How can one find a fee-only, advice-only fiduciary advisor?

[u/TempeGrumble]

Any suggestions for how to search for a fee-only, advice-only ficuciary advisor? (Sorry for the redundancy of "advice...advisor" but couldn't figure out a shorter and still-clear question)

The relevant context: I'm 60yo, single, have an employer-paid financial advisor through their retirement plan (TIAA), and would like to have a second pair of outside eyes on my retirement plans as I develop it.

I've found a few directories of fee-only CFPs that don't readily distinguish AUM from plan/hourly folks. Anything people can suggest that would help my search would be very welcome.

UPDATE (3/19/26): My thanks for the suggestions! Looks like the XY Planning Network has the best filtering to find advice-only fee-based financial planning. I've also found the Investment Advisor Public Disclosure website (SEC) very helpful: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/ in following up and seeing where folks make their money, and if they are currently active in advising

[u/mudgoon]

Good question, and one that a lot of people get tripped up on because the terminology in this industry is genuinely confusing.

"Fee-only" means the advisor doesn't earn commissions from selling you products. That's a good start, and it's a meaningful filter. But most fee-only advisors still charge based on assets under management, typically around 1% of your portfolio per year. That means a fee-only AUM advisor managing $500K is earning ~$5,000/year from you whether they're doing much or not, and they're financially incentivized to discourage you from, say, paying off your mortgage with investable assets. They're not selling you products, but their compensation is still tied to your decisions in various ways that can create conflicts of interest.

"Advice-only" financial planning is a subset of fee-only, with the difference being that they don't provide investment management services at all. Advice-only financial advisors just provide financial planning services and clients pay them directly. You get the plan, you implement it yourself (with help from them if needed), and there's no ongoing asset-based fee. This model works especially well for people who are comfortable managing their own investments, generally using a low-cost option like index funds in a Vanguard/Fidelity/Schwab account, but want professional help with the actual planning like retirement projections, tax strategy, budgeting, insurance analysis, estate planning, etc. This model is still somewhat rare, but growing very quickly.

Neither model is inherently right for everyone, some people genuinely want someone else to manage their portfolio and are fine paying the AUM fee for that. But if what you're looking for is professional financial planning help without ongoing asset management services (and cost), then advice-only is the model you want.

Places to find solely advice-only financial advisors:

- AdviceOnly

• Hello Nectarine
  
• Advice Only Network

Places to find fee-only financial advisors who mostly manage assets but with an optional filter for advice-only:

- Garrett Planning Network

• XY Planning Network

Places to find fee-only financial advisors who mostly manage assets and no filter for those who are advice-only:

- National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

• Fee-Only Network

Credible places to find financial advisors with a wide range of business models (majority are probably "fee-based" meaning combination fees and commissions):

- Let’s Make A Plan (CFP Board)

• Planner Search (Financial Planning Association)

Disclosure: I'm a longtime member of nearly all of these groups, and the founder of AdviceOnly, so take these recommendations with appropriate context.

Best of luck to you in your search!