Fees
Parkhurst Wealth Management, Inc. (“PWM) is a Fee-Only Financial Planning Firm, which means that we accept no commissions, referral fees, or other third-party incentives for anything we recommend to you. We make every effort to be transparent and up-front about the costs of financial planning.
All of our financial planning fees are based on our estimate of time required for the engagement at a rate of $225 per hour. At our first get-acquainted meeting (which is always free) we will provide a quote to you for an engagement. It becomes a flat fee and you won’t be charged any incremental hourly fees as long as we stay within the original scope of the engagement.
With this methodology, you only pay for the time it actually takes and there are no surprises at the end.
Below are some examples of different types of advisory engagements and typical hours associated with them. An engagement can be as comprehensive as a full financial plan or as specific as a particular task.
Full Financial Plan (8 – 20 hours)
A full financial plan consists of a formal and detailed written analysis of your financial situation. We consider it to be the best way to protect against unforeseen financial consequences and maximize your financial opportunities. Clients often think that they have everything well covered, but may have significant inefficiencies or have missed some issues entirely.
A Full Financial Plan consists of cash flow/net worth planning, a retirement savings plan, a detailed investment plan, and overview of insurance and estate planning issues. A flat-fee quote will be provided in the get-acquainted meeting.
- Data collection and analysis;
- Cash Flow/Net Worth analysis and planning including debt and tax efficiency issues;
- Retirement Planning;
- Investment analysis and planning;
- Insurance Review
- Estate Plan Review
- Working Planning Session
- Final analysis, updates, and plan completion
- Plan Presentation Meeting
Continuous Comprehensive Financial Planning
- Annual updates to the Financial Plan are based on customized fees at the time of engagement, but are generally between 50% - 75% of the initial engagement fee.
Investment Analysis (2- 7 hours)
Even though investing is just part of your financial situation, it is what most people think of when they consider financial planning. The fee estimate varies based on the number of current investment accounts, complexity of holdings, and complexity going forward. Once again, a flat-fee quote will be provided in the get-acquainted meeting.
- The investment analysis will take a detailed look at your portfolio and will include specific projections and recommendations.
- It is the same level of detail as the Full Financial Plan, but only covers your investments.
- Your analysis will be designed for you to implement on your own through a discount broker of your choice, or for PWM to manage as part of an ongoing Investment Management relationship
Retirement Plan Options (Outside 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA etc.) (1 – 2 hours)
- Provide advice on the appropriate investment options within your Retirement Planning based upon your risk tolerance.
Ongoing Investment Management (Asset-based Fee)
Most of our clients recommend that we personally manage their retirement portfolio if it is outside of your employer. For clients that recommend that PWM personally manage your investment/retirement assets, we give our clients continuous performance information based upon weighted benchmarks so that you can compare with outside sources to see how your money is performing compared to outside benchmarks based upon your risk tolerance and financial goals. Our Dallas based Investment Management firm also institutes annual portfolio rebalancing. Investment management services do not include any ongoing financial planning services as this is a separate fee.
PWM bills its clients quarterly in advance. There is no minimum asset amount, but there is an annual $1,500 minimum fee for our investment services.