His clients never ask to see performance reports, and instead focus on meeting their goals.

Kuebler’s firm handles many clients whose assets are tied up in state pension plans, or young professionals without large savings, so charging on assets doesn’t work, he said.

Despite some advantages, though, hourly or retainer models may be more complicated than AUM pricing. 

RTD charges $10,000 per year for clients with $1 million or less, and another $1,000 per year for additional net-worth breakpoints.

Client fees are fixed for three years, “so if you hit the lottery, or take out money, the fee doesn’t change” right away, Diliberto said.  Fees levels are reset every three years. 

Life Planning Partners charges clients $5,000 “to walk in the door,” McClanahan said, with incremental charges added as a client’s complexity increases, plus a basis-point fee depending on the number of different investment accounts. Fees are fixed for two years.

Timothy Financial Counsel charges by the hour. Clients are given estimates for the initial plan. Rates depend on complexity of the case and the experience of the advisor doing the work, from $240 an hour to over $300.

Bluestem Financial Advisors uses a retainer model based on a measure of total net worth. Again, fees are adjusted based on complexity, so a client with, say, rental properties pays more, while clients with pension income that doesn’t require analysis pay less.

The key to making a transition away from an AUM model is to make sure you have the right clients for it, McClanahan said. She wants delegators who value comprehensive planning and are will to pay for it.

Diliberto gave AUM clients the option of sticking with that arrangement when he converted, so his firm lost few clients from the change.