“Fee-only advisor”

– A financial advisor who refuses to sell commission-based products or accept referral fees. These advisors pick this often less lucrative business model to eliminate conflicts of interest and be true fiduciaries for their clients. Fee-only professionals represent only 2% of advisors nationwide, and are usually absent from the ranks of big brokerage houses, banks, and insurance companies. –

WELLth Financial Planning is a fee-only financial advisor, working in person with residents of Palm Beach County and virtually with individuals and families across the country.

Why you should care about how your advisor gets paid

“Fee-only” advisors are the gold standard for receiving conflict-free financial guidance.  It’s the equivalent of going to a doctor to get healthier (whose job is to make you healthier) versus a pharmaceutical rep (whose job is to sell you as much medication as possible). Most advisors who are not fee only try to to work in their client’s best interests, but frequently face the conflict where different recommendations will earn them different amounts of money. It might look like something like this:

When different types of products have different payouts and incentives to an advisor, “financial advice” can quickly transform into “financial sales.” Some well known firms, especially insurance companies, may institute sales quotas, and might cut off an advisor’s health benefits, or even employment if they don’t sell enough of their products.

Fee only advisors have no quotas and just one method of compensation — fees directly paid by you. Therefore, we have no incentive to use certain products or to work with certain companies.  We are fiduciaries dedicated to your success. WELLth Financial Planning goes one step further and signs a fiduciary oath which is shared with every client.

For those who want to see where their own advisor’s priorities lie, we invite you to ask your current advisor to sign a fiduciary oath.  If they don’t, you should strongly consider working with someone who will promise to work in your best interests at the highest legal standard (fiduciary).  After all, you deserve only the best when it comes to taking care of your hard-earned dollars.

Let’s chat!

If you’d like to explore how conflict-free financial guidance and strategy can maximize your wealth and bring you closer to your financial goals, you can schedule a free phone call by clicking here. Like our recommendations and wealth-enhancing strategies, the call will be low pressure, not “salesy,” and we’ll both make sure everything is in your best interests before moving forward.