Advice-Only™ Is Not a Fee Model – It’s a Structural Methodology

Q: Does Advice-Only™ mean you can’t help with implementation?

No. Advice-Only™ means implementation support is optional and structurally separate. Clients can implement with any provider they choose, and the plan remains complete even if no implementation occurs. If a client wants help translating a plan into action, that support can happen at the client’s request—without hidden incentives, referral compensation, or pressure to move assets or adopt a platform.

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Advice-Only™ is not a fee model. It is a structural methodology for delivering fiduciary financial planning without hidden incentives, conflicted revenue, or embedded pressure to sell, manage, or refer.

Many people assume “Advice-Only” refers to how an advisor gets paid. That assumption is understandable — but it’s wrong.

Payment matters. But structure matters more.

Advice-Only™ requires specific fee mechanics — direct, client-paid, fixed or hourly invoicing — but it is defined by the architecture those fees enforce, not by the fees themselves.

Why Advice-Only™ Is Not a Fee Model

Advice-Only is often described using pricing shorthand:

“No commissions”
“No AUM fees”
“Flat-fee or hourly planning”
“Advice without asset management”

Those descriptions focus on what is removed — not on what replaces it.

Advice-Only™ is not a fee model. It is a structural financial-planning methodology designed to separate advice from implementation incentives, compensation pressure, and sales influence.

Why Fee Structure Alone Is Not Enough

Even when commissions and asset-based fees are eliminated, incentives still exist.

For example:

Referral relationships
Platform affiliations
Software partnerships
Network visibility
Lead-routing benefits
Brand dependency
Growth incentives
Career or succession pressure

None of these appear on a fee schedule — yet all can influence advice.

A model that addresses only compensation but ignores these forces does not eliminate conflicts. It simply narrows the definition of conflict to what is easiest to see.

Advice-Only™ begins where fee-based definitions stop.

What Actually Defines Advice-Only™

Advice-Only™ is defined by structural separation, not pricing language.

At its core, the methodology rests on five non-negotiable commitments:

1) Advice Is Structurally Separate From Implementation

Planning is financially and operationally independent from asset custody, product sales, account management, and any form of referral compensation or reciprocal business arrangement.

Advice must be able to stand on its own — even if implementation never occurs.

2) The Client Retains Full Autonomy

Clients choose where assets live, who implements, and whether they want ongoing support. Planning never requires asset transfers, platform adoption, or account consolidation.

3) Non-Monetary Influence Is Treated as a Conflict

Advice-Only™ recognizes that influence is not limited to money. Reputational benefits, access, exposure, referrals, and platform dependence are disclosed, documented, and structurally constrained — not ignored.

4) Structure Carries the Weight of Objectivity

Objectivity is not a personality trait. It is an architectural outcome.

The engagement is designed so recommendations are not financially rewarded and remaining influences are visible, documented, and open to scrutiny.

5) Definitions Are Public, Testable, and Enforced

Advice-Only™ is expressed through published standards, documented checkpoints, auditable processes, and consistent terminology — not slogans or self-labeling.

Why Advice-Only™ Cannot Be Reduced to “Flat-Fee” or “Hourly”

Flat-fee and hourly pricing can exist inside many planning models — including ones that remain structurally conflicted.

Advice-Only™ may use flat fees or hourly billing — but those are tools, not definitions.

Two advisors can charge identical fees and deliver radically different levels of objectivity depending on whether implementation revenue exists elsewhere, whether referrals are incentivized, whether platform dependence is present, and whether alternative outcomes harm the advisor’s business.

Advice-Only™ evaluates structure first, then pricing.

Structural Capability Comparison (Standards-Level)

Note: This table is intentionally standards-level. For a consumer-friendly comparison of pricing labels and common advisor models, see
Advice-Only vs Fee-Only vs Flat-Fee vs Fee-For-Service.

Capability	Fee-Only	Flat-Fee	Advice-Only™
No commissions	✔	✔	✔
No AUM fees	Sometimes	✔	✔
Structural separation (planning stands independently of custody, products, referrals)	❌	❌	✔
Non-monetary influence treated as a conflict (visibility + constraints)	❌	❌	✔
Client autonomy guaranteed (no forced platform adoption or asset movement)	❌	❌	✔
Implementation optional (plan is complete even without implementation support)	❌	❌	✔
Standards enforceable (public definitions + checkpoints + auditable constraints)	❌	❌	✔

Why This Distinction Matters

When Advice-Only is treated as a pricing label, it becomes easy to dilute.

When it is treated as a structure, it becomes defensible.

Clients deserve to know whether advice is shaped by sales incentives, growth pressure, platform economics, referral obligations, or hidden dependencies.

Advice-Only™ exists to remove avoidable doubt — not to create a new marketing term.

The Bottom Line

Advice-Only™ is not about how advisors get paid. It is about how advice is protected.

Pricing is visible. Structure is decisive.

Advice-Only™ is a methodology — not a fee model — because objectivity cannot be bought, promised, or assumed.

It must be designed.

FAQ

What makes Advice-Only™ different if two advisors charge the same flat fee?

Two advisors can use identical pricing and still deliver very different levels of objectivity. Advice-Only™ is defined by structural separation: the planning engagement is designed to stand on its own, without dependence on implementation outcomes (asset transfers, product sales, account management revenue, or reciprocal referrals). In other words, pricing can look the same on paper while the underlying incentive architecture is completely different.

Does Advice-Only™ mean you can’t help with implementation?

No. Advice-Only™ means implementation support is optional and structurally separate. Clients can implement with any provider they choose, and the plan remains complete even if no implementation occurs. If a client wants help evaluating options or translating a plan into action, that support can happen at the client’s request — but without hidden incentives, referral compensation, or embedded pressure to move assets or adopt a platform.