The two arrangements
Investment advisory services described on this page are offered through Avinci Wealth Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser registered in California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas and Nevada. This page is general information for educational purposes and is not individualized investment, tax or legal advice. Compensation arrangements vary by firm; confirm any firm's arrangements in its own disclosure documents.
A fee-only firm is compensated solely by its clients, usually as a percentage of assets advised, a flat retainer, an hourly rate or a project fee. It earns no commissions on products.
A fee-based firm is compensated by client fees and may also receive commissions, most commonly on insurance or annuity products and often through an affiliated agency rather than the advisory firm itself.
Both can be Registered Investment Advisers, and when providing investment advisory services both are subject to fiduciary obligations under applicable investment adviser law, including duties of care and loyalty. The compensation label does not change that. How advisors are paid sets out all three models and the conflicts inside each, including the ones inside fee-only arrangements.
Every compensation model carries an incentive. A percentage-of-assets fee creates one against recommendations that reduce assets under advice.
What changed federally in 2026
In March 2026, the Department of Labor confirmed the removal of its vacated 2024 Retirement Security Rule, leaving the longstanding five-part test in place for determining fiduciary investment advice under ERISA. Whether a rollover recommendation creates fiduciary status under ERISA depends on the facts and circumstances. Separately, investment advisers remain subject to applicable investment adviser fiduciary obligations, and broker-dealers remain subject to Regulation Best Interest when making covered recommendations to retail customers.
State oversight is unchanged: California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation remains the primary regulator for state-registered advisers, and its advertising and antifraud requirements apply to this firm.
The practical effect for a retiree is narrow but worth knowing. If someone recommends rolling a 401(k) into an IRA, asking what standard applies to that specific recommendation, and why, is a fair question. Fiduciary or broker in California covers how the frameworks differ.
What California adds
California changes what a good adviser has to do, whichever way that adviser is paid.
- Retirement income is taxed as ordinary income. The state provides no preferential long-term capital gains rate, so withdrawal sequencing carries more weight here than in states that do. How California taxes retirement income covers the detail.
- Social Security is exempt at the state level, which changes the arithmetic of claiming decisions relative to federal-only analysis.
- Property values complicate estate work. A long-held home can dominate an estate, which brings Proposition 13 assessed value and Proposition 19 reassessment into the planning conversation.
- Trust funding needs attention. A trust's effectiveness depends in part on whether relevant assets have been properly titled, transferred, or otherwise coordinated with the estate plan. The appropriate treatment varies by asset type and should be determined with the client's estate-planning attorney. Trust funding in California covers which assets need attention.
None of these is a compensation question. All of them are competence questions, and they are worth more of your attention in an interview than the label a firm uses.
Turning a percentage into a number
The most useful thing you can do with either model is convert it into a dollar figure you can compare.
Ask for total first-year cost in dollars, itemised by service. Ask whether anyone other than you pays the firm anything in connection with your account. Ask whether the firm or an affiliate earns commissions on anything that might be recommended, and ask for the answers in writing.
Investors should review Form ADV Part 2A, particularly the sections addressing advisory fees, other financial industry activities and affiliations, and additional compensation. They should also ask whether the adviser or any affiliated professional receives insurance commissions or other compensation in connection with recommendations.
What a fiduciary retirement plan costs in California walks through the four common fee models and what each tends to include.
Planning in Stevenson Ranch
Stevenson Ranch sits on the western edge of the Santa Clarita Valley, an unincorporated community of largely owner-occupied homes built from the late 1980s onward, where long tenures are common.
That pattern shapes the compensation question in a specific way. When a long-held home represents a large share of net worth, the planning questions that matter most are property-related: how Proposition 13 assessed value carries forward, how Proposition 19 affects a transfer to children, and whether the home is titled consistently with the estate documents. Those are attorney and tax questions coordinated by an adviser, and they are unaffected by whether that adviser is fee-only or fee-based. For Stevenson Ranch households with significant real estate holdings, it may be useful to ask prospective advisers how they coordinate financial planning with the client's estate-planning attorney and tax professional, in addition to reviewing compensation and conflicts of interest.
How Avinci is paid
Avinci Wealth Management is a Registered Investment Adviser registered in California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas and Nevada, firm CRD #327780, headquartered at 23929 Valencia Blvd, Suite 404 in Santa Clarita, with additional offices in Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills.
Avinci is fee-based, not fee-only. The firm receives advisory fees from clients for investment advisory services. Separately, insurance and annuity products may be offered through our affiliated agency, Lucas Insurance Services, which may receive commissions from issuing insurance companies on the products it places.
That creates a conflict of interest: the affiliate earns more when a product is placed than when one is not. It is disclosed in our Form ADV, stated in the footer of every page on this site, and it is why we describe the firm as fee-based rather than using the fee-only label, which would not be accurate.
Under the Retirement Blueprint, insurance is examined as one of five disciplines alongside investments, tax, income and estate coordination, so a product recommendation is considered in that context rather than on its own.
Important disclosures. This material is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as individualized investment, tax or legal advice, or as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or insurance product. Consult your CPA or attorney before acting on anything described here.
Registration. Investment advisory services are offered through Avinci Wealth Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser, firm CRD #327780. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Our Form ADV Part 2A brochure describes our services, fees and conflicts of interest, and is available on request and through our IAPD record.
Compensation. Avinci Wealth Management, Inc. is fee-based. Separately, insurance and annuity products may be offered through our affiliate, Lucas Insurance Services, which may receive commissions from issuing insurance companies. This arrangement creates a conflict of interest and is disclosed in our Form ADV. Descriptions of other firms' compensation models on this page are general and are not statements about any particular firm.
Regulatory references. Descriptions of federal and state rules reflect our understanding as of the date of publication and are subject to change. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results.