Imagine hiring a real estate agent to help you sell your home.
They tell you their fee is 1% of the sale price. Seems fair — until you realize something:
Whether they’re selling a $500,000 condo or a $5 million mansion, the work involved isn’t 10x more for the larger home. The paperwork’s the same. The open houses are the same. The market research is the same.
Yet, they make 10x more just because your home is worth more.
Would you accept that?
Now ask yourself: why are you okay with it when it comes to your financial advisor?
What is AUM and Why Should You Care?
AUM stands for Assets Under Management — and it’s the percentage-based fee model most financial advisors use.
Typically, it’s 1% of your investment portfolio annually. On paper, that doesn’t sound like much. But let’s break it down.
Say you’re a successful physician with $2 million invested.
At 1%, you’re paying $20,000 every year — and growing.
You’re not paying for time.
You’re not paying for advice.
You’re paying a tax on your success.
If your investments go up, your fee goes up.
If you save more money, your fee goes up.
But the actual work your advisor is doing… doesn’t.
Flat Fees: Pay for Value, Not Your Net Worth
At RFL Wealth, we believe advice should be priced based on the value it delivers — not the size of your portfolio.
That’s why we’ve eliminated AUM fees altogether. We now charge a flat annual fee for a comprehensive Financial Life Plan designed to:
- Minimize your taxes
- Maximize your cash flow
- Retire earlier (and smarter)
- Protect your wealth
- And help you live a Rich, Fulfilling Life
We’re not here to babysit your investments. We’re here to build a strategy — and give you the clarity, confidence, and structure to make your financial decisions with purpose.
What Most Physicians Miss
Internationally trained medical professionals are often hit hardest by percentage-based fees without realizing it. Why?
Because many of them:
- Catch up late in their financial journey (after paying off immigration costs, exams, training)
- Accelerate savings quickly once they’re fully licensed
- Have corporations, which often hold large investment balances
- Don’t realize their advisor is quietly earning $15,000–$25,000/year in fees just for managing some ETFs and checking in occasionally
Let me be blunt: you are subsidizing lazy advice.
What You Should Be Paying For Instead
A real plan.
Not a product.
Not a portfolio.
You should pay for someone to:
✅ Tell you when you can stop working
✅ Optimize your corporation for minimum tax
✅ Create tax-free retirement income
✅ Structure your investments and insurance strategically
✅ Build an actual wealth transfer strategy for your children
A percentage fee does none of that. It just bleeds you dry — slowly.