Should you hire a financial planner for retirement?

See the signs that a retirement financial planner might be helpful.

Planning for retirement usually starts off simple — plugging numbers into a retirement calculator only takes a few minutes — but it can grow more complex. Consider your assets and financial situation, then Social Security benefits and uncertainty about your portfolio, and it might seem helpful to get a second opinion from an expert.

A retirement financial planner is a financial advisor who specializes in helping clients plan for retirement. They help with creating retirement savings and investment strategies prior to retirement. Later in retirement, they can help figure out a withdrawal plan while accounting for factors such as Social Security, Medicare, and required minimum distributions.

You might be concerned about cost, which can range from a flat fee to a percentage of assets under management. So should you still get a financial advisor? Here’s how to tell.

5 signs you should consider hiring a retirement financial planner

If some of the situations below apply to you, a retirement financial planner might be helpful.

You have money in a lot of places, or you have complex finances. Add on multiple income streams, equity compensation, alternative investments, and inheritances, and all of it can make retirement planning harder to do.
You pay a lot of taxes or are worried about taxes in retirement. A retirement advisor can help with Roth conversions, tax-efficient investing, and allocating assets among retirement and investment accounts.
You’re not sure you’re saving enough. A retirement planner can model multiple scenarios and identify gaps specific to your circumstances.
You just made or are about to make major life changes. Marriage, divorce, inheritance, job changes or selling a home can make it difficult to know how your retirement will be affected.
You haven’t done any estate planning. Part of retirement planning could be deciding how you want your assets to be distributed after you die.

4 reasons not to hire a retirement financial planner

❌ Your finances are very simple and straightforward.

❌ You have predictable expenses and a clear investing strategy.

❌ You know your retirement goals and check your progress often.

❌ You prefer a DIY-approach with robo-advisors, self-directed investing, or online tools, such as calculators.

Should you get a financial advisor? Take this quiz.

» Use our tool to find a financial advisor for retirement

How much does a retirement financial planner cost?

The cost of working with a retirement financial planner depends on their fees, the services you need and how complex your finances are. Price matters, but so does what you need. Compare both cost and value when deciding on a retirement financial planner.

» More on how much financial advisors cost

Fee type	Commonly associated with	Typical cost
Assets under management (AUM)	Managing your portfolio of stocks, bonds and other investments.	0.25% to 0.50% annually for a robo-advisor; about 1% for a financial advisor.
Flat annual fee (retainer)	Special projects, such as analyzing whether to buy or sell your business. May also provide more access to the advisor. In some cases, advisors may substitute flat fees for AUM fees.	Typically $2,500 to $9,200.
Hourly fee	Special projects, such as helping create a financial plan for a specific situation, such as a divorce.	$200 to $400.
Per-plan fee	Creating a detailed, written comprehensive financial plan for a client.	Typically $3,000, but varies by service.
Transaction costs and expense ratios	Fees that trading platforms charge the advisor to use, or fees that mutual funds, ETFs and similar instruments charge.	Varies; expense ratios may range 0.05% to 0.75%.
Custodial fees	Fees that the custodian charges you to hold your assets.	May be around 0.10% to 0.15%, but varies by account size, asset type, transaction activity and custodian.
Wrap fees	Bundles the firm’s investment management services and related custodial transaction costs together for one price.	Varies by account size and type.
Commission	Money earned from financial institutions for buying or selling certain products to clients.	3% to 6% of investment transaction amount.
To compile this information, we reviewed industry studies on average rates among financial advisors. Those studies included: State of Financial Planning and Fees study (Envestnet, a company that develops software for the wealth management industry). How Financial Planners Actually Do Financial Planning from Kitces.com. We also reviewed fees charged by providers reviewed by the NerdWallet investing team.

» Ready to get started? See our picks for the best financial advisors or find our top-ranked local advisors in your city below: