Frequently Asked Questions
What does "Fee-Only" mean?
A Fee-Only financial advisor receives compensation directly from their clients, no other sources. This means we do not earn commissions on the sale of products, bonuses for hitting sales quotas or any other form of compensation.
We believe this is the most transparent and objective model for an advisor/client relationship.
More on what it means to be Fee-Only can be found here.
Is "Fee-Only" different from "Fee-Based"?
Yes, there are two main differences:
First, while a Fee-Based may charge a fee for their advice, they can also earn commissions by selling financial products such as annuities, life insurance and stocks/bonds/mutual funds. We believe this presents a conflict of interest.
Second, Fee-Only advisors are held to a fiduciary standard, taking an oath to always put the interests of their clients ahead of their own.
Fee-Based advisors ultimately serve the interests of the broker dealers they work for, and are therefor e work for broker dealers and serve their interests are held to a suitability standard, when selling products and fiduciary standard only when they are providing services for a fee.
You can read more on this here.