Subscription financial planning costs a median $4,500 a year at US fee-only firms that publish an ongoing planning fee, which works out to about $375 a month. The middle half of firms charge $2,400 to $7,200 a year, roughly $200 to $600 a month. You pay the same amount whether your accounts hold $50,000 or $2 million.
These figures come from the recurring planning fees firms publish on their own websites, each checked word for word against the page. A fee stated monthly is counted as 12 payments, so the monthly figures here are the yearly ones divided by 12. Each is the lowest recurring price a firm lists, so a more complex household can pay more at the same firm. The full breakdown is in the Wellspent fee report.
What a subscription costs
Medians from recurring planning fees firms publish on their own websites
Source: Wellspent fee report
The Canadian figure rests on far fewer firms. Our guide to what fee-only advisors charge in Canada explains how to read it.
How common it is
An ongoing planning fee is the second most common way fee-only firms charge, behind a percentage of assets. Most firms offer more than one option, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Firms use different names for the same thing: subscription, retainer, monthly planning fee, annual planning fee. What they share is a recurring price for a continuing relationship, set by the work rather than by your balance. Our guide to flat-fee advisors covers how those prices are set and how they vary by state.
How the price is usually built
A subscription quote often has two parts:
- A first-year or onboarding fee. Some firms charge a one-time amount to build the first plan, since the first few months are the most work. Others fold it into a higher monthly price for year one.
- The monthly or quarterly fee. This pays for the plan staying current, regular meetings and help between them.
Where a firm lands in the range depends on complexity, not assets. A household with two salaries and a 401(k) sits near the bottom. Stock options, a business, rental property or income in two countries push the price up. Ask a firm which tier you’d fall into and why.
What the subscription usually covers
- A written plan, updated through the year rather than once
- Two to four planned meetings a year, often by video
- Email and short calls when something comes up: a job offer, a vest, a new baby, a house
- Tax-aware advice on saving, withdrawals and equity pay
- Reviews of insurance, benefits elections and estate documents
Often not included: placing trades or managing your accounts, preparing tax returns, and drafting legal documents. Some firms manage investments for the same fee; others add a percentage for it. Get the answer in writing before you compare prices, because “planning only” and “planning plus management” at the same monthly fee are different products.
How billing works
Subscription fees are usually charged to a card or bank account each month or quarter, rather than deducted from your investment accounts. Every registered firm has to spell out its billing in Item 5 of its Form ADV Part 2A brochure: whether it deducts fees from your accounts or bills you, and how often.
Three things in that section are worth reading closely:
- Advance or arrears. Most subscriptions are billed at the start of each period. The brochure has to say so.
- Refunds if you leave. If you pay in advance, the firm must explain how you get a refund of a prepaid fee when the contract ends mid-period, and how the refund is worked out. Monthly billing keeps this small.
- Large prepayments. If a firm requires more than $1,200 in fees six months or more ahead, its brochure must include an audited balance sheet. For state-registered firms the threshold is $500. Paying a year up front isn’t wrong, but the rules treat it as a risk worth disclosing.
These details matter in practice. In a 2018 review of more than 1,500 exams, SEC staff found advisers that billed monthly when the contract said quarterly, billed in advance when it said arrears, and didn’t refund the unused part of a fee to clients who left mid-cycle, despite saying they would.
Subscription, one-time or a percentage
| If you’d use | Usually the better fit | Typical cost (US median) |
|---|---|---|
| One question, once | Hourly | $300 an hour |
| A full plan, then do it yourself | One-time plan | $2,000 |
| Help every year as life changes | Subscription | $4,500 a year |
| Someone to run your investments too | Percentage of assets | 1% a year |
Two comparisons decide it for most people. Against a one-time plan, a subscription costs more than twice as much a year at the medians ($4,500 against $2,000), but it keeps the plan current. If you’d buy a new plan every year or two anyway, the subscription is usually the better deal. Against a percentage fee, the two cost the same at about $450,000 in assets, comparing 1% with the median ongoing fee. Above that, the subscription costs less each year. The fee calculator runs the numbers for your balance.
Who a subscription suits
- High earners still building savings. Income, equity pay and big decisions, but assets below many firms’ minimums. Many subscription firms are built around this group.
- Young families. Childcare, insurance, a first home and college savings all in a few years.
- People who manage their own investments and want a professional checking the whole picture every year.
- Anyone who wants a predictable bill. You know the cost in January.
It suits you less if you only have one decision to make, or if you want someone else to handle every trade and the subscription doesn’t cover that.
Questions to ask before you subscribe
- What will I pay in the first year, including any onboarding fee, and in each year after?
- What’s included, and what costs extra?
- Do you manage investments, and is that in this price?
- When would my price change?
- How do I cancel, and what’s refunded?
- Do you or your firm earn anything other than what I pay you?
A fee-only planner answers no to the last one. Check the answers against the firm’s Form CRS and Form ADV on the SEC’s adviser search, then browse flat-fee advisors or advisors for early-career professionals in the public graph. For every other way of paying, see how much a financial advisor costs.