What we charge
One fee, based on what we manage. No commissions, no product sales, and no charge for talking to us.
| Assets under management | Annual fee |
|---|---|
| $0 – $250,000 | 1.25% |
| $250,001 – $500,000 | 1.00% |
| $500,001 – $1,000,000 | 0.90% |
| $1,000,001 – $2,000,000 | 0.85% |
| $2,000,001 – $4,000,000 | 0.80% |
| $4,000,001 – $7,000,000 | 0.70% |
| $7,000,001 – $12,000,000 | 0.55% |
| $12,000,001 and above | 0.37% |
One rate, applied to your whole balance. A $600,000 account pays 0.90% on all $600,000 — not 1.25% on the first $250,000 and a different rate above it. Family accounts can be grouped into a household, so the combined balance sets everyone's rate.
There is no minimum
The size of someone’s account is not a screening tool. We work with people opening their first IRA and with people managing several million dollars, and the arrangement is identical for both.
What that looks like
What you actually pay, all in
There are three costs in most advisory relationships, and usually only one of them gets discussed.
- The advisory fee. Ours is the schedule above.
- A separate financial planning fee. Many firms charge one. We don’t.
- The expense ratios of the funds you are put in. Everyone pays these, whether or not anyone mentions them. Ours run about 0.10%, because we build portfolios from low-cost index funds and ETFs and have no reason to do otherwise.
On a $600,000 account that comes to roughly 1.00% all in — about $6,000 a year, with nothing hidden underneath it. That is the number worth comparing, not the advisory fee on its own.
If you want the wider context — what every fee model costs, and the charges that never appear on a statement — we wrote a plain-language guide to what financial advisors actually cost.
This is not a portfolio management fee
It is the fee for having us. Managing the portfolio is the part everyone sees. Here is the part they don’t.
A small business owner came to us contributing through a SEP IRA — a popular choice, and often the weaker one. A SEP caps out at 25% of compensation, all of it from the employer side. A Solo 401(k) allows that same 25% and adds an employee deferral on top: $23,500 more sheltered in 2025, income that would otherwise have been taxed at the top federal rate of 37%. We added backdoor Roth conversions as well, which hadn’t been raised with them either, then coordinated directly with their CPA so filing got simpler rather than harder. This is not unusual: plenty of people with good accountants still have tax-advantaged options nobody has walked them through.
We noticed a client’s home was assessed well above comparable properties nearby. We pulled the comps, took the case to the county assessor ourselves, and made the argument on the client’s behalf. The assessor agreed. The reassessment saves them roughly $4,000 a year, every year they own the house — and it had nothing to do with their portfolio.
A client told us which car they wanted. We found three local dealers who had it, put them in competition for the business, and negotiated the price ourselves. The client never picked up the phone. They showed up, signed the paperwork, and drove home $2,000 better off.
These are real situations from our client work, with identifying details removed. They are examples of the kind of help the fee covers — not typical or expected results. Every client’s circumstances are different, and we can’t promise any particular outcome.
The expected
Portfolio management and rebalancing. Retirement and withdrawal planning. Tax strategy, year-round. Social Security timing. Equity awards and RSUs. 529s and education funding. Estate coordination with your attorney. Advice on your work 401(k), even though we don’t manage it.
What we bring up before you do
- The RSU tax bill — before the vest, not at filing
- The benefits package at your new job, before the enrollment deadline passes
- Which health plan to pick at open enrollment, and what the HSA is really for
- How to fund the 401(k) this year — Roth or traditional, how much, and when
- The old 401(k) still parked at a job you left
- The Roth conversion that only makes sense in a low-income year
- The 529, while there is still time for it to matter
- What a market drop actually means for your plan, so you hear it from us first
You shouldn’t have to know what to ask. That’s our job.
What you are never billed for
- Meetings. Before you are a client, and every one after.
- Calls, texts and emails. Answered the same day, 7am to 7pm.
- A review of what you are holding now — even if you decide not to work with us.
None of that requires you to become a client.
The practical part
Where your money is held
At Charles Schwab, in an account in your name. We never take custody. You get your own login, see every position and every trade, and can remove our access at any time.
Getting started
Three to seven business days to open and fund. No paperwork fee and no exit fee. If you decide to leave, we come off the account and you keep it.
Accounts we manage
Individual and joint, Traditional and Roth IRAs, custodial accounts and trusts. SEP IRA, Solo 401(k) and company plans. 501(c)(3), non-profit and corporate.
How the fee works
Billing
Quarterly, in arrears — you are charged after the quarter, never before it. The fee is your annual rate times the account’s market value on the last day of the quarter, divided by four, debited directly from your Schwab account. If you close the account, any unearned fee is refunded.
On negotiating
We don’t haggle. Your rate is agreed with us at the outset and written into your agreement, and it may be lower than the schedule above — but it isn’t something you have to argue for, and it isn’t something another client got by pushing harder. We would rather publish the schedule than make you guess what everyone else is paying.
Why fee-only matters
We don’t earn commissions, we don’t sell products, and nobody pays us but you. That is what fee-only means, and it is the reason our advice can be neutral. If a recommendation is worse for you and better for us, we have no way to profit from it.
The full schedule and every other detail of how we operate is in our Form ADV Part 2A, filed with the SEC. We would encourage you to read it — and to ask any advisor you are considering for theirs.