I had lunch with a group of financial advisers today who want to figure out if there’s a way to profitably serve clients with lower incomes or investment account balances. They typically work with clients who have hundreds of thousands to invest.

The conversation kept returning to two questions: How much are advisers willing to earn to work with the less than affluent? and How much are we willing to pay for that relationship?

Some people pay $100+ for cable and internet $40+ to work out each month. You’d think a relationship with a fee-based financial planner who picks your investment mix, helps you with your will, gives you tips on mortgages and balances your budget would be worth at least that, right?

How much would you pay to have a qualified financial planner at the ready? $150 an hour? 1 percent of your salary? “Free” advice thrown in from your stock-picker? $0 because you can do just as well on your own?

And if you have an adviser, how much do you pay and is it worth every penny?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 4:49 pm and is filed under fees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.