118 | You Get What You Pay For

Some people want investment management and nothing else...and that's OK.

When this is the case, it might make sense to pay an AUM fee.

But when it comes to money, so many people have a feeling in their gut that investments won't and can't address, and that’s where the narrative starts to break down.

The disconnect between this feeling and the solutions that financial advisors have been offering for a couple of decades is a primary reason we've grown so skeptical of financial advice.

Investments don't address the Sunday Scaries. Investments don’t address a disappointing spending decision. Investments don’t address the stress of running life without an emergency fund or having your wings clipped by debt. Investments don’t help you get on the same page with your spouse or give you the courage to make a change.

But the fee and the way advice has been marketed - comprehensive, holistic, personalized - implies that they should.

Deep down we desire so much more in our relationship with money, but we’ve been trained to pay for investment advice and then hope everything else takes care of itself.

It’s time to start paying for the things we want, and trust that the investment advice will take care of itself.

Our fee is a simple, flat fee that is loosely based on complexity and ability to pay, but is never based on a percentage of assets under management.