FEE-ONLY FINANCIAL ADVISOR IN CHARLOTTE NC

Fee-Only, Fiduciary, Independent Wealth Planning:
Three Important Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Financial Advisor.

What is a Fee-Only Advisor

If you are in the market for fee only financial advisors, you may have done a quick Google search and found that there are different subsections of fee only planners based on how they are compensated.

So what exactly is the difference between a fee-only financial advisor, a fee-based financial advisor, and a commission-based financial advisor?

As it turns out, there is a big difference between these three types of financial advisors. And understanding the fee only model compensation structure of each financial advisor is a critical component to making the right choice for whom you choose to oversee your long-term wealth management strategy.

At Calamita Wealth Management, we are a fee only financial planner company, focusing on providing wealth management solutions to individuals who are nearing retirement and thinking about the next step in their lives.

We firmly believe that being a fee-only wealth management company provides our clients with distinct advantages, as we offer advice and strategies that are right for our clients and are not based on commission. We know that the fee-only financial advisor compensation model is the only compensation structure for financial advisors that obligates the advisor to put their clients’ needs before their own.

Below we have outlined the different types of compensation for financial advisors and highlighted the benefits of being a fee-only financial wealth management company.

The Benefits Of Working With A Fee-Only Financial Advisor

  • Fee-only advisors provide clients with unbiased and comprehensive financial advice that solely benefits the client.
  • They are required to conduct their business under a fiduciary duty, and many of them also carry professional designations that hold them to strict professional standards.
  • The fee-only compensation structure allows the advisor to operate with more transparency, no hidden charges and no conflicts of interest to sell a certain product line or company offering.

Compensation Structure For Fee Only Financial Advisors

How Should you expect to pay a fee-only Financial advisor?

Financial advisors typically fall into one of three categories: fee-only financial advisors, fee-based financial advisors, and commission-based financial advisors. As the name suggests, fee-only financial advisors are compensated through a predetermined flat fee and/or percentage of investment assets managed, while commission-based and fee-based financial advisors are compensated at least partly through commissions earned from the selling of certain products and through certain financial transactions. In the case of Calamita Wealth Management, we charge a percentage of assets managed that ranges from .60% to 1.25%

There is also a distinct difference between a fee-only financial advisor and a fee-based financial advisor. Fee-only financial advisors receive their compensation from fees paid from the client to the advisor. Additionally, fee-only advisors have traditionally been held to a fiduciary duty to protect their clients’ interests before their own. 

Fiduciary duty sounds like a good thing, but what exactly does it mean? Simply put, a financial advisor who has fiduciary duty to his client has a legal responsibility to put the interests of his client before his own. This means that if your advisor is a fiduciary, he must act solely in your best interests or face legal consequences. A fiduciary must live up to clients’ trust in them through transparency and minimizing conflicts of interest. 

Fee-based financial advisors are generally compensated by both commissions on the sale of certain products and fees for their advice, which typically includes guidance on which financial product the client should buy from them.

Some critics have noted that both fee-based and commission-based financial advisors have an inherent conflict of interest because these types of financial advisors work on commission and are predisposed to promote products from which they will benefit financially. 

fee-only financial advisor - wealth management

We Are Here For You

Do you need financial planning with personal financial advisors that puts your interests before their own? At Calamita Wealth Management, we specialize in fee only investment management services and financial planning. We are well versed in creating unbiased and solid wealth strategies for our clients.

Schedule an introductory phone call using our online calendar  to book with one of our investment advisers today

Contact us at directly at (704) 276-7325 or todd@calamitawealth.com

Fee Only Network

National Association of Personal Financial Advisors