Compare the potential drag of layered commission-based models and internal mutual fund expenses against my independent, 100% fee-only fiduciary model.
Enter your portfolio size and traditional cost assumptions to estimate potential annual fee savings and model estimated 10- to 20-year cost reductions.
See exactly what you get for your fee. At Prudent Harbor, comprehensive financial planning isn't an expensive add-on—it is the baseline of my fiduciary care.
| Comprehensive Planning Pillar | Prudent Harbor Advisors | Traditional Brokerage Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Estate & Legacy Preservation Auditing wills, POAs, beneficiaries, and Trust structures. | Included in Core Fee | Often outsourced and billed hourly by an external estate attorney. |
| Retirement Planning Long-term cash flow modeling and sustainable distribution testing. | Included in Core Fee | Sometimes limited to basic projections or one-time reviews. |
| Social Security & Income Maximizer Spousal timeline coordination to minimize taxation on benefits. | Included in Core Fee | Frequently not integrated into ongoing, proactive tax-optimized cash flows. |
| Healthcare & Medicare Navigation Guidance through enrollment windows and Medigap vs Advantage. | Included in Core Fee | Generally falls outside the scope of standard investment management. |
| Tax Strategy & Distribution Planning Mitigating RMDs through proactive Roth conversions and sequencing. | Included in Core Fee | Usually deferred entirely to an external CPA without proactive advisor input. |
| Charitable Giving Strategies Optimizing impact via DAFs, QCDs, and appreciated asset gifting. | Included in Core Fee | Often incurs additional consulting or specialized administrative fees. |
Many investors believe they are only paying a 1.00% "advisor fee," but some commission-based models layer multiple embedded costs into client accounts. To calculate your actual annual cost, look at your monthly statements and mutual fund prospectuses for these four components:
The headline fee billed directly by your broker or wealth manager for account administration and advisory services (typically 1.00% to 1.25%).
Internal management fees charged directly by the mutual funds or ETFs held in your portfolio. Actively managed funds often average 0.50% to 1.00%+ annually.
Annual marketing and distribution fees embedded inside many mutual funds, often adding an extra 0.25% surcharge directly to your fund holdings.
Front-end or back-end commissions (often 3% to 5.75%) charged when buying or selling specific proprietary products, class-A shares, or insurance wrappers.
Compliance Note & Disclaimer: Underlying ETF fund expenses (estimated at 0.10% in this calculation) are deducted directly by the third-party fund manager, rather than billed by my firm. Prudent Harbor Advisors receives no revenue sharing, kickbacks, or 12b-1 fees from any third-party product providers. This calculation is provided strictly for illustrative purposes prior to executing an Investment Advisory Agreement. Projections assume consistent annual returns based on user inputs and do not constitute a guarantee of future investment results.