner hands you recommendations. Opening accounts, moving money, placing trades, making estimated tax payments and executing a Roth conversion on the right date are your job unless the engagement says otherwise. The Garrett Planning Network says a member “can help with plan implementation” if appropriate and at the client’s request; that help is billed time. A plan that is not carried out has no value, so be realistic about whether you will carry it out.

Nobody is watching between engagements. With a one-time plan there is no ongoing monitoring. Garrett’s FAQ says that once a project is finished, only that engagement ends: “It’s up to you to contact your advisor as the need arises.” If the tax law changes or a spouse dies, the plan does not update itself.

Ongoing fees can creep. A retainer is renewed each year, and the price can change at renewal. The median subscription fee in the Kitces Research study rose from $3,000 in 2022 to $4,500 in 2024, and the report observes that “subscription-fee firms may not be done raising their fees.” Ask how and when the fee can change, and what you received for it last year.

Hourly bills are open-ended. Complexity discovered halfway through adds hours. Ask for a written estimate, a cap, or a requirement that the planner check with you before exceeding it.

A flat planning fee may sit next to other income. A planner who quotes a flat fee for the plan may also manage assets for a percentage, and the plan may recommend that service. The XY Planning Network’s membership standards say so plainly: “There is nothing wrong with offsetting planning fees with AUM.” Separately, an adviser who is not fee-only may hold an insurance licence and earn a commission on a policy or annuity the plan recommends. Neither is improper if disclosed, but both change the incentives. Form ADV Part 2A shows it: Item 5 lists how the firm is paid and Item 10 lists insurance and brokerage affiliations.

A flat fee is a larger share of a smaller balance. As the earlier section shows, the arithmetic favors a flat fee as the portfolio grows and works against it as the portfolio shrinks, which is the direction most retirees’ balances eventually travel.

Small firms have less capacity. Kitces Research notes that hourly advisers are more likely to work part-time, with the typical hourly adviser working 30 hours a week. Ask who covers when your planner is unavailable and what happens to your file if the practice closes.

The checks are the same whatever the fee model, and all of them are free. Small planning firms are usually registered with their state rather than the SEC; the SEC’s search covers both.

What you are looking for is consistency. The fee the planner quoted should match Item 5. A claim of “fee-only” or “advice-only” should match what Items 5 and 10 say about commissions and asset management.

Four membership organizations run public directories of planners who charge fees rather than commissions. They are listed alphabetically. Each description comes from the organization’s own site, read November 14, 2026. All four are funded by the planners who join, and none reviews the advice a member gives, so a listing is a place to start, not a credential.

A planner can belong to more than one of these, or to none. Membership tells you which rules the planner agreed to. The regulatory record tells you whether the rules were kept.

Published and last reviewed November 14, 2026. Survey figures are for the year stated and will date; network rules are as published on each organization’s site on the review date.

• Kitces Research, The Kitces Report, Volume 2, 2024: How Financial Planners Actually Do Financial Planning (2024 Financial Planner Productivity Study; section “How Financial Planners Actually Price Their Services”).
• NAPFA, Membership Standards, Membership Categories and What Is Fee-Only Advising.
• CFP Board, Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (fiduciary duty; fee-only and fee-based representations) and Verify a CFP Professional.
• SEC, Commission Interpretation Regarding Standard of Conduct for Investment Advisers, Release No. IA-5248, effective July 12, 2019.
• FINRA, SEC Regulation Best Interest.
• XY Planning Network, Membership Standards and Find an Advisor disclosures.
• Garrett Planning Network, Who We Are and FAQs.
• Advice-Only Network, About, FAQ and listing requirements.
• SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, adviserinfo.sec.gov; NASAA, Contact Your Regulator.

Fee comparisons and 30-year projections are My Finance Platform calculations using the assumptions stated beside each table.