Is a fee-only planner right for you?

The main advantage of hiring a fee-only planner is that the payment system is more transparent than other systems. This means that you will always know how much you’re paying for financial advice, and your planner is less likely to have a conflict of interest.

Fee-only planners can be hard to find in Canada. Most financial planners are paid using the commission model. In that model, planners get most of their income in the form of commissions for selling you funds.

However, a small group of planners have opted for the “fee-only” payment model, in which they get 100% of their income from their clients, and no money from fund companies.

If you hire a fee-only planner who offers different payment options, we recommend that you use the hourly fee option. This option puts your planner’s interests in line with yours. Your planner is less likely to receive payments from mutual fund and insurance companies for selling you product. But no matter what payment option you use, you should always ask your planner to list all commissions and fees he or she receives in writing, including sales commissions, trailer fees and referral fees.

The main drawback with hiring a fee-only planner is that many are not licensed to sell you investments directly, so they provide you with a general plan and you have to put it into action yourself. In general, fee-only planners are most appropriate for people with more than $100,000 to invest who don’t mind getting involved in buying and selling their own investments.

Below is an alphabetical listing of financial planning firms that you can pay by the hour or by the project. Please note that the system a planner uses for compensation does not in and of itself make a planner more or less competent, so you should employ the same due diligence in hiring a fee-only planner as you would when hiring any other kind of planner. In particular, we recommend a thorough interview with at least three candidates before making a selection.

The listing is provided as a service only and the firms listed have not been screened or approved by MoneySense magazine or Canadian Business Online.

If you are interested in being added to our listing, please contact letters@moneysense.ca with your information.

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