Choose
Fee-only
You want product commission removed from the equation entirely and are content to source insurance separately.
Compared
Fee-only vs Fee-based
One syllable apart, and a real distinction underneath. The industry has not helped by choosing labels this similar, and the useful question turns out not to be which label a firm carries.
The short answer
Fee-only firms are paid solely by their clients. Fee-based firms charge client fees and may also receive commissions, usually on insurance. Neither is disqualifying and both contain good and bad practitioners. What matters is whether a firm will tell you, unprompted and before you decide, how it is paid on the specific thing it is recommending, which is a question you can ask either kind and judge by the answer.
Side by side
Where they actually differ.
| Compared on | Fee-only | Fee-based |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays them | You, only. | You, plus product commission on certain recommendations. |
| Can they place insurance directly? | No. Referred out. | Yes, which is much of why firms choose the model. |
| Conflicts of interest | Fewer, though not none. An assets-based fee is itself a conflict on any advice to spend or move money out. | More, and the test is whether they are disclosed before a recommendation or after it. |
| Cost to you | Not automatically lower. Fee-only does not mean cheap. | Not automatically higher. |
| What to actually ask | How is your fee calculated, and does it change with what I decide? | Does this specific recommendation pay you a commission, and how much? |
Which you actually need
Read the conditions, not the totals.
Nobody wins a comparison in the abstract. What decides it is which of these sentences describes your situation.
Choose
Fee-based
You want the insurance and risk-transfer work done in-house alongside everything else, and you are satisfied the disclosure happens before the decision.
Usually both
Both
Not really a both. But it is worth saying that Advocate Wealth Solutions is fee-based, states so on its disclosures page, and tells you before you decide if something pays a commission.
The mistake this comparison causes
What people conclude
“Fee-only means unconflicted advice, and fee-based means being sold to.”
What is actually true
Every compensation model has a conflict in it. An assets-based fee gives a firm a reason to discourage you from spending or moving money, which is rarely discussed. The label tells you which conflict exists, not whether you are being well served. The client research behind this site put the real test plainly: the objection is not to fees, it is to vagueness, and to a product presented as advice.
The terms underneath this
Each of these has its own page, including what it does not do.
Plain answers
What people ask next.
Is Advocate Wealth Solutions fee-only or fee-based?
Fee-based, and it says so on its disclosures page rather than burying it. That means planning and advisory fees, plus the possibility of commission on insurance placed through the related agency, disclosed before you decide, not after.
Should I just ask whether someone is a fiduciary?
It is worth asking and it is a weaker question than it sounds, because the same person can be a fiduciary in one capacity and not in another during the same conversation. 'How are you paid on this specific recommendation' is harder to answer vaguely.
What does a fee-based firm’s fee actually cover?
It varies, which is why asking is reasonable rather than rude. Here, the first conversation, a Clarity Map Session, carries no fee at all, and the PILOT Process that may follow carries one quoted before any work begins.
Which one is right for you
A comparison narrows it. It cannot decide it.
Which of these fits depends on what you own, how it is titled and what your tax picture looks like, which is exactly what a Clarity Map Session establishes. Free, 30 minutes, no obligation.
30 minutes · No cost · No obligation