This is going to piss off some financial advisors, but consumers deserve the blunt truth.

There are advisors charging AUM fees who do very little to justify what they charge. Their clients are overpaying.

But 99% of the best advisors I know also charge AUM fees, and their clients get far more value than the fee they pay.

Both things are true.

What's getting old is the number of flat fee advisors whose entire marketing strategy seems to be convincing people that every advisor charging AUM is ripping off their clients.

It's not true, and I think it does real harm to the industry and, more importantly, consumers.

The fee structure is irrelevant. What matters is how much you're paying each year and what you're getting in return.

If you have significant wealth and a complicated financial life, exceptional advice is going to cost a pretty penny.

Changing how the fee is calculated doesn't magically change the input cost of delivering the service.

The margin of profit on top of the input costs is determined by demand.

Advisors in high demand are naturally going to command higher fees as their capacity depletes.

It doesn't matter what fee model they use.

There are AUM advisors charging 1.50%. There are flat fee advisors with minimum fees in the six figures.

Neither fee structure tells you whether you're getting a good deal.

Look at what you're paying. Look at what you're getting. Judge it on that.