Scholar Financial Advising is an hourly, fee-only investment advisory firm focused on providing individuals with fiduciary financial planning services on a flat fee, hourly basis. Our advisors hold at minimum a Ph.D. in Finance and Stephan Shipe, the firm’s lead advisor, is also a CFA charter holder and CFP® Professional.

Our mission is to Educate, Empower, and Encourage. We like to think outside of the box and enjoy working on more complex financial situations like those that typically surround physicians and highly compensated individuals. We believe that clients should manage their own accounts and our role is truly that of an advisor. We look for ways to increase financial efficiency and create plans for our clients to execute that focus on creating a role for every dollar that hits their account.

Financial advising requires a lot of trust from both client and advisor. We believe that everyone’s financial situation is unique and that a successful financial plan requires more than typical textbook inputs and rough estimates. Therefore, we emphasize custom plans and the importance of building a strong advisor/client relationship. With this combination, we can create and work toward financial goals as a team.

 

Fee Structure

$350 / hour

By nature of our decision to be a fee only advisor, there are no conflicts of interest arising from commissions or referral fees that plague some financial services. Unlike many fee-only advisors, we believe that fee-only means a flat fee paid for advice. Our fee structure is based on project complexity and not on how much money a client has saved for an asset under management fee. This ensures that clients of all income and asset levels can receive financial advice and will pay a fee matched to the amount of advice needed and not be penalized for the size of their portfolio or net worth.

We are happy to buck the trend by providing financial advice on an hourly basis opposed to the current norm of a percentage of net worth or Assets Under Management (AUM).