Financial advisor fee calculator: 1% of assets vs a flat fee
Enter your portfolio and your advisor's fee to see what each way to pay costs over the years, in the calculator below.
On a $1,000,000 portfolio earning 6% a year for 20 years, a 1% assets under management (AUM) fee costs $583,997: $348,285 in fees plus $235,712 in growth those fees would have earned. The US median flat annual planning fee, $8,250 a year across 651 fee only firms that publish one in a Form ADV brochure from the last 18 months, costs $385,282 in fees and lost growth over 20 years on a $1,000,000 portfolio earning 6% a year, with the fee rising 3% a year.
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What each option costs over 20 years
$198,715 lessover 20 years with a flat $8,250 annual fee than with a 1% fee
The flat annual fee costs $198,715 less than the 1% AUM fee over 20 years. A 1% AUM fee costs $583,997 over 20 years in fees and lost growth, and a flat $8,250 annual fee (rising 3% a year) costs $385,282. A $4,950 plan every 3 years costs the least of all: $82,171.
Lost growth is what the fees would have earned if they had stayed invested at 6% a year. Total cost is fees plus lost growth.
| Option | Fees paid | Lost growth | Total cost | Ending balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of assets (AUM)1% of the portfolio a year | $348,285 | $235,712 | $583,997 | $2,623,138 |
| Flat annual fee$8,250 a year, rising 3% a year | $221,681 | $163,601 | $385,282 | $2,821,854 |
| Plan every 3 years Lowest cost$4,950 each time, rising 3% a year | $45,925 | $36,247 | $82,171 | $3,124,964 |
| Hourly advice10 hours a year at $296, rising 3% a year | $79,536 | $58,698 | $138,234 | $3,068,901 |
| With no fee at all, the portfolio ends at $3,207,135. | ||||
A 1% fee usually includes managing your investments, and a flat fee, a plan or hourly advice may not, so compare what each fee covers as well as the price.
Starting below $659,732, 1% costs less than the $8,250 flat annual fee over 20 years; from $659,732 up it costs more. In a single year the two match on a year end balance of $825,000; the break even start is lower because the portfolio grows before each fee comes out, and the 1% fee grows with it faster than the flat fee rises.
- Percentage of assets (AUM)
- Flat annual fee
- Plan every 3 years
- Hourly advice
Year by year numbers
| Year | AUM | Flat annual | Plan | Hourly | No fee portfolio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,600 | $8,250 | $4,950 | $2,960 | $1,060,000 |
| 2 | $22,360 | $17,243 | $5,247 | $6,186 | $1,123,600 |
| 3 | $35,374 | $27,029 | $5,562 | $9,698 | $1,191,016 |
| 4 | $49,747 | $37,666 | $11,305 | $13,514 | $1,262,477 |
| 5 | $65,586 | $49,212 | $11,983 | $17,657 | $1,338,226 |
| 6 | $83,012 | $61,728 | $12,702 | $22,147 | $1,418,519 |
| 7 | $102,149 | $75,283 | $19,374 | $27,011 | $1,503,630 |
| 8 | $123,133 | $89,946 | $20,537 | $32,272 | $1,593,848 |
| 9 | $146,111 | $105,794 | $21,769 | $37,958 | $1,689,479 |
| 10 | $171,237 | $122,906 | $29,534 | $44,097 | $1,790,848 |
| 11 | $198,679 | $141,368 | $31,306 | $50,721 | $1,898,299 |
| 12 | $228,616 | $161,270 | $33,184 | $57,862 | $2,012,196 |
| 13 | $261,239 | $182,709 | $42,233 | $65,554 | $2,132,928 |
| 14 | $296,753 | $205,786 | $44,767 | $73,834 | $2,260,904 |
| 15 | $335,378 | $230,612 | $47,453 | $82,741 | $2,396,558 |
| 16 | $377,350 | $257,302 | $58,012 | $92,317 | $2,540,352 |
| 17 | $422,918 | $285,979 | $61,493 | $102,606 | $2,692,773 |
| 18 | $472,354 | $316,774 | $65,182 | $113,655 | $2,854,339 |
| 19 | $525,944 | $349,826 | $77,520 | $125,513 | $3,025,600 |
| 20 | $583,997 | $385,282 | $82,171 | $138,234 | $3,207,135 |
How it works
Each year your contribution goes in at the start, the portfolio grows by the return you set, and that year's fee comes out at the end. Every option pays its fee from the portfolio, so a dollar paid in fees also stops growing. That's the lost growth column. Total cost is how far each option leaves you behind the same portfolio with no fee at all.
An AUM fee grows with the portfolio. A flat fee doesn't, unless the firm raises its price, and the calculator raises the flat, plan and hourly prices 3% a year by default (about the long run US inflation rate). Set it to 0 if your planner has kept the same price.
Where the defaults come from
The three fee defaults are US medians from the PlannerFees dataset: fees that 5,564 of the 8,139 fee only firms we list publish in their Form ADV Part 2A brochure, filed with the SEC or a state regulator. Data as of November 2026, and the defaults move when the data is refreshed each month.
- Flat annual fee: $8,250 a year
- The median annual planning fee across 651 firms. The middle half charge $5,000-$16,000.
- One time plan: $4,950
- The median flat or project fee across 2,537 firms. The middle half charge $2,750-$7,000.
- Hourly rate: $296 an hour
- The median hourly rate across 3,488 firms. The middle half charge $225-$350.
A firm counts toward a median when its brochure is under 18 months old and gives the fee itself, not just a cap or a minimum. A range counts at its midpoint. How the medians work, and every fee by state in what financial advisors cost. The financial planner fees report has the full write up of this year's numbers.
The rest are our assumptions, not data: $1,000,000 today, 6% a year return, 20 years, a new plan every 3 years, and 10 hours of hourly advice a year. Change any of them above.
Link to or cite this calculator
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Link
https://plannerfees.com/financial-advisor-fee-calculator/
Citation
PlannerFees, Financial advisor fee calculator, fee medians from Form ADV brochures, data as of November 2026, https://plannerfees.com/financial-advisor-fee-calculator/
Where 1% and a flat fee cross
The middle half of the 651 US fee only firms that publish an annual planning fee in a brochure from the last 18 months charge $5,000 to $16,000 a year, which a 1% AUM fee matches on balances of $500,000 to $1,600,000. Counting fees and lost growth over 20 years at 6% a year, with the flat fee rising 3% a year, 1% overtakes those fees from starting portfolios of $399,838 to $1,279,481.
| Annual fee | 1% equals it on a balance of | Over 20 years, 1% costs more from a start of |
|---|---|---|
| $5,000A quarter of firms charge this or less | $500,000 | $399,838 |
| $8,250Median | $825,000 | $659,732 |
| $16,000A quarter of firms charge this or more | $1,600,000 | $1,279,481 |
What it leaves out
It's an illustration with a steady return every year, not investment advice. It doesn't model taxes, fund costs, withdrawals or market swings. And it compares prices, not services: an AUM advisor may do more for you than a flat fee planner.