What is real advice actually worth?

Vanguard has studied this question for over a decade. Their conclusion: a comprehensive advisor relationship can add up to 3% in net annual value. Move the slider to see the dollar range that maps to your level of investable assets.

Investable assets

Source: Vanguard Advisor's Alpha Study. Categories and percentage ranges are Vanguard's published estimates of the annual value a comprehensive advisor relationship can add.

Estimated annual value, per Vanguard's research

$10,400 to $46,600

1.04% to 4.66% of investable assets, before any cost of advice.

Vanguard's headline figure is "up to about 3% net" because not every category applies in every year, and benefits move with markets and life events. This calculator sums Vanguard's published category ranges; treat the result as an order of magnitude, not a forecast.

And the things we can't put a dollar on

Some of the value never makes it onto a spreadsheet.

Time you don't spend managing this yourself

Hours back in your week. Someone else is reading the tax updates, watching the rebalance triggers, and answering the questions that don't have to be yours.
Catastrophes you don't experience

The Roth conversion you didn't bungle. The beneficiary form that wasn't out of date. The trust that was actually funded. The cost of the mistake you don't make is the hardest number to see and often the largest.
Accountability from someone whose only job is your financial wellbeing

A second set of eyes on every meaningful decision, with no product to push. The discipline of being asked, year after year, whether you're still on track.

Estimates reflect Vanguard's Advisor's Alpha framework applied to the assets shown. Individual results vary based on circumstances, market conditions, and how a given relationship is structured. Not a guarantee of future results, not investment advice, and not a Proper Planning projection.

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