At Divergent Planning, we have been serving pre-retirees, mid-career professionals, and federal government employees since 2010. With headquarters in Bethesda, MD, and advisors in Tysons, VA, our Registered Investment Advisory firm provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management throughout Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, and nationwide.

We believe that you are best served when your financial advice is objective and your fees are transparent. That is why we embrace our role as NAPFA-registered, fee-only financial advisors.

As NAPFA members and fee-only advisors, we do not sell products and do not accept commissions or referral fees. What’s more, our RIA firm has a fiduciary responsibility to put your interests ahead of ours. Our responsibility is not limited to certain services or investment accounts, such as retirement plans. It applies to everything we do for you. Always.

We embrace our fiduciary, fee-only status because it enables us to serve as your financial advocate. Unburdened by conflicts of interest, we can provide unbiased advice meant only to help you reach your goals.

NAPFA Requirements

NAPFA’s motto is “We’re known by the standards we keep®,” and as NAPFA-registered financial advisors, we are obliged to maintain those high standards.

You can read about membership standards in more depth on the NAPFA webpage, but here is a brief list of requirements: 

• Fee-only: NAPFA requires its members and affiliates to be fee-only. That means we can receive no commissions, rebates, awards, finder’s fees, bonuses, or other compensation from anyone else for giving you advice. Our recommendations to you must serve you only.

• Prohibition: Members and affiliates cannot own an interest in or be employed by a financial services firm that provides commissions or similar types of compensation. This prohibition even applies to “related parties”—such as a colleague or spouse—who we share income or economic benefits with.

• Compliance: Like all members and affiliates, we agree to abide with NAPFA’s Code of Ethics, Standards of Membership and Affiliations, bylaws, and so on, as well as all federal and state regulations.

• Notification: If members or affiliates do something wrong, they have to own it. We have agreed that we will inform the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors if we experience a significant disciplinary or legal action. So far, we haven’t, and we hope to keep it that way. 

The standards are stringent—and for good reason. In an industry where financial professionals aren’t necessarily loyal to you, you can feel more confident that a NAPFA member is going to put your interests first.

How Fee-Only Financial Planning Helps You

When it comes to fees in the financial services industry, matters can get confusing. For example, there’s just a single word’s difference between “fee-only” and “fee-based,” but the services you end up receiving can be very different.

The three basic ways financial professionals get compensated are: 

• Fee-only: You pay the advisor for the services they provide; the advisor doesn’t get paid by anyone else for their work with you.

• Commission-based: The advisor is paid by a company for any products they recommend that you end up purchasing.

• Fee-based: The advisor can get paid by both you and a third party.

In our view—and NAPFA’s—the sole model that serves your interests is the fee-only one. It aligns our interests with yours and helps maintain our objectivity when making recommendations.

That objectivity is lessened or lost entirely with the other two models since a financial professional can feel influenced by the promise of a big payday. Commission-based and fee-based models increase conflicts of interest.

And what do the specifics of a fee-only model look like? It depends on the financial advisor, but you might pay: 

• By the hour

• Per project

• On a retainer

• For assets under management

The most common way—and one that we use—is assets under management: We are paid a percentage of the assets we manage on your behalf. We favor this model because it further aligns our interests with yours.

Our Comprehensive Services

Our advisory team of NAPFA-registered financial advisors provides personal financial planning tailored to your goals, concerns, and needs.

Our services include:

We complement our comprehensive services with a fee-only model that eschews commissions and accepts compensation from only our clients. We think serving as a fee-only advisory firm aligns our interests with yours even more.

Want to Learn More About NAPFA?

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors has a wealth of resources on its website for people wanting to learn more about the organization or financial planning in general:

• Use the About Us page as a jumping-off point for the organization’s history, values, mission, Code of Ethics, and more.

• The Find an Advisor page lets you find a financial advisor in your geographic region. You can save your favorites and send the list to your email or printer.

• The sections under the Consumers tab contain many resources, including tips for finding an advisor and what to do if you need pro-bono assistance.

We also welcome answering any questions you may have about our membership or NAPFA in general.

Let’s Chat

Let’s see how we can help you achieve your financial goals.
Schedule a 10-minute discovery call.