Our Fees
Vilga operates on a fixed-fee model. Fees are transparent, predictable, and aligned with the scope and complexity of each relationship.
The below chart is a guide for prospective clients. After our introductory meeting(s), if we are a good fit to work together, we will provide you with a proposal that includes your quoted fee.
A $3,000 one-time onboarding fee is charged at engagement. Fees are debited quarterly from Charles Schwab accounts.
* Assets Under Advisement (AUA) = assets managed at Charles Schwab plus outside investments such as retirement plans, private investments, brokerage accounts, and bank accounts. Assets typically excluded from AUA: business assets and non-publicly traded real estate.
Fees are negotiable. The schedule above reflects our typical engagements; actual fees are set by the scope of the specific engagement.
Because Vilga charges a flat fee rather than a percentage of assets, the fee will not automatically decrease if a client’s portfolio declines. Flat fees may represent a higher percentage of assets for smaller portfolios.
How Fees Work
Three simple ideas guide our fee structure:
Informed at the start by your investable portfolio
We use Assets Under Advisement (AUA) to place the engagement on the published schedule.
That guides the starting fee. We will confirm the scope of what we’ll actually be doing together, so the fee reflects the engagement — not just the asset total.
Stable once set
Once the fee is agreed, it stays in place.
It doesn’t rise when markets rise, and it doesn’t fall when markets fall. Most clients see the same fee for years at a stretch.
Revisited periodically, openly
Over longer horizons, fees may be revisited as necessary.
Any adjustment is raised openly and well in advance. And any change requires a new signed client agreement — there’s no automatic escalation.
How Are We Different From Traditional Fee Structures?
Most financial advisors charge a percentage of assets under management (AUM).
This model can create misalignment — fees rise when markets rise, even when the actual work hasn't changed, and assets outside the advisor's management are often ignored.
Fee
basis
AUM
% of managed portfolio value
Vilga
Flat dollar fee — informed at the start by your investable portfolio
Market impact on fees
AUM
Fees rise automatically when markets rise
Vilga
Fees are fixed regardless of market movements.
SCOPE OF
ASSETS
AUM
Often limited to managed accounts
Vilga
Full financial picture — all relevant assets included
INCENTIVE STRUCTURE
AUM
Incentive to gather and retain assets — advice that reduces AUM (paying off a mortgage, buying an annuity) also reduces the advisor's fee
Vilga
Recommending less assets under management carries no financial cost to Vilga
Examples:
-
Paying off a mortgage
-
Spending or gifting more
-
Transferring assets to your bank to qualify for private banking services
FEE
ADJUSTMENTS
AUM
Automatic with portfolio growth
Vilga
Periodic and openly discussed — not driven by market value
APPROVAL BEFORE FEE CHANGES?
AUM
No — fees rise automatically with portfolio value
Vilga
A new signed client agreement — you always approve
How fees evolve over time
Fees are anchored to the relationship, not to market values.
In practice, most clients see the same fee for years at a stretch. When a change is warranted, we discuss it openly and well in advance.
When fees may be revisited:
Inflation over longer horizons. Sustained changes in scope or complexity. Periodic alignment with our current schedule for new engagements — fees generally drift up over time as the schedule itself is updated. Any change requires a new signed client agreement — there’s no automatic escalation.
What you can count on:
No commissions, no
product-sale incentives,
no referral fees — ever.
We’re legally required to act in your best interest at all times.
Our fee doesn’t depend on the market.
Once set, the fee stays in place.
Markets rise and fall; the fee doesn’t move with them in either direction. Over longer horizons it may be revisited — for inflation or sustained changes in scope — and we raise it openly and well in advance.
A flat fee keeps advice honest at the points that matter most:
-
We have no reason to discourage paying down a mortgage, even though it reduces our “AUM.”
-
We have no reason to steer you away from a pension buyout or annuity when it’s the right call.
-
We have no reason to keep excess cash held at our custodian instead of at your bank.
When the fee scales with the account, those conversations quietly go the wrong way. A flat fee also means the cost of advice doesn’t rise just because markets rose — the work we do didn’t double, and neither should the fee.
-
The published schedule is the starting point, informed by your investable portfolio at the time of engagement (Assets Under Advisement).
We also look at the scope of what we’ll be doing together — if there’s something unusual about your situation, in either direction, we’ll talk it through and the fee reflects the actual engagement. Once agreed, the fee is flat: it doesn’t rise when markets rise, and it doesn’t fall when markets fall. We tell you the number up front.
Not often. Most clients see the same fee for years at a stretch. Over longer horizons fees may be revisited — for inflation, for sustained changes in complexity, or to bring long-tenured clients closer to our current schedule for new engagements.
Market movements don’t move the fee in either direction, and any adjustment is raised openly and well in advance. Any change requires a new signed client agreement, so you always approve before anything takes effect — there’s no automatic escalation.
Schedule a first conversation.
A 30-minute call to see whether Vilga is the right fit — no cost, no pressure.
