How Do We Get Paid?
This is a great and important question! The financial industry can often make costs and fees difficult to understand, and many individuals are not fully aware of how they are being charged, whether it’s through their bank account, online platforms, 401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance, annuities, or the financial planning services.
It can quickly become overwhelming. Our goal is to be transparent about how we are compensated, and to help you feel confident that you are receiving value for the services provided.
Forms of Compensation
At Custer Financial Advisors, we are compensated for the services we provide. However, we don’t think there is one solution that’s right for everyone, which is why we offer multiple options so clients can choose the structure that best fits their needs and preferences. In many cases, after an initial meeting, we can help determine which option may be the best fit for you. You can see below for our available options.
Option 1: Advisory Fee Only
The fee only model includes everything covered under our flat fee financial planning service as well as additional ongoing support. This includes regular review meetings to discuss and update your financial plan.
Fees are based on assets under management and provide access to our integrated teams, which may include Certified Financial Planners™, an Enrolled Agent and tax planner, investment research professionals, specialized portfolio managers, and a Certified Social Security and Medicare Specialist™. Together, the teams work collaboratively to develop your customized financial plan and manage your investment assets.
This approach is often a good fit if you are looking for an ongoing relationship rather than a one-time roadmap, and if you would prefer to delegate the day-to-day management of your portfolio and tax planning to professional teams. Instead of charging upfront commissions or flat project fees, our compensation is a transparent, annual percentage based on the assets we manage together, conveniently deducted straight from your account.
What People Often Like About This Option:
We want you to feel completely comfortable reaching out when you have a question. Because we don't bill by the hour or charge per transaction, people don’t worry that a quick phone call, email, or meeting will result in a fee.
Regular review meetings are a core component of our ongoing service, and they are provided without costs. We rely on these conversations to understand your evolving needs. Since markets, tax laws, and your personal goals are never static, your plan cannot be either. Regular reviews are designed to help align your strategies proactively, mitigate risks, and help you avoid costly long-term errors before they happen.
The fee is deducted directly from your investment account, eliminating any need for out-of-pocket cash payments. Additionally, when this fee is drawn from a pre-tax account such as an IRA, you are effectively paying it using pre-tax dollars.
People like the idea that if their account does better, we do better. If their account does worse, we receive less. This aims to help align our interests with yours, as we are both motivated to see your account do well.
Clients appreciate that with the advisory account, you’re not charged when we make changes to your investment portfolio. Because we’re an independent team, we can select from a wide range of investment managers and strategies. That independence gives you more access and flexibility, allowing us to trade, adjust, and draw on different firms’ expertise and specialties.
The advisory account is considered a fiduciary account. A fiduciary financial planner means they are legally required to put your interests first. It means every recommendation is made with your goals in mind, not what pays the advisor more. (Note: As a CFP® we are always required to do this regardless of the account type).
Please also review the flat fee planning section below, as all services included there are also incorporated within our advisory offering.
Option 2: Flat Fee Planning
What people Often Like About This Option:
Some people genuinely enjoy researching investments, managing their own portfolio, and keeping up with tax laws and strategies as a hobby. They don’t necessarily want to hand that responsibility over to someone else. What they often value, though, is having a trained professional take a second look and point out potential new ideas or opportunities they might have missed.
Our goal with flat‑fee planning is to deliver real value, not fill time with unnecessary meetings or reports. If something can be handled quickly, it shouldn’t be stretched into a long session with increased complexities just to try and justify a cost. For this model to make sense, there does need to be a certain level of complexity involved so the planning truly adds value.
A few example groups where this often fits:
Individuals 2–5 years from retirement or already retired but haven’t started Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). This stage is where many pre‑retirees and retirees find the most value in professional guidance, especially around tax planning. It’s widely considered the retirement planning sweet spot because so many important decisions come together at once. Choices like which strategies may help reduce your tax bills in retirement, how to align your investments with your saving and spending goals, which accounts should hold certain investment strategies, whether Roth conversions make sense, how much to withdraw from each account (and in what order), when to claim Social Security, how to manage gains and losses, and many more considerations can all meaningfully affect how much you’re able to spend over time. It’s also a key window to make sure your plan is sustainable and aims to avoid unnecessary costs like Medicare surcharges.
High Earners. High earners often have more moving parts in their financial lives, which naturally makes planning more complex. Decisions around taxes, which accounts to use, how much to save, early‑retirement planning, tax‑efficient investing, major purchases, and long‑term goals all start to overlap. As these pieces interact, having a coordinated strategy can become especially valuable.
Inheritances. Whether you’re trying to set up a plan for your kids in a tax‑efficient way or you’re the one receiving an inheritance and want to try and minimize how much goes to Uncle Sam, this is an area where trained guidance may make a big difference.
Physicians. Doctors often face a unique financial journey: years of student loans and lower‑income training as a resident or fellow, followed by a sudden jump to attending‑level earnings. Michael understands this world firsthand. His wife is a physician, and he has spent many hours studying and planning around the financial challenges doctors encounter — from choosing the right student loan repayment strategy to deciding which accounts to save in, building tax‑efficient investments, and more. Even as a Certified Financial Planner™ and Enrolled Agent, he quickly realized just how complex these situations can become with often little guidance for physicians.
The Advisory Fee Only model is our most commonly chosen option, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for everyone. That’s why we also offer flat‑fee financial planning, where your cost isn’t tied to the amount you invest with us. Instead, you pay a set fee for planning assistance.