How Much Are You Actually
Paying Your Financial Advisor?

How to use this calculator

This tool compares the cumulative cost of a traditional percentage-based advisory fee against a flat annual fee over time. It accounts for portfolio growth, which is the part most people miss: as your investments grow, a 1% fee grows with them.

• 1Enter your current portfolio value. Include all investable assets, not just what one advisor manages.
• 2Set the AUM fee percentage. Most traditional advisors charge between 0.75% and 1.25%. Check your advisory agreement or ask your current advisor directly.
• 3Set a reasonable expected return. Seven percent is a common long-term assumption for a diversified portfolio, but you can adjust based on your allocation.
• 4Choose the Novak plan that fits your situation. The savings shown represent the difference in what you pay in advisory fees, compounded over time.

How to interpret your results

• The gap widens every year. An AUM fee of 1% on $500,000 is $5,000 today. At 7% annual growth, that same portfolio becomes $1 million in about 10 years, and the fee doubles with it. A flat fee stays flat. That widening gap is what the 10 and 20 year numbers capture.
• The fee you see is not the total cost. AUM fees also create a drag on compounding. Money paid in fees is money that is not invested and growing. Over 20 years, the compounding effect of those fees is larger than the fees themselves.
• The savings number is real money. If this calculator shows you save $80,000 over 20 years, that is $80,000 that could have stayed invested. At even a modest return, that amount would have grown significantly further.
• Lower fees do not mean lower quality. The flat-fee model charges for the planning work, not the portfolio size. A client with $300,000 and a client with $1,500,000 receive the same planning effort. The AUM model charges very differently for the same work.
• Ask what you are actually getting. The right question is not just how much you pay, but what you receive. Comprehensive financial planning, proactive tax strategy, and estate coordination have real dollar value. Fee comparison matters most when the service level is comparable.

Common mistakes people make when evaluating advisor fees

• Only looking at the percentage, not the dollar amount. "One percent" sounds small. On a $1 million portfolio, it is $10,000 a year. Many clients have been paying that for years without ever calculating the total.
• Not knowing their actual fee. AUM fees are often deducted automatically from accounts each quarter. Many clients have never seen an invoice. If you are not sure what you pay, ask your advisor for a fee disclosure or check your quarterly statements.
• Assuming all advisors charge the same way. Fee-only fiduciary advisors charge for advice. Commission-based brokers earn money from the products they sell. Fee-plus-commission advisors do both. The fee structure tells you a lot about whose interest the advisor is actually serving.
• Ignoring the break-even point. Sometimes a higher-cost advisor provides services that justify the fee. The question is whether the value of those services, tax savings, better investment decisions, behavioral coaching, exceeds the fee difference. That is worth calculating, not assuming.
• Counting only investment management as the service. If your advisor does nothing but manage a portfolio, 1% is almost certainly too much. If they do proactive tax planning, estate coordination, equity comp strategy, and cash flow work, the calculation is more nuanced. Know what you are buying.