Frequently Asked Questions
At Portus Wealth Advisors, we believe a confident financial future starts with clarity. Here you’ll find straightforward answers to common questions about financial planning, our philosophy, and how we partner with business owners to build a lasting legacy.
The Basics: Understanding Financial Planning
While many use the terms interchangeably, for a business owner, the difference is critical.
A “financial advisor” is a general term for anyone who provides financial advice. This could be a stockbroker focused on investments or an agent who sells insurance. While they may be experts in their specific area, they often don’t see the most important part of your financial world: the business you’ve poured your life into. Their advice can be disconnected, failing to address the concentration risk that comes from having your future tied to a single, illiquid asset. It can also be tied to a product which may actually be suitable when looked at in isolation but when viewed with a more complete lens shows its flaws.
A true “financial planner,” especially one who serves business owners, operates differently. We believe that for you, a financial plan that ignores your business is no plan at all. A financial planner takes a comprehensive view, understanding that your business is the engine of your wealth.
The goal isn’t just to manage a portfolio; it’s to create a forward-looking strategy that answers the most important question: How does a lifetime of work transform into a lifetime of freedom for you and your family?
This is the core of our approach. We don’t just talk the talk. We were founded to walk this path with you. We are there to serve you. We are there to help you create a plan where your business serves you, turning your work into true financial freedom and a lasting legacy.
For most people, this choice depends on their needs. But for a business owner, the answer is clear.
A financial advisor can be valuable for a specific, isolated task—like selecting an investment or a single insurance policy. If you have a one-off need, an advisor can provide a solution. However, this approach is often reactionary and fails to see the whole picture.
As a business owner, your life’s work and your personal wealth are deeply intertwined. A decision in one area creates ripples everywhere else. This is why you need more than just transactional advice; you need a cohesive strategy.
It is better to have a financial planner who specializes in the journey of business ownership. A true planner doesn’t just see a portfolio; they see the engine of your wealth—your business. They build a comprehensive plan that addresses your greatest risks, like having your future tied to a single asset, and maps out your greatest opportunities.
The right partner helps you move from the reactionary scramble of personal finance to a forward-looking strategy. They work with you to understand you and then help you unlock the path that transforms your hard-won business equity into a lifetime of freedom and a lasting legacy for your family. A financial advisor can help with a piece of the puzzle, but a dedicated financial planner helps you see the entire board – even as it starts to morph from the constant changes life throws at you.
A fiduciary is a person or firm with a legal and ethical obligation to act in the best interest of another party. In finance, this means a fiduciary advisor must put your interests ahead of their own, always and without exception.
For a business owner, this isn’t just a technical term; it’s the foundation of a true partnership.
Many in the financial industry operate under a lower “suitability” standard. This only requires that a recommendation be “suitable” for your situation, not that it be the absolute best option for you. This can allow for conflicts of interest, like recommending a product that pays a higher commission to the advisor.
As people who genuinely want to see our clients be as successful as possible, we aren’t built to operate that way. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. As fiduciaries, we are expected to act better. Our commitment is to you and your vision. When you’ve poured your life into building a business, you deserve a partner who not only was raised to do the right thing but is also legally bound to protect your interests.
Being a fiduciary means we are committed to providing advice that serves one purpose: transforming your lifetime of work into a lasting legacy, with full transparency and undivided loyalty.
It’s easy to get lost in these titles, but understanding how they relate is key to choosing the right partner for your journey as a business owner.
Let’s break it down simply:
- Financial Advisor is the general, umbrella term for any professional who gives financial advice. Think of it as the broadest job category.
- Financial Planner describes a specific role. A planner focuses on creating a comprehensive, forward-looking strategy that integrates all parts of your financial life—something that is essential when your business and personal wealth are so deeply connected.
- Fiduciary is not a role, but a standard of care. A fiduciary is legally and ethically bound to put your best interests first, without exception.
Here’s how they fit together: An advisor may or may not be a planner. An advisor or planner may or may not be a fiduciary.
For business owners, navigating the path from running your company to securing your legacy is the most important financial decision you will ever make. You don’t want a partner who might have your best interests at heart. You need a dedicated financial planner who understands your world and is also a committed fiduciary, legally bound to give you advice that serves only you.
That combination is the standard of care you deserve. It’s the only way to ensure the advice you receive is completely focused on one goal: turning your life’s work into a lifetime of freedom.
While partnering with the right financial planner is transformative, choosing the wrong one—or not understanding the nature of the process—can lead to frustration. Here are the potential disadvantages to be aware of:
- The Cost of Advice: Quality, comprehensive planning is not a commodity; it’s a significant professional service. The fees can seem substantial, especially at first. However, the true cost for a business owner often lies in not getting advice—in missed opportunities, unnecessary taxes, or a poorly planned exit that leaves millions on the table. The right partner provides value far beyond their fee.
- A “One-Size-Fits-All” Approach: The biggest risk for a business owner is hiring a generalist. It is certainly a miss when you hire a planner who doesn’t intimately understand the world of private business and who may apply generic strategies that completely miss the mark. They might not grasp the challenges of illiquidity, the complexities of a business valuation, or how to manage the immense concentration risk – and opportunity – you face. Their advice, while well-intentioned, can be ineffective or even counterproductive.
- It Requires Your Time: Financial planning is not a passive process where you simply hand everything over. It requires you to invest your own time and energy, especially upfront. You have to be willing to open your books, share your goals, and engage in deep conversations. For a busy owner, this time commitment can feel like a disadvantage, but it’s essential to building the forward-looking strategy that will eventually give you your time back, permanently.
Ultimately, these disadvantages highlight the critical importance of your choice. You don’t just need a planner; you need the right planner—a focused partner who knows your playbook, justifies their cost with immense value, and turns your time investment into a lifetime of freedom.
The biggest flaw in financial planning is that it often produces a static document, not a dynamic strategy.
Many firms will deliver a thick, beautifully bound financial plan that feels comprehensive the day it’s printed. But the world doesn’t stop. The market shifts, tax laws change, opportunities arise, and your life as a business owner is in constant motion. That document, sitting on a shelf, becomes obsolete almost the moment it’s finished. It’s a snapshot in time when what you really need is a roadmap for the future – and not a roadmap in the historical sense that you buy at the guy station.
You need the modern day roadmap, like Waze. Something that is sitting there monitoring conditions with you and updating every step of the way. You need a partner with a limited number of clients who can spend the time with you to help change or react to what lies ahead.
For a business owner, this flaw is magnified. Your personal and business finances are not separate, and they are never static. A plan that doesn’t adapt to a new business opportunity, a shift in your company’s value, or a change in your exit timeline isn’t just flawed—it’s a liability.
We believe that financial planning isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing partnership. A plan shouldn’t be a rigid set of instructions, but a living strategy that adapts with you. It’s a continuous conversation that helps you command what comes next, turning the reactionary scramble of personal finance into a forward-looking strategy for your family, your future, and your legacy.
For most people, the reasons are a mix of time, trust, and a fear of being judged. But for a business owner, the reasons run much deeper. We know this struggle intimately, and it’s why so many avoid it.
- You’re Focused on Building, Not Planning. As an owner, your energy is directed forward—toward growing the business, solving problems, and seizing opportunities. Taking time to focus on personal financial planning can feel like a distraction from your life’s work. It’s easy to think, “I’ll deal with my personal finances once the business is successful enough,” without realizing that the two are deeply connected.
- It Feels Like Another Full-Time Job. Your life is already a “reactionary scramble” of competing demands. The thought of gathering financial documents, untangling personal and business expenses, and trying to explain your unique situation to someone who might not get it is overwhelming. It feels like taking on another massive project – and you don’t think you have time to tackle it.
- No One Understands Your Situation. You are holding your future captive in a single, illiquid asset. It is your greatest source of pride, almost certainly the best investment you’ll ever own and your greatest risk. The average advisor, accustomed to clients with diversified 401(k)s, often doesn’t grasp this reality. The fear of getting generic advice that ignores your concentration risk—or worse, being told to simply “sell your business” without a real strategy—causes many owners to conclude that no advice is better than bad advice.
- It Requires Vulnerability. Building a business requires immense courage and a projection of strength. Financial planning, in contrast, requires a different kind of courage: the vulnerability to admit what you don’t know, to confront your risks head-on, and to plan for a future where you are no longer at the helm.
People avoid planning because it feels complex, time-consuming, and emotionally exposing. That’s why we founded Portus—to walk this path alongside you, transforming the daunting task of planning into a partnership that gives you peace of mind and, ultimately, command of what happens next.
This is a common point of confusion, and the distinction is important. While a financial planner does not typically prepare or file your tax returns—that is the specific role of a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Enrolled Agent (EA) or tax preparer—our role in your tax situation is absolutely critical.
Think of it this way: Your CPA looks backward, accurately reporting what has already happened. Our job is to look forward, creating a strategy to make what happens next as tax-efficient as possible. We get a unique opportunity to see not only what lies behind (last year’s tax data) but where you want to go. Looking backward may cause one decision, while looking forward may completely turn that on its head.
Throughout the year, we work on proactive tax planning – which involves you AND your CPA. For a business owner, this is essential. Every decision—from how you take distributions from your business to how you structure an eventual sale—has massive tax implications. Our focus is on making those decisions strategically to minimize your tax burden over the long term – and to help the CPA see where you are going so they can become the tax expert on the strategies helping you think forward.
We don’t replace your CPA; we empower them. We operate as your advocate, working directly with your tax professional to ensure they have the full picture and that our forward-looking strategies are seamlessly integrated with your annual tax filing. It’s a partnership designed to ensure your lifetime of work is not eroded by avoidable taxes.
The Cost: Fees & Value
It depends. Most advisors charge one of three ways: a percentage of the investments they manage (typically around 1% of assets), a flat annual retainer, or hourly fees for specific projects. Each model has its place and the range can be wide – from a few hundred dollars an hour to tens of thousands per year for comprehensive planning.
But the reality is the AUM and hourly fee models were designed around people whose wealth lives in a brokerage account. For business owners that is rarely the case. Your wealth is concentrated in an illiquid asset that doesn’t show up in a managed portfolio. This means the standard pricing model – and those who deliver it – don’t understand where your real risk and opportunity actually live.
At Portus, our fees are based on the complexity of your full picture, not just the assets we manage. That includes your business, your tax exposure, your eventual transition, and how all of it connects to your personal goals.
The honest question worth sitting with: what has the absence of that kind of integrated advice already cost you — in taxes paid unnecessarily, in decisions made without full context, in exit value left on the table? That number is usually harder to see than an advisory fee, but it’s rarely smaller.
We talk through our fee structure directly in our first conversation. No ambiguity.
There isn’t one. Fees vary widely based on the model, the advisor’s focus, and your complexity.
The most common structures you’ll encounter:
- AUM (Assets Under Management): Typically around 1% annually on the investments they directly manage
- Flat retainer: A set annual fee for ongoing planning – can range from a few thousand to more than $20,000 depending on complexity
- Hourly or project-based: Usually $200–$400 per hour for discrete, one-time work
Any of these can work fine.
But “normal” is worth examining if your wealth is concentrated in your business. A normal fee typically buys a normal scope of work – investment management, life/disability reviews, some tax coordination, a retirement projection and estate planning discussions (all that from a good financial planner). That’s not inadequate advice; it’s just advice designed for a different situation than yours.
The decisions that move the needle for a business owner – managing concentration risk in an illiquid private asset, structuring a tax-efficient transition, engaging with commercial insurance providers, diving into the complexity between the business and personal taxes, knowing your books, building a succession plan that actually holds, and more – sit outside what most standard engagements are built to address.
The more useful question isn’t what’s normal. It’s whether the level of planning matches the complexity of what you’ve built. And whether the team delivering it has built a process to help you manage it.
Typically $200 to $400 per hour – maybe more for specialized expertise. If you have one specific question that is worth it.
For most business owners, though, a session-based approach creates a quiet problem: your financial life doesn’t present itself in isolated, one-hour chunks.
The question you bring rarely exists in a vacuum. How you structure your compensation affects your exit valuation. How you’re holding real estate affects your estate plan. How much you’re paying in taxes today is directly connected to decisions you haven’t made yet about tomorrow.
A session can answer the question you asked. It doesn’t uncover the questions behind the question.
That’s the difference between reactive advice and strategic advice. One addresses what’s in front of you. The other is built around where you’re trying to go – and works backward from there to inform the decisions you’re making right now.
Your life’s work, your greatest risks, and your family’s future are not topics ‘solved’ in a one-hour meeting. Our work with clients is ongoing by design because the value compounds over time – just like your business has over the years.
A strategy implemented three years before your exit is worth multiples of the same strategy implemented three months before.
This question gets to the very heart of how we see the world differently. Many advisors don’t actually engage the business in a comprehensive way. They may help with the 401k. Maybe they review the tax return. They ask about the value and when you may want to sell it. But they don’t dive deep into the business because they lack the training (by book or life) for such depth.
We believe that approach is fundamentally flawed. For you, the business and your personal wealth are not separate. Your business is the engine of your financial life.
Therefore, we don’t have a separate menu of costs for your business. The owner is the client, not the business.
We charge a single, comprehensive planning fee based on the complexity of your entire life – both business and personal – because you cannot separate them.
We look to create one integrated, forward-looking strategy that understands how a decision about the business’s cash flow impacts your personal retirement and how your personal goals should shape your company’s eventual exit.
As a business owner, every dollar you spend must be an investment in a better outcome. The question of “worth” is the only one that matters.
Some industry studies, like Vanguard’s “Advisor’s Alpha” concept, attempt to quantify the value. They suggest a good advisor can add up to 3% or more in net returns each year through things like investment strategy, tax efficiency, and—most importantly—acting as a behavioral coach to prevent costly emotional decisions.
For a typical investor, that value is significant. For a business owner, it’s only a fraction of the story.
The real worth for you isn’t found in a percentage point on a portfolio. It’s found in the answers to far bigger questions:
- What is it worth to successfully navigate the transition from having 90% of your net worth tied up in your business to having a liquid, durable, and lasting legacy?
- What is it worth to have a strategy that could increase your company’s value or sale price by millions of dollars?
- What is it worth to know you have a dedicated partner whose sole focus is making sure the sacrifices you’ve made result in a lifetime of freedom for your family?
You wouldn’t build a custom home without an architect or sell your company without an M&A advisor. The decision to hire a financial planner is of the same magnitude. It is an investment in ensuring your life’s work reaches its ultimate potential. The right partnership doesn’t “cost”—it pays for itself, many times over.
Yes, but only if they understand what’s truly at stake for you. For a business owner, the fee paid to a planner isn’t the real financial risk. The real risk lies in the catastrophic costs of going it alone.
Think of the fee as an investment to prevent a much larger loss. For example:
- Is the fee worth it if it helps you avoid a poorly structured business sale that leaves millions of dollars on the table?
- Is the fee worth it if it helps you craft a tax strategy that legally shields hundreds of thousands—or more—from the proceeds of your life’s work?
- Is it worth it if it prevents the family conflict and potential litigation that can arise from an unclear succession plan?
When you look at it through that lens, the fee is not the question. The real question is, can you afford the alternative? A generic planner focused on a “normal” client might not be worth the fee, because they can’t help you navigate these high-stakes issues. A true partner who specializes in the journey of business ownership provides value that is orders of magnitude greater than the cost.
The “1% fee” is one of the most common models in our industry. It refers to a fee based on 1% of the assets a planner manages for you, such as a stock and bond portfolio. For a client whose wealth is primarily in those liquid assets, it can be a simple and effective way to pay for professional investment management.
However, for a business owner, this model has a critical, built-in flaw.
Your most valuable asset, the engine of your wealth and the source of your greatest risk, is your business. That asset isn’t part of the “Assets Under Management” a traditional advisor is paid on.
This creates a massive conflict. The advisor is paid to focus on your investment portfolio, but the advice you need most—on exit planning, succession strategy, managing concentration risk, and tax mitigation for your business sale—is for the one asset they aren’t being paid to advise on. Your life’s work becomes an afterthought in their fee structure.
So, is it worth paying 1%?
Perhaps, for managing the liquid assets you may already have. But it does not solve your primary need. You deserve a partner whose value and fee structure are aligned with your entire world, not just your stock portfolio. Your focus should be on the total value and comprehensive strategy a partner provides, ensuring their advice is centered on what matters most: your business and your future.
In some parts of the financial industry, particularly with traditional brokerage models, fees can sometimes be negotiated, much like you might haggle over the price of a product.
However, we believe this is the wrong way to start a partnership that will oversee your life’s work.
You wouldn’t negotiate with a top surgeon on their fee for a critical operation; you would seek to understand their value, their process, and their track record to ensure they are the right expert for the job. We believe the decision to hire a financial partner for your family’s future should be viewed in the same light.
Our fee structure is not an arbitrary starting point for a negotiation. It is a thoughtfully constructed price for a comprehensive, long-term engagement, based on the immense complexity of your situation as a business owner. Our role as your dedicated hub, coordinating everything from advanced tax strategy to your eventual business exit, is a professional service of the highest order.
We are always committed to having a transparent, upfront conversation about our fees and the immense value we provide in return. The goal shouldn’t be to find the cheapest planner by negotiating a small discount, but to find the right partner whose value is so clear and compelling that the fee makes perfect sense as an investment in your future.
This is a frequent and important question, as the rules have changed significantly in recent years.
For most individuals, the straightforward answer is no. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated the deduction for miscellaneous itemized expenses, which included investment and financial planning fees. This suspension is currently in effect through 2025, and until the law changes, these fees are considered a personal expense and cannot be deducted on a personal tax return.
However, for a business owner, the situation is more nuanced.
Fees that are paid for financial planning services directly related to your business—such as advice on succession planning, corporate investment strategy, or setting up employee retirement plans—may be considered a deductible business expense. The key is that the service must be clearly for the benefit of the business itself.
This is a perfect example of why our role as a “dedicated hub” is so important. We work closely with your CPA or tax professional to help them determine which aspects of our comprehensive fee may be rightfully attributed to the business, ensuring you are taking advantage of every legal deduction.
Disclaimer: Portus Wealth Advisors does not provide tax advice. This information is for educational purposes only. You must consult with your qualified tax professional to discuss your specific situation.
Under current tax law, which was changed significantly by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, fees paid for personal financial and investment advice are generally considered a personal expense. As such, they cannot be claimed as an itemized deduction on your personal tax return.
However, for you as a business owner, the situation is different and requires a closer look.
Fees for financial advice that are directly and exclusively related to your business operations may be considered a claimable business expense. This could include strategic work on your succession plan, optimizing the company’s retirement plan, or advice on managing corporate assets.
The key is proper allocation. This is precisely where our “dedicated hub” approach provides clarity. We partner with your CPA to provide the documentation and rationale they need to determine what portion of our comprehensive planning fee can be legitimately claimed as a business expense, ensuring you are optimizing your tax position correctly.
Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only as Portus Wealth Advisors does not provide tax advice. The ability to claim any expense depends on your specific circumstances, and you must consult with a qualified tax professional.
