Creative Planning’s advisory business charges its clients fees only, but its filings describe a group of related companies that are paid in other ways. Its insurance affiliates “receive commissions and other incentive awards” on insurance sales, and its tax, legal and trust affiliates bill you separately. The advisory fee itself is 1.20% a year on the first $500,000 under management, 1.00% on the next $1.5 million, and lower above that.
So if you only use the advisory service, you pay Creative Planning a fee and nothing else. Whether the wider group meets a strict fee-only test depends on what else you buy from it.
How Creative Planning is paid
Creative Planning, LLC is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser. Its Form ADV Part 1, filed July 10, 2026, is where a firm states how it’s paid. In Item 5E it checks three boxes: a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges and fixed fees. It doesn’t check commissions or performance-based fees. Item 5B reports 0 employees registered as brokers.
Its Form CRS, the short relationship summary dated March 31, 2026, says: “Our fees are based on a percentage of client assets managed and do not vary based on investment type.” It also says what any percentage fee implies: the firm has “an incentive to encourage you to increase the assets in your account.”
The brochure says the firm “does not offer any proprietary products, has no affiliated broker-dealer,” and that its advisors aren’t registered with a broker-dealer. It also says the firm “never receives a kickback, consulting, or revenue-sharing fee for recommending specific investments.”
How its people are paid: the Form CRS says advisors get a salary and are eligible for incentive pay “based on individual and firm performance,” may hold partnership units, and “receive compensation for certain client referrals.”
What else the filings disclose
In Item 7A of Form ADV, Creative Planning reports related companies that are other investment advisers, a trust company, an accounting firm, a law firm, an insurance company or agency, and a pension consultant. It doesn’t check broker-dealer. The brochure describes each one:
- Insurance. Creative Planning Insurance sells life, disability, long-term care and property coverage and helps with Medicare enrollment. United Capital Risk Management and New SIS (SageView Insurance Services) sell life insurance, annuities and long-term care. The brochure says these related agencies “receive commissions and other incentive awards” for insurance sales. Item 5B reports 81 employees licensed as insurance agents. Advisors who joined through acquisitions “may still receive some trail commissions” from earlier insurance sales.
- Tax and legal. Its planners don’t prepare returns or give legal advice. Those come from Creative Planning Tax, CP Strategic Advisors and the law firm Creative Planning Legal, P.A., “through separate agreements and compensation arrangements,” in addition to the advisory fee.
- Trust, lending and business services. Creative Planning Trust Company charges trust fees on top of the advisory fee. Creative Planning Lending “receives a fee for non-residential lending referrals that result in the closing of a loan.” Other affiliates offer business valuation, accounting, payroll and IT services, each billed separately.
- Other advisers. United Capital Financial Advisors is a related adviser whose representatives are also registered with an outside broker-dealer, Integrity Alliance, and which offers insurance, annuities and brokerage. Creative Planning Institutional Advisors, formerly SageView Advisory Group and mainly serving retirement plans, says in its July 2026 Form CRS that some of its representatives are registered with the broker-dealer Cetera or are insurance agents and can earn commissions.
- Ownership and funds. TPG, a private equity firm, holds a minority stake in Creative Planning. The brochure says this creates a conflict when it recommends the TPG Private Markets Fund, and that it “receives no remuneration for recommending” it. Creative Planning also manages several private funds and says it receives no added pay for doing so.
- Referral programs. It pays Schwab, Fidelity and Goldman Sachs Ayco for client referrals. The brochure says those fees are paid by the firm, not the client, and that referred clients pay the same as others. It also says the Schwab and Fidelity terms give it an incentive to keep referred accounts at those custodians.
The CFP Board allows a planner to call their pay fee-only only when the firm receives no sales-related compensation and its related parties receive none “in connection with any Professional Services” provided to the client. Sales-related compensation includes commissions and pay for referring a client elsewhere. If you buy a policy through one of the affiliated agencies, that test isn’t met for your relationship. If you don’t, the advisory fee is what you pay. Creative Planning doesn’t describe itself as fee-only in these documents.
The Form CRS also answers “Yes” to legal or disciplinary history; Item 9 of the brochure describes it.
What Creative Planning costs
The brochure dated March 31, 2026 lists this standard schedule, applied in tiers:
| Assets under management | Yearly rate |
|---|---|
| First $500,000 | 1.20% |
| $500,001 to $2 million | 1.00% |
| $2 million to $5 million | 0.85% |
| $5 million to $10 million | 0.80% |
| $10 million to $25 million | 0.70% |
| $25 million to $50 million | 0.40% |
| $50 million to $100 million | 0.30% |
| Over $100 million | 0.25% |
Fees are billed quarterly in arrears and are “negotiable.” Clients under $500,000 “may be charged a minimum management fee,” an amount the brochure doesn’t publish. The fee applies to cash and margined assets too. Fund expenses, custodian trading charges and any outside manager’s fee are extra. Clients of firms it acquired may keep their old fee schedule.
Comprehensive financial planning is included for clients with at least $500,000 under management. A one-time plan, offered “in limited situations,” is a fixed fee that typically runs $1,500 to $15,000.
Worked out on the standard schedule:
- $500,000: 1.20%, or $6,000 a year
- $1 million: $6,000 on the first $500,000 plus $5,000 on the next, or $11,000 a year (1.10%)
- $2 million: $6,000 plus $15,000, or $21,000 a year (1.05%)
For comparison, fee-only firms that publish a percentage fee charge a median 1% of assets. Planners who charge a flat fee for ongoing planning charge a median $4,500 a year (middle half $2,400 to $7,200), whatever your balance, and a one-time plan has a median of $2,000. A flat-fee planner may not manage your investments for that price, while Creative Planning’s fee includes management and, above $500,000, planning. See what an advisor costs on $1 million and whether 1% is too much.
Who Creative Planning may suit
Creative Planning is built for households that want investments, planning, tax, legal and insurance handled under one roof. Its brochure describes discretionary management with reviews at least twice a year, a yearly check-in, and a financial plan covering retirement, education, insurance and estate questions. Its tax and legal affiliates mean that work can stay within one group of companies.
It may suit someone with $500,000 or more who values that coordination and is comfortable paying separately for the extra services. Someone who mainly wants advice and will manage their own investments, or who wants every service from firms with no affiliated insurance sales, may want to compare a flat-fee or hourly planner first.
How to check it yourself
- Read the Form CRS. It’s two pages on fees, conflicts and staff pay, linked from the firm’s SEC record. See what a Form CRS tells you.
- Open Form ADV Part 1. Item 5E shows how the firm is paid, Item 6A shows its other businesses, and Item 7A and Schedule D list related companies, including insurance agencies.
- Read brochure Items 10 and 14, “Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations” and “Client Referrals and Other Compensation.”
- Ask in writing what you’ll pay in dollars each year, which services cost extra, and whether anyone at the firm or an affiliate is paid if you buy insurance or are referred elsewhere.
Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only walks through each check, and questions to ask a financial advisor covers the rest. For how this compares with commission and fee-based advisors, see fee-only vs fee-based vs commission.
Compare similar firms
Other large advisory firms we’ve checked against the fee-only definition: Fisher Investments, Edelman Financial Engines, Mariner Wealth Advisors, CAPTRUST, Wealth Enhancement Group, Mercer Advisors, Hightower. See all 50 firms.