• How Do Investment Professionals Get Paid?
• Has Your Investment Professional Passed the Test?
• Interviewing an Investment Professional

Tools and Calculators

• College Calculator
• Retirement Calculator
• IRA vs Employee
• Asset Allocation
• Paycheck Impact

How Investment Professionals Are Paid

You may have wondered how your investment professional makes money for helping you make decisions about what to do with your money.

Good question.

Investment professionals can earn their money three different ways: commission-based, fee-based and fee plus commission. It's good to know what each one means.

Commission-based

Some investment professionals are paid a commission. They earn money when you buy a product or service from them.

Fee-based

Others provide fee-based services. They’re paid for the time they spend with you, not the products they sell.

• Some charge a flat fee for a certain service, like $300 to create a retirement plan.
  
  
• Others are paid based on the amount of money they manage. Say, an investment professional is managing $50,000 of your money and charges "2 percent of accounts under management." You would pay $1,000 per year − either in a lump sum or spread out over several payments.

Fee plus commission

Some investment professionals charge a fee to meet with you, and also charge a commission if you buy the products they recommend.

Ask how much it will cost

When you interview investment professionals, be sure to ask how they charge for their services. It’s important to be comfortable with what you'll be paying before you commit to using their services.