Your Advisor Won't Show You This Chart

What does a 1% advisory fee really cost you? In this video I walk through 10 things a financial advisor who charges a percentage of your assets probably won't highlight for you, then how to find an advisor who charges a flat fee or by the hour.

Resources mentioned in the video:

Low-cost financial advisors (robberger.com): https://robberger.com/low-cost-financial-advisors/
Nectarine (flat-fee and hourly advisors): https://hellonectarine.com/
Flat Fee Advisors directory: https://flatfeeadvisors.org/advisors
Morningstar, The State of Retirement Income for 2026: https://www.morningstar.com/business/insights/research/the-state-of-retirement-income

Morningstar US Fund Fee Study 2026: https://www.morningstar.com/content/cs-assets/v3/assets/blt9415ea4cc4157833/bltceffe0d68d048b0a/6a076fcbc9bda1fb11c9f0a6/US_Fund_Fee_Study_2026.pdf
Kitces, how advisors spend their time: https://www.kitces.com/blog/how-do-financial-advisors-spend-time-research-study-productivity-capacity-efficiency/
Cerulli, The Price of Advice: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/cerulli-website-assets/documents/White-Papers/2025/Cerulli-White-Paper_The-Price-of-Advice.pdf Kitces
Report, How Financial Planners Actually Do Financial Planning (2024): https://kitces.com/kitces-report-how-financial-planners-actually-do-financial-planning/
Envestnet 2026 financial planning retainer survey: https://newsroom.envestnet.com/2026-05-04-Average-Financial-Planning-Retainer-Fee-Surges-52-Since-2023,-as-Industry-Accelerates-Toward-Planning-Led-Advice
SPIVA U.S. Mid-Year 2026 (S&P Dow Jones Indices): https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/spiva/spiva-us-mid-year-2026.pdf
Active managers' 2026 study (Investment Adviser Association): https://www.investmentadviser.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ssrn-6710358.pdf
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT): https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vt

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0:00 10 things your financial advisor won't tell you
0:33 1. What a 1% fee costs in dollars
2:07 2. The 1% isn't the whole bill
3:06 3. What the fee does to your retirement income
4:50 4. How much time goes to your portfolio
5:20 5. The work barely grows, but the bill does
6:56 6. A complex portfolio isn't more diversified
8:28 7. How the fee shapes the advice
10:28 8. Flat-fee, hourly and hybrid alternatives
11:44 9. Does financial planning justify the fee?
13:33 10. Will their portfolio beat index funds?
14:48 How to find a flat-fee or hourly advisor
17:27 The real takeaway

ABOUT ME

While still working as a trial attorney in the securities field, I started writing about personal finance and investing In 2007. In 2013 I started the Doughroller Money Podcast, which has been downloaded millions of times. I've since sold my websites, bought them back, and started a new website and this YouTube channel.

I'm also the author of Retire Before Mom and Dad--The Simple Numbers Behind a Lifetime of Financial Freedom (https://amzn.to/3by10EE)

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DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial adviser. These videos are for educational purposes only. Investing of any kind involves risk. Your investment and other financial decisions are solely your responsibility. It is imperative that you conduct your own research and seek professional advice as necessary. I am merely sharing my opinions.

*Disclosure*: Some of the links in this description are from partners who compensate us. This means — at no extra cost to you — I may earn money if you click and sign up for a product or open an account. This creates a financial relationship that may influence my recommendations, but I only recommend products and services I believe in and would recommend to my own mom. Advertisers have no control over my content. Read the full advertiser disclosure here: https://robberger.com/how-we-make-money/