Simple
With our AUA business model, you determine which of your investing accounts you want included in your financial plan then you are charged a set monthly fee every month for the next 12 months.
Our Fee Structure
Assets Under Advisement (AUA)
Transparent
With our Transparent Fees structure, you know exactly how much you are paying and when. After the initial start up fee (for initial data gathering) there is a simple monthly fee based on your AUA. No hidden fees and no surprises here.
Unique
Most Financial Advisors charge an AUM which means they must be in possession of your funds. With our unique AUA fee you always maintain absolute control of your accounts and your money.
Assets Under Advisement
(AUA)
The AUA model allows us to guide you on all of your accounts, including typical held-away assets like your 401(k), 403(b), etc. This also means there are no account minimums to work with us. We can work with anyone, no matter what stage you are at! And as your assets grow, and your situation becomes more complex, our fees will gradually increase to account for more one on one meetings to make sure your finances continue to align with your financial goals.
AUA Pros
- Typically lower fees
- Keep and receive advice on your 401(k), 403(b), etc
- Fees not taken out of your account so more money goes towards investing and goes toward compounding growth
- Maintain absolute control of your money
- No account minimums
- Low and gradual Fee increases as your situation becomes more complex
- We offer a 10% discount to past & present US Military Members
- Is easy to cancel since we are not in direct control of your accounts and thus your money
Assets Under Advisement
vs
Assets Under Management
Understanding how these two models work is essential for determining what is in your best interest
AUA Cons
- AUA fee is paid out of your monthly personal budget
- Must make trades yourself (but we can guide you through this)
- There is an initial start up fee to cover the initial data gathering meetings (Part of this fee may be waived if you have previously worked with our sister company Haas Trade. See details below.)
Assets Under Management
(AUM)
The traditional AUM model charges fees only on assets the advisor directly manages. While common, this can create subtle incentives to move assets into the advisor's control or concentrate investments to maximize fees. Because the advisor only earns on what they hold, their advice is often restricted to a subset of your financial life.
AUM Pros
- Accounts managed for you (saves you time)
- Fee paid from account (don't need to plan for it in your budget)
- Depending on the firm, may be able to have all of your accounts located under one umbrella
AUM Cons
- Typical Fees of 1-2% of assets (which can equate to tens of thousands of dollars)
- Reduced returns due to direct fee withdrawal from the investing/retirement account
- Ongoing pressure to consolidate assets
- Can be difficult to get access to your funds
- Can be a hassle and difficult to cancel since your accounts are managed by the firm
Dedicated Advisor Support
Regular meetings to track progress towards your goals, update your financial plan, evaluate your portfolio, cover any financial coaching topic, and/or just answer any questions you may have.
The Benefits of Working with Us
Some of the major benefits you will receive by partnering with us are:
Fiduciary Financial Advice
As a fiduciary professional financial advising firm, we MUST always put your best interest first. Meaning, we only make recommendations that align with your risk tolerance, values, and goals, and we do not receive commissions from anyone. Period.
A Comprehensive Financial Plan
You will receive a living breathing personalized financial plan to help you achieve your financial goals. You may access your plan 24/7 right from our client portal. Use this to check your plan or to play around with different scenarios and see how they could affect your financial goals.
FREE Monarch Budgeting App
Enjoy a complimentary subscription (we cover the cost) to one of the most powerful (and our personal favorite) budgeting software's out there to help you manage your finances. Check it out here: https://www.monarch.com/
What’s Included
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Comprehensive Financial Plan
Retirement Planning
Asset Rebalancing Assistance
Risk Tolerance Analysis
Education Cost Planning
24/7 Financial Plan Access
FREE Budgeting Software
Tax Optimization Education
Insurance Needs Analysis
Meetings with a REAL Person
Estate Plan Reviews
Budget Planning & Coaching
Debt Elimination Coaching
Couples Financial Coaching
Behavioral Finance Coaching
Cancel Anytime
And Much More!
The Hidden Impact of Traditional AUM Fees on Your Wealth
When an advisor charges an AUM fee, they typically withdraw their compensation directly from your investment portfolio. Every year, this pull of capital effectively removes money from the market before it has a chance to grow. Over decades, this annual deduction can significantly reduce the total amount of your assets available that are invested.
At Haas Trade Advisors, our Assets Under Advisement (AUA) model ensures your entire investment balance remains working for you, preserving the full potential of your capital through all market cycles.
Standard Assets Under Management fees represent a silent erosion of long-term returns, which can be a hidden cost if not understood properly.
AUM Long-Term Impact
- Less Money Invested: Annual fee withdrawals shrink the core capital participating in market gains.
- Lower Compounding Effects: Removing funds eliminates the exponential growth those dollars could have generated over time.
- Smaller Ending Balance: The cumulative effect of fees can result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost wealth over your life time.
Below is an illustrative example of how a seemingly small fee of 1% or 2% can greatly affect your long term investing returns. As you can see from the graph it can be a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the long term!*
The above graphic was generated using this handy dandy return calculator to compare how different fee amounts could affect your long term returns: https://www.schwabmoneywise.com/investment-fees-calculator.
*Please be aware that this is a hypothetical example and 8% returns were used because the S&P 500 has historically returned an average of 8% - 11% per year over the long term BUT past performance is not conducive of future performance and returns are NEVER guaranteed. We are in no way shape or form guaranteeing that these will be your returns.
So, How do our AUA Fees Stack Up?
Compare the cost of traditional AUM management Fees versus our AUA Fee across different asset levels
and remember, the AUA Fee is NOT coming out of your investment accounts so you have more of YOUR money working for you!
Professional Financial Planning for a fraction of the typical price
Get Started Today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does your Fee increase as my assets increase?
Our Fee is based on the agreed upon AUA that will be included in your financial plan. As your assets increase your financial situation evolves and becomes more complex. To account for this, as your AUA Tiers increases so does your allowable yearly meetings so we can meet more often to make sure your finances are staying on track with your goals.
If the market goes down does my Fee stay the same?
Yes, unless at your annual meeting your assets under advisement has decreased into a lower Tier. Your AUA Tier is calculated once per year during your regularly scheduled annual meeting. This allows for peace of mind because as the market fluctuates throughout the year, your fee does not change. This way you know exactly what your fee will be for the entire 12 month period (and can budget accordingly).
Do you offer Fees based on performance?
No, as a Fiduciary we are not allowed to offer performance Fees. Performance Fees create a conflict of interest because they would incentive us to recommend riskier investments that may not align with your investing risk tolerance and goals. As a Fiduciary our number one priority is always making sure your best interest are put first and that your portfolio aligns with your unique risk tolerance, financial situation, and financial goals.
Do you advise your clients on tax loss harvesting strategies?
No, we do not advise our clients on tax loss harvesting strategies. There are many opinions on this topic but we believe this is an overly complex strategy that is not near as good as it sounds and is mainly used as a marketing technique. If you sell your position at a loss to buy another similar position at a lower price, you will realize a loss that you can use to decrease your current tax bill BUT now your overall cost basis is lower which means you may actually owe MORE taxes in the future.
Do you take possession of my money and make trades on my behalf?
No, we do not offer custodian services. We do NOT take possession of your money. We can help you set up different retirement accounts (such as IRAs, Roth IRAs, taxable brokerage accounts, 529s, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, etc.) but these accounts are not created with Haas Trade Advisors. They are created through other firms such as Vanguard. You are always in full control of your accounts, and your money, and we cannot make any trade on your behalf.
How do I start the onboarding process?
To get started, simply schedule your free introductory meeting using the Calendly above or give us a call at 815-706-4376. We will answer anymore questions you may have and discuss working together. Should you decide you would like to work with us we will need to go through a couple of documents that require signature. Then we will begin walking you through the data gathering process, begin crafting your personalized Blueprint to Financial Freedom, and ultimately create your Comprehensive Financial Plan.
How do I cancel?
You may cancel with us at anytime. All we need is something in writing, such as an email, stating that you would like to cancel. Your contract will then be cancelled after your current monthly billing cycle.
Transparency is Important
So as promised, here are all of the Details
Our Financial Planning and Consulting process includes:
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One (or more depending on client needs) 60-Minute Initial Start Up Meeting(s) via video conferencing, which includes:
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Recommendations and a written (digital) copy of your financial plan(s) which may include:
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Your current financial values, financial goals, net worth, cash flow analysis, financial ratio analysis, SMART goals, a monthly budget, savings targets, debt repayment, investment goals, retirement planning, insurance analysis, and estate planning analysis.
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A 60-Minute Annual meeting via video conferencing to check your progress and make adjustments to your financial plan as necessary.
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Up to Four (or more depending on AUA Tier) 60-Minute Meetings via video conferencing throughout the year can be used to check your progress, answer questions (such as how current stock market volatility may be affecting your plan and if any adjustments need to be made), or as major life events come up.
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One of these meetings will always be the annual check-in, the others can be used quarterly, or sooner, at the request of the client.
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If you run out of meetings within your 12-month contract, you may request additional meetings for $150 per meeting. These meetings may be up to 60 minutes long. There are no refunds or partial refunds for meetings that do not use the entire 60 minutes.
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A Free subscription to Monarch (formerly Monarch Money) which is a very powerful budgeting software.
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Online access to your financial plan via the online client portal (which can be found on our website).
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You will be able to make “what if” adjustments to your financial plan to try different scenarios and see how they would affect your overall financial plan. You can then compare these proposed adjustments with your current financial plan.
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Any adjustments made via the client portal DO NOT SAVE. Once you log out, the plan will be reset back to the original plan that was created with your Financial Advisor. Should you want to make permanent adjustments you will need to schedule a meeting(s) with your advisor to make these changes in your financial plan.
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The AUA Retainer Fee:
The AUA Retainer Fee will be an annual contract with the clients, with the AUA calculated once per year during their annual plan update review meeting (12 months from the client’s original contract date) and then divided by 12 to reach the client’s Monthly AUA retainer Fee.
There will be an initial relationship startup fixed fee of $1,250 to cover for the initial data gathering meeting(s) and the initiation of the financial planning process. This initiation fee may be waived or reduced at the discretion of the Advisor. For example, if the client participates in the Financial Coaching Services provided under a related company of the Advisor (Haas Trade, LLC). This fee reduction is based upon the time savings provided by the client information being provided prior to initiating the Financial Planning program.
The initial fee waiver will be based on the below:
- Completion of at least a 4-month 1-on-1 coaching program - Waive $1,000
- Completion of at least a 4-month group coaching program or cohort (in person or online) - Waive $1,000
- Completion of the self-paced coaching online course (Personal Finance 301: Creating Your Personalized Blueprint to Financial Freedom) - Waive $750
We happily offer a 10% discount on our services for United States military Veterans & current military members (including Active, Guard, & Reserve). This discount is applied to the monthly AUA Fee.
The above text was pulled from our Form Part 2A and Part 2B.
Our AUA Fee Tiers
To provide even MORE transparency you may view
our full Form ADV Part 2A and 2B below
Contact Us
advisor
Mailing ADDRESS
GET IN TOUCH
Business HOURS
Haas Trade Advisors
Nathan Haas
Financial Advisor
5970 E. State St.
Unit #118
Rockford, IL 61108
Nhaas@haastradeadvisors.com
815-706-4376
Monday - Wednesday
9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Thursday
2:30 pm – 8:30 pm