A virtual financial advisor is a real person you work with by video, phone and email instead of across a desk. Your money stays at a large custodian in your name, you sign documents online, and you meet a few times a year on screen. It costs the same as in person: fee-only firms that publish prices charge a median $4,500 a year for ongoing planning, $2,000 for a one-time plan or $300 an hour. The real gain is choice: you can hire the right specialist anywhere they’re registered to work, not just the nearest one.
Three things called “virtual”
The word covers three different products. Know which one you’re buying.
| Robo-advisor | Hybrid service | Virtual advisor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Software | Software, plus advisors you can call | A person, or a small team |
| What you get | A managed portfolio | A managed portfolio and some planning | Planning, and often investment management |
| Typical price | About 0.20% to 0.25% a year | About 0.30% to 0.65% a year | Same as any advisor: flat, hourly, per plan or a percentage |
| Same person each time | No | Sometimes, at higher balances | Yes |
Two published examples of each, checked October 31, 2026:
- Vanguard Digital Advisor charges a gross 0.20% a year for an index portfolio, with a $100 minimum. Betterment Digital charges 0.25% a year, or $5 a month below $24,000 unless you deposit $200 or more a month.
- Betterment Premium charges 0.65% on the first $1 million, with a $100,000 minimum and access to an advisor when you want one. Vanguard Personal Advisor Select charges about 0.30%, with a $500,000 minimum and a dedicated CFP professional.
Fund costs come on top of all of these.
A robo-advisor is the cheapest way to have a portfolio run for you. It won’t tell you when to claim Social Security, how to handle a stock grant or what to do with an inheritance. If those are your questions, you want a person. If your investments are simple and your questions are few, an hourly planner alongside a robo-advisor can cost less than either alone.
How working with a virtual advisor goes
- A first call by video. Usually free, 20 to 60 minutes. You talk about what you need; they explain how they charge.
- Sharing your documents. Through a secure portal, not email: statements, tax returns, pay stubs, benefits summaries. Many firms also link your accounts read-only, so they can see balances without being able to move money.
- Planning meetings on screen. The advisor shares their screen and walks you through projections, so you see the numbers they see.
- Opening accounts online. If they manage investments, you open accounts at their custodian and sign by e-signature. Transfers from your old firm happen in the background; our guide to switching advisors covers how.
- Ongoing contact. Typically two to four meetings a year, plus email or messages between them.
Where your money actually sits
With a legitimate virtual advisor, the advisor never holds your money. It sits at a large independent custodian, in an account in your name, and you can log in and see every holding and every fee taken. The advisor gets limited authority to trade and to deduct the agreed fee, and nothing else.
That’s what makes the arrangement safe at a distance. If an advisor asks you to send money to them or to an account you can’t see, stop.
Can a virtual advisor work with you in your state?
Usually, but check. Larger advisory firms register with the SEC and can serve clients in any state. Smaller firms generally register with their home state instead, and federal law lets them take on clients elsewhere without registering there only if they have no office in that state and fewer than six clients living there over the past 12 months. Past that, they need to register in your state too.
You can see where a firm is registered on the SEC’s free adviser search. If you live somewhere the firm isn’t registered, ask how they’ll handle it before you sign.
Local still matters for some situations: a divorce, where state law shapes the settlement; a state pension; or property and taxes in a state the advisor doesn’t know. In those cases, look for a virtual advisor who works with clients in your state regularly, or go local.
Ask, because most websites don’t say
Don’t assume a firm won’t work remotely because its website doesn’t mention it. Of the firm websites we read, only 29% said in a way we could check that they work with clients virtually. Ask directly in the first call.
What to ask a virtual advisor
- Are you registered to work with clients in my state?
- Will I work with the same person every time?
- How do I share documents, and how do you protect them?
- How often will we meet, and how fast do you reply between meetings?
- Where will my accounts be held, and can I see them myself?
- What will I pay in total each year, in dollars, and does anyone else pay you?
The last one matters most. A fee-only advisor is paid only by you, whether you meet in person or on screen. Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only shows how to check, and how much a financial advisor costs helps you judge the price.