How We Work
How We Work: Our Process & Fees
This page lays out how financial advisor fees are structured, what our engagement covers, and the five stages that carry you from a first call to an implemented plan, so the question of what this costs and whether you fit does not have to wait for a meeting.
How Financial Advisor Fees Actually Work
Advisory firms are compensated in a handful of different ways, and each one shapes what you get and what the advisor is motivated to do. Knowing which structure applies before you sit down is the fastest way to judge whether the incentives line up with yours.
A percentage of assets under management ties the fee to the size of the portfolio, so compensation moves with the account balance rather than with hours worked.
A flat annual fee or monthly retainer prices the relationship instead of the balance, which suits households whose complexity is not proportional to the size of their accounts.
An hourly or one-time project fee covers a defined piece of work, such as a second opinion on an existing plan or a single decision, with no ongoing obligation on either side.
A commission pays the advisor out of the product that gets sold, which is why what is being recommended, and why, deserves a direct answer before anything is purchased.
How Etzel Financial Resources Is Compensated
Etzel Financial Resources is a fee-based financial planning and wealth-management practice. Depending on the relationship and the services provided, compensation may include asset-based investment advisory fees, financial-planning and consulting fees, and commissions associated with certain insurance products, including annuities where those apply.
We say fee-based rather than fee-only deliberately, because it is the accurate description. Scott Etzel maintains securities registrations and state insurance licenses and may receive commissions on certain product recommendations, and a practice that can be paid that way is not a fee-only practice.
Every recommendation is made on the basis of what the client's situation requires. The compensation arrangement that applies to it, what it costs, and any potential conflict of interest that comes with it are disclosed and discussed with you before anything is implemented, not after.
Ongoing wealth-management relationships are generally priced as a percentage of assets under management, subject to the applicable fee schedule and its breakpoints, so the rate can step down as assets rise. Comprehensive planning is also available on a selective planning-only basis, priced as a retained-services fee over a defined period, for clients who need the coordination without placing investment assets under management. The services, the compensation arrangement, and the anticipated cost are reviewed with every client before an engagement begins.
What matters more than the label is where the number is written down and who can check it. The complete fee schedule, the breakpoints, and the conflicts of interest that come with each arrangement are disclosed in the Form ADV, and the registrations behind the practice are public on FINRA's BrokerCheck. The figure that applies to your situation is confirmed in writing before any engagement begins, never after.
Coordination is not a separate retainer. Working alongside your CPA, your attorney, and your insurance professional is part of the engagement itself, and because those relationships are kept rather than replaced, you are not paying twice for the same seat at the table.
From a First Call to an Implemented Plan, in Five Stages
Process comes before product here, and this is the sequence that enforces it. Nothing is recommended until we understand the situation and have tested what is already in place.
Step 1:
Discovery Meeting
We listen before we recommend anything. This conversation covers the company, the family, the timeline you have in mind, and the professionals already advising you. Nothing is presented and nothing is sold.
Step 1:
Financial Stress Test
We pressure-test the current plan against the exit paths that are realistic for your business, including the ones you have not considered, and show where the plan holds and where it breaks.
Step 1:
Discovery Meeting
We listen before we recommend anything. This conversation covers the company, the family, the timeline you have in mind, and the professionals already advising you. Nothing is presented and nothing is sold.
We listen before we recommend anything. This conversation covers the company, the family, the timeline you have in mind, and the professionals already advising you. Nothing is presented and nothing is sold.
Step 1:
Discovery Meeting
Step 1:
The 30-Minute Exploratory Call
A scheduled phone or Zoom conversation with Scott Etzel, not a screener and not a handoff. You describe what is going on, whether that is a business sale on the horizon, an options grant you have not exercised, or four professionals who have never spoken to each other. You leave with a straight answer about whether this model fits what you need, including when it does not.
Step 2:
The Discovery Meeting
This meeting is for listening. We ask about your goals, your family, your business, your existing advisors, and what you want your money to accomplish, and no plan is presented. You leave having been asked questions most people are never asked about their financial life, and we leave with the picture we need to do real work.
Step 3:
The Financial Stress Test
We examine the plan you already have against the outcomes you told us matter, looking at investment structure, tax exposure, estate documents, insurance coverage, and how the pieces interact. Where your CPA or attorney holds a document we need, we request it with your permission rather than duplicating their work. You receive a clear read on where the current plan holds and where it does not.
Etzel Financial Resources does not offer legal or tax advice. Please consult the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Step 4:
Personalized Recommendations
You get written recommendations tied to the gaps the stress test found, covering investment consulting and advanced planning across wealth enhancement, wealth transfer, wealth protection, and charitable giving. Every recommendation names the problem it solves. You decide what to act on, in what order, and nothing proceeds without your approval.
Step 5:
Implementation and Ongoing Relationship Management
We do the coordinating, which is the working core of the virtual family office model. That means account transitions with the custodian, scheduling with your CPA ahead of a tax deadline, sending your attorney the beneficiary changes an estate update requires, and keeping everyone working from the same plan. You have one point of contact for all of it, and the relationship continues through review meetings, rebalancing, and the decisions that come up between them.
Who This Model Is Built For
There is no asset minimum. Most of the households we work with hold somewhere in the $1 million to $10 million and above range of investable assets, but what actually qualifies a relationship is complexity — situations where decisions in one area change the answer in another. Fit is evaluated on the planning involved and the services required, not on a number alone.
- Closely held business owners approaching succession, a sale, or another liquidity event.
- Corporate executives holding stock options, restricted shares, or deferred compensation on a vesting schedule.
- Physicians and other medical professionals converting a high income into durable long-term wealth.
- Multi-generational families focused on legacy, charitable giving, and moving wealth to the next generation intentionally.
- Companies and nonprofits that need oversight of a retirement plan, an endowment, or a foundation.
The model is built around coordination across investment, tax, estate, insurance, retirement income, and business planning. Clients who need that coordination without placing investment assets under management can be served through a selective planning-only engagement. If what you need is a single product purchase or a one-time transaction, that is a legitimate need and a different kind of firm serves it better. If you are still weighing what kind of advisor your situation calls for,
the comparison between a virtual family office and a traditional financial advisor is worth reading first.
Questions to Ask a Financial Advisor, and How We Answer Them
Choosing a financial advisor comes down to a short list of questions that any firm should be able to answer without hedging. Here are the ones worth asking, along with our answers.
Are you a fiduciary, and how are you registered?
Scott Etzel is an Investment Advisor Representative, and investment advisory services are offered through Independent Wealth Network, Inc., an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, which is the relationship that carries the fiduciary standard applied to that advisory work. He holds the CRPC designation, earned in 2007 through the College for Financial Planning, along with Series 7 and Series 66 registrations earned the same year, state insurance licenses, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Grand View University. The full background is on the Who We Are page, and the registration record is public on BrokerCheck.
How are you paid?
This is a fee-based practice. Compensation may include asset-based investment advisory fees, financial-planning and consulting fees, and commissions on certain insurance products, including annuities where those apply. Which of those applies to you depends on the relationship and the services provided. The applicable fee schedule, its breakpoints, and the conflicts of interest associated with each arrangement are disclosed in the Form ADV, and the specific terms for your engagement are put in writing and agreed to before any work begins. Nothing is charged that was not discussed first. If a recommendation involves a product that pays a commission, that is stated when the recommendation is made, not discovered later.
Do you have a minimum?
There is no required minimum. Many of the households served hold roughly $1 million to $10 million or more in investable assets, but that is a description of the practice today rather than a threshold you have to clear. Relationships are evaluated on planning complexity, the services required, and whether the coordinated model is the right fit. A business owner two years from a sale and a physician early in a high-earning career can both belong here for reasons a balance alone does not capture, and selective planning-only engagements exist for clients with significant income, business interests, real estate, or retirement-plan assets who are not placing $1 million under management. The exploratory call is where that gets settled.
Who actually holds my money?
Your assets are held at third-party custodians, not at our firm. Clients have direct account access through Schwab Alliance and TIAA, which means you can see your holdings and balances independently of anything we tell you.
Will you work with my CPA and my attorney?
Yes, and keeping them is the point. We become the central hub connecting the professionals you already trust, so your tax strategy, your estate documents, and your portfolio stop being written in separate rooms. If a specialty is missing from your team, we bring in a professional to fill it rather than asking you to go find one.
What happens in the first ninety days?
The exploratory call, the Discovery Meeting, and the financial stress test typically fall inside that window, followed by written recommendations. Implementation begins on your timeline, prioritized by what is time-sensitive, such as an open enrollment window, a vesting date, or a tax year that is about to close.
Etzel Financial Resources does not offer legal or tax advice. Please consult the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
How We Communicate, and What Each Channel Is Best For
How a firm prefers to work is worth knowing before you are inside the relationship. These are ours.
Email at setzel@etzelfinancialresources.com is the first and best channel for planning questions and anything involving documents, because it creates a record and gives the question a considered answer.
A scheduled phone or Zoom meeting is where the more complex discussions belong, including anything involving trade-offs, family dynamics, or a decision with a deadline.
Text messaging at 515-490-6831 handles scheduling and quick updates.
A call to
515-490-6831 reaches us directly when something needs a voice on the other end.
Two Iowa Offices, and Clients Who Have Never Visited Either
Meeting in person is available and is not required. The coordination happens the same way whether you are twenty minutes from a conference table or three time zones from one.
Clear Lake office: 29 Lido Road, Clear Lake, IA 50428, serving Clear Lake, Mason City, and the North Iowa lakes area.
Urbandale office: 2350 NW 128th Street, Urbandale, IA 50323, serving Des Moines, West Des Moines, Urbandale, and the surrounding metro.
Statewide across Iowa and throughout the surrounding Midwest, with meetings by phone or Zoom.
Nationally, through fully remote relationships, since the virtual family office model was built to coordinate professionals who are not in the same building anyway.
What People Ask Before They Schedule
What happens at a first meeting with a financial advisor here?
The first meeting is a 30-minute exploratory call, and its only job is to determine whether there is a fit. You describe your situation and ask whatever you want about how the firm operates, and no plan, product, or proposal is presented. Nothing is required in advance, though bringing the decision that prompted the call makes the conversation more useful.
Do I have to live in Iowa to work with you?
No. We have offices in Clear Lake and Urbandale for clients who want to meet face to face, and we serve clients across Iowa, the Midwest, and the country through fully virtual relationships. The virtual family office model coordinates your CPA, attorney, and insurance professional regardless of where any of them sit.
How do I know if wealth management fees are worth it?
Compare what you are paying now, across every professional you retain, against what that spending is actually producing as a coordinated result. The expensive outcome is rarely a fee, it is a missed tax election, an unfunded trust, or a portfolio built without regard to the tax bracket it lives in. If your advisors have never spoken to each other, that gap is where the real cost is.
How much money do I need to work with a wealth manager?
Many firms set an asset minimum. We do not. Most of the households we serve hold approximately $1 million to $10 million or more in investable assets, but that describes the practice rather than gates it. The more useful test is whether your situation involves moving parts that interact, such as a business, concentrated stock, an estate plan, or charitable intent — and planning-only engagements are available for clients whose complexity is real but whose assets are not sitting in an investment account. A 30-minute call will settle the question either way.
Start With a Conversation About Your Plan, Not Our Products
You should be able to see how an engagement works, what it costs, and whether you fit before you ever pick up the phone, which is why all of it is written here. The next step is a 30-minute exploratory call, and it ends with a direct answer about fit. For a planning question or anything involving documents, email is the faster path.
Investment Advisor Representative of and investment advisory services offered through Independent Wealth Network, Inc., a SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Etzel Financial Resources is not affiliated with Independent Wealth Network, Inc.