Written By Travis Hornsby, CFA®, CFP®
Updated on April 17, 2025
“I only want one time advice for a one time fee.” I’ll cover in this article why that approach might actually cost you more than you think.
Ongoing financial planning is not for everyone. And that’s fine. But there’s a misconception that one-off advice is a better deal. While paying once sounds economical, it’s only a better deal if the benefit you gain outweighs both the higher cost and the long-term value of an ongoing planning relationship.
Time is another factor — it’s precious. If you waste it by waiting to optimize your goals, that also has a cost that might not be as immediately obvious as a tax or investment mistake.
We’ll cover the appeal of one-time advice, then look at why we don’t think it’s the right model for the highest ROI on financial planning dollars spent.
One-off advice is nice, but most people won’t buy it
Some firms out there do interesting work with one-time plans and one-off meetings, but few quality planners stay in this role long term. Why? Because of the compliance burden — the documentation requirements, plus the lost opportunity to make a bigger impact with clients who value ongoing relationships and are willing to pay for it.
Even with our sister company, Student Loan Planner, which offers student loan consultations that are a far more transactional need than financial planning, we still find that a significant number of clients return for repeat consultations because they haven’t fully implemented the advice provided in their first session.
After a one-time meeting, clients can’t get follow-up answers without paying an hourly fee or scheduling another meeting — unless there’s an exception or follow-up is bundled into the original consultation.
Clients with major goals often need accountability for those goals. But having to make the active choice to pay a few hundred dollars to talk about an upcoming house purchase is a big lift.
In many cases, folks wanting that one-off advice wait until a financial problem is at a critical point, when a lot of the stress could’ve been avoided if the problem had been tackled earlier on (for example, starting much sooner on saving in your Solo 401k as a business owner vs. waiting years).
A one-time financial advisor is often trying to convert you to an ongoing relationship anyway
The brutal truth is that one-off advice is very unprofitable to provide. Too many different iterations of meetings complicate the process and get in the way of building a strong, streamlined approach.
As a result, the only effective providers of one-time financial advice tend to small or solo shops, because that type of firm requires fewer processes to maintain quality control and meet client needs
But these smaller firms often recognize the slim profit margins in one-off meetings, so many will shift their focus to converting one-time advisory clients into recurring clients who are easier and more profitable to serve.
One-time advice usually costs four figures
Many advisors charge $2,000 or more for a financial plan.
For that price, a firm like SLP Wealth could provide you with your own dedicated financial planner all year long.
The issue with one-time plans, even at more affordable firms, is that life changes quickly. While the advisor does a lot of work to create a comprehensive plan, any significant life change — such as marriage, the birth of a child, or a career shift — can quickly render the plan obsolete, requiring a complete redo.
Meanwhile, the provider of that one-off advice may only offer fee structures that require you to pay for a full redo at the same price.
And if you’re lucky enough to find someone willing to charge an hourly rate, their rates are unlikely to stay low for long once they realize the challenges of managing one-off engagements.
The biggest cost of one-off advice
The biggest cost of a one-time financial planner is the tendency to put off getting advice when you need it most.
Life events that affect your spending and goals require you to update your plan.
When your goals shift or you have a shocking realization that you need to go back to school, not seeking advice at a time like that could easily cost many years’ worth of planning fees if you make a mistake.
The true cost of one-off advice isn’t the fee, it’s the lack of support during those times you really need it.
What if You Want to Try SLP Wealth?
If you want to give SLP Wealth a try — risk-free with a discount to boot — check out our sign-up page here.
While we don’t offer one-off engagements, the cost of year-round planning with a dedicated advisor can be surprisingly comparable to one-time arrangements.
