Financial advisors are charging more for planning services than they were three years ago, and the pace of that repricing is accelerating. But the data behind the headline points a tale of two client types: new engagements advisors have just welcomed, and longer relationships that they have fostered for years.
According to the 2026 State of Financial Planning Fees study by Datos Insights, prepared for Envestnet MoneyGuide, the average annual retainer fee among advisors who charge separately for financial planning has surged 52% since 2023, climbing from $4,484 to $6,815.
Flat fees are up 15% over the same period, to an average of $2,926, while subscription fees – used by a small but growing slice of the market – have nearly tripled, from $215 per month to $595 per month.
The study, which surveyed 491 financial advisors in the first quarter of 2026, is the fifth edition in a series dating to 2015.
The findings reflect a market in active repricing mode. Among advisors who charge for planning, 53% report having raised their fees in the past 12 months. But the mechanism most of them are using is telling, with most survey participants raising rates for new clients only.
The divide between registered investment advisors and their non-RIA counterparts has been a consistent theme in wealth management research, and the 2026 data suggests the same for planning fees.
RIA advisors average $7,550 on an annual retainer fee, compared to $5,237 for non-RIAs – a 44% premium. As the survey has it, RIAs charge all clients for planning at a rate of 59%, versus 39% for non-RIAs.
The 2026 data offers the most detailed picture yet of how that divide is translating into actual fee structures. Among mid-career RIA advisors – those with 11 to 20 years of experience – the average annual retainer fee reaches $8,392, a figure that exceeds both newer advisors at $4,141 and veterans at $6,016.
"This mid-career peak in retainer pricing suggests that the advisors most actively building scalable planning businesses are also the most aggressive pricers," the report said. "In contrast, senior advisors may face legacy pricing constraints from long-established client relationships."
The RIA pricing advantage also extends to fee-hiking behavior. Fifty-five percent of RIA advisors report having raised fees in the past 12 months, compared with 49% of non-RIA advisors. Datos Insights attributes the difference in part to the greater independence of RIA pricing decisions, which are not subject to firm approval.
RIA advisors using a subscription model average $990 per month, compared to $190 per month for non-RIA peers – a more than fivefold gap that represents the widest pricing differential of any fee type in the study.
According to data from AdvicePay's Fee-for-Service Industry Trends Report, adopting the subscription model offers ballast against the AUM model, which tends to suffer in choppy market environments.
The dominant approach among fee-raisers – charging new clients more while maintaining legacy pricing for existing relationships – is one the Datos Insights study describes as creating a two-tier client book that may become increasingly difficult to manage as the gap between legacy and current pricing widens.
Breaking down the 53% of advisors who hiked fees in the past year, 43% made the change only for new clients, while just 10% applied increases universally across their entire book.
"This approach minimizes client friction while allowing the practice to establish market-rate pricing for new relationships," the report said. "However, it creates a two-tier client book that may become increasingly difficult to manage as the gap between legacy and current pricing widens."
The study finds that 40% of advisors who are considering a fee structure change in the next 12 months have not yet decided how to handle existing clients. Among non-RIA advisors, that figure climbs to 49%, compared to just 32% from RIAs. Equal proportions plan either to grandfather in existing clients at current rates or apply the new structure based on new services provided.
Senior advisors said they raise fees for all clients at the lowest rate of any experience cohort; just 14% applied blanket increases, while the lion's share held fees flat at 58%. Datos Insights notes this may reflect client accommodation in long-standing relationships. Alternatively, that group may have already achieved mature pricing, meaning they face less pressure to adjust.
Among newer advisors who do not charge for planning, 33% cite their firm's restrictions as the primary reason, compared to just 4% of senior advisors. The study notes this constraint is most pronounced in broker-dealer environments where planning fees require separate firm approval or infrastructure.
Looking ahead, nearly one in five advisors (19%) plan to change their fee structure in the next 12 months. The proportion is meaningfully higher among non-RIA advisors at 27%, which Datos Insights attributes to channel-level changes in broker-dealer fee infrastructure, the ongoing commission-to-fee transition, and growing client demand for explicit planning fees.
According to the Investment Adviser Association's 2025 industry snapshot, 95.5% of SEC registered investment advisers offered a fee based on a client’s assets under management in 2024. The majority, representing 78.1% of the IAA's total firms analyzed, combined asset-based fees with other arrangements, such as fixed, hourly, or performance fees.
Among those considering changes in Envestnet's polling, annual retainer and AUM fees are the most commonly cited destination structures at 21% each, with flat fees at 15% and subscription models at 14%. That's mostly motivated by the desire for business growth or scaling, cited by 71% of those planning to switch up their fee models.
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