Fee-only means Pathfinder is paid directly by clients. We do not receive commissions for recommending investments, insurance products, or other financial products.
That matters because it removes one of the most common conflicts in financial services: getting paid more to recommend one product over another.
Fee-only does not mean conflict-free. Different fee structures still create different incentives. For example:
- Assets-under-management fees can bias advice toward keeping more assets invested.
- Hourly fees can reward complexity and extra work.
- Flat retainers can reward doing too little.
The standard at Pathfinder is not to pretend those conflicts do not exist. It is to reduce them where possible, disclose them when they remain, and give advice that can stand on its own merits.