Keystone Financial Planning (KFP) charges different fees for its various services  :

 

Comprehensive Financial Plan - the fee for this one-time service ranges from $2,000 to $10,000. A specific fee will be quoted to you based upon the expected time and complexity of the engagement. Before the engagement begins, you will need to sign the Comprehensive Financial Planning Agreement  , which will confirm the fee in writing. The entire fee will be due upon completion of the financial plan.

 

 

Asset Management - the annual charge is 1.00% of assets under management for amounts up to $1,000,000, 0.75% for amounts between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000, and 0.60% for amounts over $5,000,000. The term, assets under management, refers to assets that are held in one of more brokerage account(s) where KFP has a Limited Power of Attorney on the account(s). This fee schedule is negotiable based upon portfolio size and other business considerations. Fees will be paid quarterly, in advance. The minimum quarterly fee $2,000.

 

 

Hourly Financial Planning - the fee for this service is $200 / hour. KFP does not charge asset management clients hourly fees for the following financial planning services: updating your profile, your task list, your goals, and your net worth statement. Fees will be billed monthly, in arrears.

 

 

Yes, there are additional fees that you will pay to other firms as you implement your financial plan and invest your assets:

 

1.      As part of the financial planning process, KFP may recommend that you purchase additional insurance (life, disability, umbrella, property, etc), hire an estate planning attorney, hire an accountant, purchase software to track your expenses, etc. Therefore, you may need to spend additional money to implement your financial plan and to achieve your financial goals. You will always have the final decision as to when and where you go to make these purchases. As a fee-only financial advisor, KFP will not benefit financially from any of these purchases.

 

2.      As part of the asset management process, you will have to pay two additional types of fees—mutual fund fees and transaction fees. First, all mutual funds (even no-load funds) charge management fees and other expenses to pay for the costs of running their funds. These expenses are clearly outlined in a fund's prospectus, which you should review before you invest in the fund. Since KFP primarily uses low cost passively managed funds  , you will pay far lower fund management fees (compared with actively managed funds). Second, you will pay transaction fees (for buying and selling securities and mutual funds) to the brokerage firm that you choose to hold, or custody, your assets.

 

Depending mainly on the size of your portfolio, your total annual fees (including our fees, mutual fund expenses, and transaction fees) will probably range between 1.2% and 1.5% of your invested assets. When you compare these fees with the total costs that you would pay at full-service brokerage firms (where costs can exceed 3%), you should get pretty excited by the potential savings!

 

 

Many fee-only firms require new asset management clients to have some minimum amount of investable assets because of the time and energy required to set up new accounts and invest the client's money. The problem with requiring a minimum account size is that we may screen out clients who are very close to meeting our minimums. Therefore, we feel that a minimum fee gives you the choice to hire us even if your assets are below our recommended minimum account size. Since our asset management fees are very low (relative to other financial advisors), you might consider paying our minimum fee, especially if your portfolio is close to our recommended minimum account size. Keystone Financial Planning charges a $2,000 minimum quarterly fee for asset management. Since we charge 0.25% quarterly (or 1.00% annually) on the first $1,000,000 of assets, our minimum fee translates to a minimum account size of about $800,000.

 

 

As a Registered Investment Advisor, Keystone Financial Planning is an independent firm, which means that we do not work for any brokerage firm or custodian. We can choose to work with any brokerage firm that we want. Generally, we recommend that clients use a discount brokerage firm that provides access to many no-load mutual funds, excellent customer service, low transaction fees, and is financially sound. Since brokerage firms provide valuable support to financial advisors, we are also concerned with the quality and service of the custodian's advisor support team.