Advisor Selection

Why Residents Can't Meet Most Fee-Only Advisor Minimums

By the Attend Wealth team · Updated August 2026 · 6 min read

Residents are told to find a fee-only fiduciary, then discover most of them require assets a resident does not have. That is not gatekeeping. It is arithmetic.

Quick answer

Most fee-only firms price on assets under management, and a 1% fee on a resident's portfolio produces a few hundred dollars a year, which cannot fund a planning relationship. Firms therefore set investable minimums, commonly between $250,000 and $1 million. Residents are better served by hourly planners, flat-fee planners, or firms that price on complexity rather than assets.

The math from the firm's side

A PGY-3 with eighteen thousand dollars in a Roth IRA generates one hundred eighty dollars of annual revenue at a 1% fee. A real planning relationship covering loan strategy, disability coverage, tax withholding, and retirement accounts takes many hours in the first year alone.

No firm can deliver that for one hundred eighty dollars. So AUM-priced firms set minimums, and residents fall below them. The exclusion is a byproduct of the pricing model, not a judgment about the client.

Why residents need advice most at exactly this point

The decisions available during training are among the highest-value decisions in a physician's financial life, and several of them close permanently. Disability coverage purchased in residency is cheaper and easier to underwrite than the same coverage bought after a health event. PSLF employment certification requires specific employer types and specific payment counts, and missed years cannot be recovered.

Roth contributions made in low-income training years are made at a marginal rate the physician will never see again. Loan strategy chosen in intern year compounds for a decade. The advice has enormous value; the assets simply have not accumulated yet.

What actually works for residents

Hourly planners charge for time and will answer a defined set of questions without requiring an ongoing relationship. Flat-fee planners price on complexity. Both are fee-only and both serve residents well. The Garrett Planning Network and NAPFA both maintain searchable directories that let you filter for hourly engagement.

Some fee-based firms also serve residents, because insurance implementation provides revenue where the portfolio does not. That is worth stating plainly: it is the reason our model can serve a resident, and it is also the conflict you should be watching for.

  • Hourly fee-only planners, for a defined set of questions
  • Flat-fee planners who price on complexity rather than assets
  • Advice-only insurance consultants, paid hourly to evaluate coverage
  • Fee-based firms, with commission disclosure requested up front

The specific conflict to watch during training

A resident is the ideal insurance prospect: young, healthy, high future income, and a genuine need for own-occupation disability coverage. That combination means residents encounter a lot of insurance sales dressed as financial planning.

The coverage need is real. The pressure to buy permanent life insurance alongside it usually is not. Ask what you would be buying, what it costs, what the advisor earns, and what happens if you buy only the disability policy.

A reasonable sequence

Pay for a few hours of fee-only planning to set loan strategy and confirm coverage needs. Buy the disability policy through whoever can place it competently. Revisit the relationship question in the first attending year, when a flat retainer starts to make sense.

That sequence costs a resident relatively little and avoids committing to an ongoing fee structure before there is anything for it to manage.

Related physician planning questions

Do financial advisors have minimums for residents?

Many do. Firms pricing on assets under management commonly require between $250,000 and $1 million in investable assets, which most residents cannot meet. Hourly and flat-fee planners generally do not impose asset minimums and are better suited to physicians in training.

Do medical residents need a financial advisor?

Residents face several high-value, time-sensitive decisions: disability coverage while young and healthy, PSLF certification, loan repayment strategy, and Roth contributions at a low marginal rate. Most residents benefit from a few hours of paid planning rather than an ongoing management relationship.

How much should a resident pay for financial advice?

A defined hourly engagement covering loan strategy, insurance needs, and retirement account setup typically runs a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars depending on market and scope. That is generally more appropriate than an ongoing percentage-of-assets arrangement at this stage.

Why do residents get approached about insurance so often?

Residents are young, healthy, have high projected income, and have a genuine need for own-occupation disability coverage, which makes them attractive prospects. The disability need is real; scrutinize any accompanying permanent life insurance recommendation carefully.

Related insights

See how this fits into a physician-focused plan.

Attend Wealth helps physicians connect planning, taxes, investing, insurance, and retirement decisions into one strategy. If you want help applying this topic to your own loans, taxes, investments, or retirement plan, schedule a complimentary conversation.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Attend Wealth is a registered investment adviser and acts as a fiduciary to its advisory clients. Attend Wealth is fee-based: in addition to advisory fees, our advisors are licensed insurance professionals and may receive commissions on insurance policies placed through carriers including Guardian, MassMutual, Ameritas, Principal, The Standard, and Lloyd's. That compensation creates a conflict of interest. We describe it, and how we address it, in our Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or on request. Please consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.