Our Financial Advisor Fees
What You Need To Know About Fees
Investment fees matter. They can make a big difference to your financial health in the long run. Before you put money into any investment, it’s vital to uncover the real costs. They typically include these six types of fees. Read more here.
No Smoke and Mirrors – Just Transparency
Our client-centered, commission-free investment and wealth consulting specialist in Rapid City tend to cost less and deliver more in the way of services than financial services advisors compensated by commissions. How can that possibly be true? The reason is that our charges are transparent and are fully disclosed. Commissions are often well hidden and allow financial service firms to get by with charging more. Out of sight, out of mind.
Financial editor Bob Veres recently wrote in Inside Information that “a client with a $1 million portfolio will pay at least $20,000 more in various hidden costs to a broker than to a fee-only financial adviser, even if both the broker and adviser are charging the same fee amount for the planning and investment work.”
No Selling – Just Wisdom
Our clients compensate us for our knowledge and wisdom, in the same way they pay their attorney, accountant, or physician. Our investment consulting specialists in Rapid City do not earn any commissions from the sale of financial products such as insurance, annuities, mutual funds, private REITS, or limited partnerships. We provide client-centered investment advisory services and financial planning.
Know Whether You Are A Customer or Client
When you pay us a fee for investment advice and financial planning, you become a client of the adviser. The SEC holds fee-only investment advisers and financial planners to a “fiduciary” standard, which means they must be impartial, unbiased, and work as an advocate for clients. Being fee-only helps our wealth and investment consulting team in Rapid City remove almost all conflicts of interest from our interaction with our clients in South Dakota.
When you buy investment and insurance products from a non-fiduciary financial services advisor who derives their revenue from commissions, you are a customer. This distinction of being a customer rather than a client is of significant legal importance. A financial services advisor is employed by and owes a duty to the firm, rather than you. Many financial services advisors are compensated in part or completely by commissions that are hidden from view and represent significant conflicts of interest. A financial services advisor owes you, the customer, nothing but to treat you “fairly” and sell you products that they believe are “suitable” for their customer.
Easy Street For The Advisor – The Investment Poor House For You
When it comes to selecting managed financial investments like retirement plans, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, annuities, and private real estate investment trusts, it’s essential to know how much you will be charged in fees.
Otherwise, you could own a mutual fund or annuity with great diversification which invests in high quality securities, yet still do no better over 20 years than had you stuck your money into a bank certificate of deposit earning 1%. You could own a private real estate investment trust that owns great properties in AAA locations, yet lose your shirt. All because you didn’t pay attention to the fees.
If You Don’t Ask About Fees, Most Won’t Disclose
The difference between a fiduciary adviser and a financial services advisor is more than in the spelling of “adviser” and “advisor”.
A fiduciary adviser is legally required to disclose all costs and conflicts of interest clearly and visibly. They also must work in your best interests. Most financial services advisors do not fully disclose costs and conflicts. This lack of full disclosure is one reason why so many customers of financial services advisors think they don’t pay anything for their advice.
The only way to know exactly what commissions and fees you are paying is to read the fine print, ask the right questions, and insist on getting clear answers.
Finding a Conflict-Free Fiduciary is Tricky
Trying to find an advisor that truly has your best interest at heart can be daunting.
Unfortunately, you cannot take an advisor’s word that you will be a client and that they can remain free of any conflicts of interest.
In order to be assured that this is the case, you must get it in writing.
2 Tools to Help Determine Whether or Not an Advisor is a Fiduciary