The honest answer is: it depends heavily on the fee model, and the fee model isn't always obvious until you ask. Here's a breakdown of what you're likely to encounter and what tends to drive the cost up or down.
Percentage of assets under management (AUM)
This is the most common model for ongoing wealth management: typically 0.5% to 1.5% of your invested assets per year, often scaling down as your balance grows. On a $500,000 portfolio, a 1% fee works out to $5,000 a year. This model aligns the advisor's incentive with growing your portfolio, but it means the dollar cost rises as your assets do, even if the amount of work involved doesn't change much.
Flat fees and retainers
Some advisors charge a fixed annual fee — commonly somewhere between $2,000 and $10,000 depending on complexity — regardless of your account size. This tends to be more predictable and can be considerably cheaper for larger portfolios, though it may cost more relative to a small one.
Hourly rates
A smaller segment of advisors charge by the hour, similar to an accountant or attorney — often $150 to $400 an hour. This suits people who want advice on a specific question rather than an ongoing managed relationship.
Commission-based compensation
Instead of billing you directly, some advisors earn commissions from the financial products they sell — certain insurance policies or investment products, for example. This can mean no direct cost to you, but it's worth understanding whether it creates an incentive to recommend a product that pays the advisor more rather than the one that's genuinely best for you.
On a hypothetical $500,000 portfolio, a 1% AUM fee costs about $5,000 a year, a mid-range flat fee might run $4,000, and ten hours of hourly advice at $250/hour comes to $2,500. Actual costs vary by advisor and situation.
What's worth paying for
Cost only means something relative to what you're getting. An advisor who helps you avoid one bad decision — panic-selling during a downturn, mistiming Social Security, under-insuring your family — can be worth far more than their fee. The goal isn't to find the cheapest option, it's to understand what you're paying and confirm it's proportional to the value.