Fee-only, fee-based, and commission-based are not interchangeable terms. Understanding how your advisor is compensated is one of the most important steps toward receiving objective financial advice.
As Seen in WSJ | Buy Side Dated 8/19/2025 Written by Molly Grace. Explore the different categories of financial advisors—from RIAs to robo advisors—to determine which expert aligns with your financial planning needs. Key takeaways: There are a lot of different terms used to describe financial professionals, which can make it hard to know which
The 6% commission, a standard in home purchase transactions, is no more. In a sweeping move expected to dramatically reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday a settlement with groups of homesellers, agreeing to end landmark antitrust lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and eliminating rules on commissions.
Choosing to work with a financial planner is one of the biggest decisions many will face. The hard part is knowing what to look for in an advisor and firm.
Fee-only financial planners come with certain advantages and disadvantages that investors should consider.
……And while we’re on the topic of ethics: Fiduciaries are required by law to put your interests before their own. In addition to that, a subset of fiduciary firms are fee-only, which means they don’t sell any products or services beyond their relationship with you and act as a fiduciary in all parts of their business. The word fiduciary gets used incorrectly all the time, but a true fiduciary has very few conflicts of interest, with all decisions made in the client’s best interest. For me, these two criteria – being a CFP and a fiduciary – should be non-negotiable when choosing an adviser…………
….I recommend that you limit your search to fee-only financial advisors. They are more likely to put your financial interests ahead of their own since they don’t earn commissions from selling you products and services….
…..Such advisors often call themselves “fee based,” hoping you’ll confuse them with “fee only” planners. Fee-only planners are compensated only by the fees you pay; they don’t accept commissions or other compensation that could influence their advice.
