Planning for retirement usually starts off simple — plugging numbers into a retirement calculator only takes a few minutes — but can quickly grow more complex depending on your assets and financial situation.
What is a retirement financial planner?
A retirement financial planner is a financial advisor who specializes in helping clients plan for retirement. Specifically, retirement financial planners can help people create a retirement savings and investment strategy prior to retirement. Closer to and during retirement, the focus may shift toward figuring out a withdrawal plan while also accounting for other factors, such as Social Security, Medicare, and required minimum distributions.
Should you get a financial advisor? Take the quiz.
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. As you accumulate more accounts, assets, and financial responsibilities, retirement planning might become more difficult. Multiple income streams, equity compensation, alternative investments, and inheritances can also make it more challenging to plan for both the present and future.
You’re not sure you’re saving enough. Do you know if you’ll have enough during retirement? A retirement planner can help model multiple scenarios and identify any gaps specific to your circumstances.
You just made or are about to make major life changes. Events that can have an outsized impact on finances, such as a 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 money to be distributed after you die and what estate planning looks like for your beneficiaries.
Reasons you may not need 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.
How much does a retirement financial planner cost?
The cost of working with a retirement financial planner depends on the advisor’s fee structure, the level of service you need, and how complex your finances are. Budget is a factor when comparing financial planners, but also consider what each offers in terms of service and knowledge to identify which are best suited for you.
Assets under management (AUM)
0.25% to 0.50% annually for a robo-advisor; about 1% for a financial advisor.
Flat annual fee (retainer)
Typically $2,500 to $9,200.
Typically $3,000, but the cost will vary by service.
3% to 6% of investment transaction amount.
To compile this information, we reviewed industry studies on average rates among financial advisors in 2024. Those studies included:
State of Financial Planning and Fees study from 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.
