Fee-Only Financial Advisors

You may benefit from working with fee-only financial advisors if you’re getting close to retirement, have accumulated significant assets, face complex tax situations, need estate planning support, or simply want professional guidance on maintaining your lifestyle without financial worry. We assist clients who want to focus on what they can influence while having expert guidance on factors beyond their control.

Credent Wealth Management is your independent, local firm of choice for comprehensive financial planning and wealth management. As a fee-only fiduciary with advisors across 8+ states, our goals are aligned with yours, allowing us to deliver high-quality advisory services for retirement planning, investment management, estate planning, and all of your wealth management needs.

Your complimentary initial consultation focuses on understanding your financial objectives, current situation, and ideal standard of living in retirement. We’ll discuss your retirement timeline, family financial responsibilities, healthcare planning needs, and investment objectives. During the following complimentary proposal meeting, we’ll explain our fee-only framework, team-based service model, and how our financial planning process works. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of how we can help you achieve financial freedom.

Look for fee-only financial advisors who are fiduciaries and hold relevant certifications like the CFP® mark (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals), or other professional designations like CPA, JD, or CFA. At Credent, our team includes NAPFA members, who require fee-only compensation and adhere to strict ethical standards. We also maintain Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) compliance for investment performance reporting, offering accurate, verified information about our track record. Independent financial advisors like Credent Wealth Management aren’t tied to specific investment products, allowing us to recommend what’s truly best for your situation.

Our fee-only structure means you pay a transparent advisory fee based on a percentage of your assets under management. Unlike commission-based advisors, we never receive kickbacks or commissions from the sale of investment products. Our tiered fee incrementally decreases as your assets grow. Easily view your monthly fees at any time via the Credent Wealth Portal, Credent app, or your custodian’s website, so you never have to wonder what you are paying for our services.

Fee-only financial advisors like Credent are compensated solely by client fees, never through product sales commissions or kickbacks. This means our recommendations are based purely on what’s best for your financial situation, not what pays us the highest commission. Commission-based advisors earn money when they sell you investment products like annuities, insurance, or other financial products, which creates a conflict of interest. We may recommend products if they make sense for you, but we don’t get paid based on these recommendations. As fee-only advisors, we adhere to the fiduciary standard, legally requiring us to act in your best interest at all times.

Fee-based advisors can receive both client fees AND commissions from selling financial products, which creates potential conflicts of interest when recommending investments. Our fee-only advisors are required to act as fiduciaries 100% of the time, while fee-based advisors may switch between fiduciary and sales roles depending on the service they’re providing.

Our comprehensive investment management includes personalized portfolio construction, ongoing asset allocation adjustments, tax-efficient investment strategies, risk management, and regular performance monitoring. We create diversified investment portfolios designed to support your lifestyle throughout retirement while protecting against inflation. While your advisory team focuses on your needs and goals, a dedicated Investment Management Team builds and maintains a resilient, dynamic portfolio that aligns with your financial plan. We focus on low-cost, tax-efficient investments and provide quarterly performance reports that comply with GIPS® standards for transparency.

We believe in regular communication to keep your financial plan on track. At a minimum, we meet with clients annually for plan reviews, though the frequency can be adjusted based on your needs, preferences, and life circumstances. Throughout the year, our team is available for questions or concerns. We also proactively reach out when market conditions or life changes require plan adjustments. Our goal is to provide you with confidence in your financial strategy and peace of mind about what’s ahead.

Absolutely. Our comprehensive retirement planning includes Social Security optimization, Medicare and healthcare cost planning, estate planning coordination, tax-efficient withdrawal strategies, charitable giving guidance, and long-term care considerations. Our coordinated approach enables all elements of your retirement plan to work together to support your standard of living so you don’t have to worry about money ever again.

Our investment philosophy focuses on risk management and intentional diversification guided by economic drivers. We employ an internal Investment Management Team aimed at targeting after-tax returns and focused on optimizing your household’s asset allocation. We accomplish this via a disciplined stock, bond, ETF, and alternatives selection process designed to weather unpredictable market conditions over the long term. Our proven process supports our adherence to minimizing the total cost of investing while attempting to maximize after-tax returns via ongoing tax-loss harvesting and asset location optimization. Lastly, our approach to downside risk management via industry-leading fee-only solutions remains paramount in meeting clients’ needs across all market cycles.

Retirement planning becomes most impactful in the years leading up to your transition out of work, typically within 10 to 15 years of retirement. This is when decisions around savings, taxes, investment structure, Social Security timing, and income strategy begin to impact long-term outcomes. Yet, retirement planning isn’t limited to a specific age. We work with clients who are actively approaching retirement as well as those already retired who want greater clarity, efficiency, and confidence in how their wealth supports their life going forward.

There is no single number that defines a successful retirement. The answer depends on how you want to live, the role family and philanthropy play in your plans, your tax situation, and other factors. Instead of using generic financial advice, we show you exactly how your money works to fund the life you want, both today and down the road, by looking at how you actually spend and what you’re trying to achieve. The focus is on sustainability and flexibility, not just hitting a target number, so your wealth can support both expected and unexpected needs over time.

Social Security optimization involves evaluating how and when to claim benefits in the context of your broader financial picture. This includes timing decisions, spousal considerations, and coordination with portfolio withdrawals. When integrated thoughtfully, Social Security can serve as a meaningful foundation of retirement income and reduce pressure on investment assets over time.

We coordinate closely with your legal and tax professionals to ensure your financial plan supports your estate planning objectives. While we’re not estate planning attorneys, we deliver estate tax planning, beneficiary designations, trust funding recommendations, and charitable giving strategies. We properly structure your investment accounts and retirement plans to support your legacy goals while minimizing tax implications for your heirs.

We frequently assist clients in navigating the balance between supporting the next generation and protecting their own retirement security. We provide guidance on tax-efficient gifting, education funding options, and setting healthy financial boundaries. Our advice can help you determine when financial support makes sense and when it might harm your long-term financial security. We also structure support in ways that encourage responsibility while providing meaningful assistance. In addition, if you know someone who could benefit from expert guidance, Credent is here as a partner. With a minimum starting investment of just $5000, your loved ones can tap into the resources of our Financial Guidance team, who are familiar with helping accumulators thrive.

Fee-only financial advisors offer the highest level of objectivity because we’re not incentivized by product sales commissions. This means every recommendation we make is based on your best interests, not what generates revenue for us. We’re required to act as fiduciaries, legally obligating us to put your interests first. Additionally, fee-only structures provide complete transparency: you always know exactly how much you’re paying and what services you’re receiving. This framework aligns our success directly with yours.

Our fee-only structure is based on a percentage of assets under management, with a tiered system that incrementally reduces your fee as your assets grow. This means the more assets you consolidate with us, the lower your effective fee rate becomes. Credent never charges transaction fees, commissions, or hidden costs. All fees are disclosed upfront and visible on the Credent Wealth Portal, Credent app, or your custodian’s website. We aim to provide more value than we cost, allowing your wealth to grow while maintaining complete fee transparency.

Unlike hourly billing, which can create uncertainty about costs and may discourage you from reaching out with questions, our AUM-based fee provides ongoing access to our team and comprehensive service. Flat fees don’t scale with the complexity of your financial situation or account for the additional attention larger portfolios often require, while our tiered percentage fee structure incrementally decreases your fee percentage as your assets grow, rewarding long-term relationships and providing greater value as your wealth increases.

Clients find the greatest value in our integrated approach, which includes both financial planning and investment management. This coordination aligns your portfolio and aspirations while keeping your investments on track for long-term success. However, we do offer planning-only arrangements for select client needs.

Credent is ideal for individuals and families who want fee-only financial planning with a focus on maintaining their lifestyles without worrying about money ever again. Our typical clients earn more than they spend, value transparency in fees and advice, and want ongoing professional guidance in addition to investment management. If you’re looking for independent financial advisors who act as fiduciaries and take a holistic approach to your financial life, we’re likely a good fit.

The most important thing is to come prepared to discuss your priorities, concerns, and questions about your financial future. For your initial consultation, bring recent statements for all investment accounts, retirement plans, bank accounts, and insurance policies. Include recent tax returns, estate planning documents, and any existing financial plans. Don’t worry if you don’t have everything. We can work with what you have and help you gather missing information.

After your initial consultation, we typically complete our extensive financial analysis and present our personalized recommendations within 1-2 weeks. Implementation timing depends on the complexity of your situation. Along the way, we’ll make sure to continuously work toward your financial goals so you can reap the benefits as soon as possible.