Your Personal
Financial Advisor Should Be Paid Hourly
The Fearless Finance process
At Fearless Finance, we offer hourly financial planning because you deserve expert, personalized advice, without being locked into long-term contracts or handing over your assets.
Our proprietary process for financial planning by the hour starts with the 5 Steps to Financial Wellbeing, each one critical to building a solid foundation for achieving your goals. We start with your assets and debt, discuss retirement contributions, and account organization and then turn to cash flow and savings. We then turn to your goals. Maybe it’s paying down debt, buying a vacation home, or retiring early. We generate a plan for you to reach your goals and then turn to insurances, estate planning and investments.
You can read more about our process with our Welcome to your Financial Planning Journey.
Why choose Fearless Finance?
We’re proud to be among the best hourly financial advisors for people who want clarity without complexity. Our team includes experienced, hourly fee-only financial advisors; no commissions, no products, just real help. Whether you need help with a special topic (e.g. student loans, buying a home) ongoing support, our hourly financial planning services give you flexibility and confidence. With an hourly financial planner, you get smart planning without losing control of your money. We’re your financial advisor by the hour, and we’re here when you need us.
Other people call it “fee transparency.” We call it fairness.
Whether you’re looking for an hourly rate financial advisor or exploring financial advisor hourly models for the first time, we’re ready to guide you.
Topic areas covered in your Initial Financial Plan
When something changes in your life, we need to adjust your plan and manage the financial aspects of the life change. New baby, new job, new house…
What our customers are saying
I read about Lori in the Washington Post and my wife and I both thought it sounded a bit too good to be true. The experience of working with Lori was like breathing pure oxygen. We instituted everything she recommended and know we are on a sustainable, long-term trajectory financially. Anyone who is serious about getting their financial lives in order (everyone should) and are willing to actually change their behaviors will reap the rewards of her advice.
Elizabeth and Lori mobilized quickly during Christmas week to help my mother with time-sensitive financial planning during a difficult time for our family. I’m so grateful!
I highly recommend working with Elizabeth and Fearless Finance. We did a lot of shopping around for a financial planner and we could not be happier with our choice. Elizabeth and Fearless offer a superior and more affordable/accessible model for financial planning.
Our initial three-meeting consult with Jason Ross helped us, for the first time ever, get a firm handle on our finances. Although my wife and I are not terribly finance-literate (to say the least), we had our first child and wanted to develop a “set it and forget it” system to build towards a comfortable future. We later scheduled a one-off session to talk through a potential home purchase, and Jason helped us figure out what we could afford. It’s a great feeling to have someone like Jason in our corner.
Jason tailored the financial planning to where we are at currently and where we want to be financially. He went above and beyond to make sure we had all our questions answered and felt comfortable with his recommendations. He gave advice that has changed how we plan our finances and I truly believe this will help us achieve our financial goals.
This is a good investment toward what is likely a life-long journey to be financially fluent, not just literate, at least for me. My Financial Planner, Elizabeth Westendorf, handled meetings professionally; she provided lots of background when we weren’t grasping some contexts; she didn’t try to push us to think one way or buy one thing–something I personally appreciated; she seemed genuinely invested in better financial management for all, and she was accessible during and after class to answer any follow-up questions.
Working with Elizabeth has been a life-changer for me. Elizabeth has helped me set up a financial structure that works for me, my retirement plan, and my spending habits. It has also been immensely helpful to have Elizabeth accessible vía email/text for random questions outside of our sessions. Highly recommend her!
The Fearless Finance app is incredibly useful and easy to use. It helps me stay on top of my monthly budget goals and track my expenses without having to get into the weeds of daily expenses. I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to gain better insights into their monthly spending habits.
True to her company name, Lori helped take the fear out of financial planning. She was patient and encouraging, and she gave me hope that I could achieve financial stability. My financial fitness has improved considerably. I’m really grateful.
Elizabeth is a pleasure to work with. I had never shared my finances with anyone since graduating from college so the fear of sharing such a personal thing with a stranger was real, but Elizabeth was great! There was no judgment about my financial position and she asked really well-targeted questions to help me think about the future and what’s important to me. She helped me sort out how to invest my retirement funds, how much and where I should be saving, and what is a realistic budget to stick to to meet all those goals and still have a life. I can’t recommend her highly enough!
Frequently asked questions
How do I know how many hours I’ve used?
Is there any time that I’m charged for that is not in a meeting with my planner?
How do you manage my investments if you’re paid hourly?
Can you help lower my tax bill?
We don’t prepare taxes, but tax impact is part of every planning conversation. Your planner will factor in things like account type choices, retirement contribution strategies, and investment placement, decisions that can quietly cost or save you money depending on how they’re handled.
Can I work with a financial advisor by the hour instead of a long-term advisory contract?
Yes, that’s the whole point. No retainers, no contracts, no minimums. You book time when you need it, pay only for hours spent in meetings, and move on. Come back for a check-in, a life change, or a single question. Completely your call.
How can an hourly financial advisor help me choose investments in my 401(k), 403(b), or 457 retirement plan?
Your planner will review what’s available in your plan, match an allocation to your timeline and risk tolerance, and walk you through exactly what to select and why. No products being sold, no agenda, just a clear strategy built around your retirement goals.
How can hourly financial planning services help with tax-efficient financial decisions?
Small decisions, Roth vs. traditional contributions, account organization, where you hold certain investments, add up to real money over time. Your planner will flag the tax angle on these choices so you’re not leaving money on the table without realizing it.
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