Financial Planner Fees in St. Louis: The 1% You Never Get a Bill For

Revised October 29, 2026

$5,000 a year: say your retirement account holds $500,000, and that’s what one percent of it costs you, with no bill ever showing up. It comes out a quarter at a time, $1,250 at a go, inside a statement most people open at the kitchen counter, glance at, and slide back into the envelope with the electric bill.

Now walk it downtown. Stifel’s headquarters sits at One Financial Plaza, 501 North Broadway, in the heart of downtown St. Louis, and the firm’s own relationship summary, the short form every firm has to hand you, says the quiet part in plain type. In advisory accounts, you will typically pay Stifel an asset-based fee at the beginning of each quarter. And its financial advisors are compensated based upon a percentage of advisory fees and commissions and other transaction-based fees that Stifel receives.

Read that twice. The person across the desk is paid out of the same percentage that leaves your account. It isn’t hidden. It’s printed, on a form most people never unfold. That’s exactly why you do the math in dollars.

Now hold that against a schedule a firm actually prints. Edward Jones publishes its Advisory Solutions fee schedule: a program fee of 1.35% a year on the first $250,000 and 1.30% on the next $250,000, plus a platform fee of 0.05% on fund-model accounts. On that same $500,000, the program fee alone works out to $6,625 a year, while the 0.96% survey average works out to $4,800. Same half-million, $1,825 apart, every single year, before the platform fee. The same sheet says the fee may be discounted or reduced at the firm’s sole discretion, which is your cue to ask.

Before you compare a single price, make one phone call. Missouri’s Securities Division, part of the Secretary of State, says its registration staff registers approximately 1,822 investment advisers and 11,566 investment adviser representatives annually. Its Investor Protection Hotline is (800) 721-7996, and the general line is (573) 751-4136. Ask whether the person you are about to hire is registered and whether there is anything on their record. The fee you are about to agree to will cost you every year.

General cost education, not advice about your money. Here are the numbers.

What is the normal fee for a financial advisor?

The normal fee is just under 1% of the money managed each year: an Envestnet and Datos Insights survey of 491 financial advisors put the average bundled AUM fee at 0.96%. Advisors who charge a set price instead averaged $6,815 a year for an ongoing retainer, $2,926 for a one-time flat-fee plan and $595 a month for a subscription. Say you have $500,000 invested: 0.96% is $4,800 a year.

Those figures come from the State of Financial Planning Fees study, and the part to carry into any first meeting is this: 53% of the advisors surveyed raised their fees in the past 12 months. The retainer average jumped from $4,484 to $6,815. If you signed years ago, the number on your agreement may not be the number coming out of your account.

Hourly work is the cheapest door in. Kitces fee research found median hourly rates near $250, with the median shifting up from around $200. A two-hour session on whether to take a pension lump sum is a few hundred dollars, paid once, with a receipt you can hold.

Four meters, one service

The first meeting usually ends the same way: a folder slid across the desk, a pen set on top, and a fee page with one of four meters on it. The meter decides who comes out ahead. A percentage of assets grows with your balance whether or not the work does; the survey’s 0.96% average is the only model that got cheaper, down from 1.05%. A retainer is a set yearly price no matter your balance, which favors big portfolios and pinches small ones. A flat-fee plan is a one-time document and a meeting or two, then you carry it out yourself. A subscription is a monthly charge for ongoing access, and it moved fastest of all: from $215 a month to $595.

None of those is the right answer by default. A retiree with $1.2 million and a messy tax picture may get a bargain from a retainer. A 40-year-old in south city with $60,000 in a workplace retirement plan and one big question would be paying for years of service she doesn’t need. Picture the meter running while you sleep, and ask which one fits the work you actually want done.

The firm type matters too. In the same survey, registered investment adviser firms averaged $7,550 for a retainer while other firms averaged $5,237. Bigger price, different business model, and the brochure will tell you which one you are looking at.

The fee you feel and the fee you don’t

A check for $4,800 would hurt. You’d feel the pen drag. The same $4,800 pulled from an account in four quarterly slices of $1,200 barely registers, which is exactly why percentage pricing is described as painless. It isn’t cheaper. It’s quieter.

And it compounds. The SEC’s investor bulletin on fees runs a $100,000 investment growing at 4% a year for 20 years. With a 0.25% annual fee, it ends near $208,000. With a 1.00% fee, near $179,000. That is about $29,000 gone on a $100,000 start, the price of a decent used car, without one bill ever crossing your kitchen table.

That doesn’t make a one percent planner a bad deal. It makes the fee a real cost that has to be beaten by real value: a tax move, a smarter withdrawal order, or the phone call that talks you out of selling everything in a bad month. The bulletin’s number is the bar, not the verdict.

One percent, in dollars

At a flat one percent, the yearly fee is the balance divided by one hundred. Write your own number next to the closest line:

• $100,000 - $1,000 a year, about $83 a month
• $250,000 - $2,500 a year, about $208 a month
• $500,000 - $5,000 a year, about $417 a month
• $1,000,000 - $10,000 a year, about $833 a month

Most percentage schedules step down as balances grow, with breakpoints that work like tax brackets, and many carry an annual minimum fee. A minimum of $2,500 on a $150,000 account is not 1%. It’s 1.67%. Ask whether household accounts can be added together to reach a breakpoint sooner, and ask for the all-in yearly cost, including the expense ratios of the funds underneath, as one figure you could write on a napkin.

Spreadsheet break: here’s what Tower Grove South is actually like on foot.

Is 2% fee high for a financial advisor?

Say a planner quotes you 2%. Against a 0.96% average, that’s roughly double, and whoever charges it should be able to say why. Two honest complications. Two percent of $80,000 is $1,600 a year, less than the average flat-fee plan, and small accounts often carry higher rates because there is a floor below which the work doesn’t pay. And an all-in fee that already includes fund costs is a different animal from an advisory fee stacked on top of expensive funds.

Fee-only, fee-based and commission: one word changes the money

Fee-only means you are the only one paying the planner. Fee-based means fees and commissions, a legitimate model that sits one syllable away from fee-only. Commission means the product company pays them, and your cost hides inside what you bought. None of these is automatically honest or dishonest. Each puts different pressure in the room. So ask it out loud: how are you paid, by whom, and do you ever receive money from anyone other than me? Then get the answer in writing. For the vetting side of that conversation, read our guide on how to choose a financial advisor in St. Louis.

Brokers work under a different standard than advisers. The SEC’s Regulation Best Interest requires broker-dealers to act in the best interest of the retail customer at the time a recommendation is made. Ask whether the person across the table is acting as a fiduciary on everything they recommend, every time, and ask them to put that in writing.

Where the real fee schedule is written down

Registered advisers must prepare a narrative brochure, Part 2 of the Form ADV, with plain English disclosures of their business practices, fees, conflicts of interest and disciplinary information. Go straight to the fees and read the schedule yourself.

There’s a shorter sheet too. Registered broker-dealers and registered investment advisers are required to give retail investors a Form CRS relationship summary, which tells you the types of services a firm offers and the fees and costs you will pay. Read it on your phone in the parking lot before the first meeting.

Then check the person:

• Investment Adviser Public Disclosure for investment advisers
• FINRA BrokerCheck for brokers
• CFP Board verification to verify a CFP certification
• The Missouri Securities Division hotline above, or the Illinois Securities Department at 800-628-7937 if you live on the Metro East side

Smaller firms are usually overseen by a state, not the SEC; Investor.gov’s adviser registration page explains where that line sits. If a planner works both sides of the river, ask which states they are registered in and check it.

How much money should you have to see a financial advisor?

Less than you think, if you shop by fee model instead of by firm. Account minimums belong to percentage pricing, because a percentage of a small balance doesn’t cover the work. Hourly and flat-fee planners aren’t paid out of your balance, so it matters less to them. What matters is whether you face a decision worth paying to get right: a pension lump sum, a rollover after a layoff, an inheritance, when to claim Social Security.

If money is tight, start with free tax preparation programs around St. Louis and a local credit union before you pay anyone.

Questions to ask before you sign

• What would I pay in dollars in year one, with my actual numbers?
• What is the all-in yearly cost, including fund expenses, as one number?
• Is there an annual minimum, and what percent is that at my balance?
• Do you receive money from anyone other than me?
• Are you a fiduciary on everything you recommend, and will you put it in writing?
• Can I have your Form ADV brochure and Form CRS today?
• How much notice do I get before a fee increase, and how do I leave?

Get the schedule on paper. A rate said out loud has no minimums and no fund costs attached. A written one has both.

Related reading on the money side:

• How Missouri taxes retirement income
• How to budget on a St. Louis paycheck
• Roth vs traditional IRA and 401(k)

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth paying a financial advisor?

It depends on your situation. The cost side is measurable: the SEC’s illustration shows $100,000 growing at 4% for 20 years ending near $179,000 with a 1.00% annual fee, against about $208,000 at 0.25%. A fee tends to earn out when the decisions are complex and hard to reverse, and rarely when the service is an annual rebalance and a statement.

How much money should you have before getting a financial advisor?

It depends on the fee model, not the balance. Firms charging a percentage of assets often set minimums. Hourly and flat-fee planners are not paid out of your balance: survey averages put a flat-fee plan at $2,926, and Kitces found median hourly rates near $250.

What is a red flag for a financial advisor?

Anyone who won’t put the fee in writing, can’t say plainly whether they are a fiduciary on everything they recommend, or isn’t registered. Check registration and history on Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, FINRA BrokerCheck, or with the Missouri Securities Division at (800) 721-7996.

What are the downsides of using a financial advisor?

Cost, mainly, and it compounds. Retainers averaged $6,815 a year in the Envestnet survey, and 53% of advisors raised fees in the past 12 months. Some pay structures also carry conflicts where compensation depends on which products you buy.

Is $100,000 enough to have a financial advisor?

Yes, if you pick the right fee model. At 1% a year, $100,000 costs $1,000 annually. A one-time flat-fee plan averaged $2,926 in the Envestnet survey, and hourly work at a median near $250 lets you pay only for the decisions you need help with.

Are fee-only financial advisors worth it?

Fee-only describes who pays the planner, not how much. A fee-only planner can charge a percentage, a retainer, a flat plan fee or hourly. What it buys you is a simpler conflict picture, because you are the only source of their pay. Price still has to be compared in dollars.

About the Author: The St Louis Near Me Directory Team
Written by a dedicated team of St. Louis locals who live, work, and play right here in the St. Louis metro. Founder Lane Forman and team are committed to building the region’s most trusted directory by verifying listings and connecting local businesses with loyal customers across Missouri and Illinois.

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