Get a Second Opinion on Your Financial Plan

5 Signs Your Financial Advisor Isn't Performing

Loyalty is admirable. But loyalty to an advisor who isn't earning their fee is costing you money — potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. Here are the red flags:

• You can't explain your fee structure. If you don't know exactly what you pay — in dollars, not percentages — that's by design. Opacity benefits your advisor, not you.
• Your portfolio is full of actively managed funds. If your advisor has you in funds with expense ratios above 0.50%, ask why. Index funds matching the same benchmarks cost 0.03%–0.10%.
• You haven't discussed the 2026 TCJA sunset. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires in 2026, affecting virtually every retiree's tax bracket, estate planning, and Roth conversion window. If your advisor hasn't brought this up, they're asleep.
• You hear from your advisor twice a year (if that). Proactive advisors don't wait for you to call. They reach out when tax law changes, market conditions shift, or when it's time to rebalance.
• Your "financial plan" is a one-time document. A real plan is a living process, updated annually (at minimum) to reflect changes in your life, tax law, and markets.

The Hidden Fee Trap: What You're Really Paying

The financial services industry is masterful at hiding the true cost of advice. Here's what a "1% advisory fee" often looks like in reality:

The visible fee: 1.00%–1.25% AUM advisory fee ($10,000–$12,500 per year on $1M)

The invisible fees:

• Fund expense ratios: 0.50%–0.80% ($5,000–$8,000/year on $1M)
• 12b-1 distribution fees: 0.25% ($2,500/year)
• Trading costs and spreads: 0.10%–0.20% ($1,000–$2,000/year)
• Account fees, wrap fees, platform fees: $100–$500/year

True all-in cost: 1.85%–2.50% per year.

On a $1 million portfolio, that's $18,500–$25,000 per year — money that comes directly out of your returns. Over 20 years, compounded, the difference between a 2% all-in cost and a 0.85% all-in cost is over $400,000.

Our AI financial planner includes a fee analysis that estimates what you're currently paying and what you'd pay at Radius. The numbers speak for themselves.

What a Second Opinion Reveals

When you run your financial profile through our AI planner, you'll get an independent assessment that covers:

• Retirement readiness score: An honest 0–100 rating based on your assets, income, expenses, and goals — not a sales-driven number designed to scare you into buying an annuity
• Fee comparison: Side-by-side analysis of your estimated current costs vs. what you'd pay at Radius (and the 10-year compounded difference)
• Missed tax opportunities: Roth conversions, tax-loss harvesting, IRMAA management, QCDs, and TCJA sunset planning that your current advisor may not have flagged
• Risk assessment: Is your portfolio actually aligned with your risk tolerance, or is it drifting?
• Specific action items: Prioritized by dollar impact and urgency — not vague advice like "save more" or "diversify"

The goal isn't to criticize your current advisor. It's to give you the information you need to make an informed decision about whether your financial plan is truly optimized.

Why People Switch — and Why They Wish They'd Done It Sooner

The #1 reason people stay with an underperforming advisor is inertia. It feels like a hassle to switch. You've built a relationship. You don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

But consider this: if your advisor is charging you 1.5% more than necessary (all-in), and you have $1 million in investable assets, that's $15,000 per year — roughly $1,250 per month — that's leaving your family's future and going to your advisor's bottom line.

Switching advisors is actually straightforward:

• Your assets transfer in-kind — no selling, no tax events, typically completed in 5–7 business days
• Schwab handles the ACAT transfer — it's an industry-standard process
• Your cost basis, lot history, and tax information all transfer with you
• You don't need to tell your old advisor first — the transfer process handles the notification

At Radius, we've helped clients transition from Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Ameriprise, and independent advisors. The process is smooth, and every client who's switched has told us they wish they'd done it years earlier.

Start with our free AI analysis. See where you stand. Then decide for yourself.