You'd get one before a major surgery. The same logic applies to the person managing your retirement. Upload your tax return — we flag the planning gaps most advisors quietly leave on the table: Roth conversions, 529 funding, asset location, tax-loss harvesting. Households with $220k+ income receive a personal CFP® or CFA® review. Free.
Free · One document · No phone number needed · No sales calls
Fiduciary RIA — duty of care, by lawBank-grade encryptionCFP®- or CFA®-credentialed reviewing advisorNo marketing spam — ever
What are you actually paying, all-in?
Advisors who use actively managed funds add another layer — expense ratios averaging 0.66% that come out of your returns, not your statement. Advisors using index ETFs don't. Most clients don't know which they have.
Morningstar avg. active fund expense ratio ~0.66%; index ETFs typically 0.03%–0.10%. Kitces Research median advisory fee ~1.0% at $500k (SEC Form ADV). Large portfolios above $2M often negotiate down to 0.5%–0.75%. Figures illustrative.
A sample report
Here's what your check looks like.
Excerpts from a real (anonymized) report. Three sections — fees, performance, and advice — with findings ranked by what matters most.
Critical
Fees
All-in cost
2.31%
Industry median: ~1.42% · NWP rate at $500k: 0.80%
Advisor management fee: 1.10%
Average fund expense ratio: 0.74%
Wrap & platform fees: 0.47%
~$7,550 / yr more than NWP's published rate (illustrative, on $500k)
No sign-up required · Shows a CFP-reviewed report ($220k+ households)
How it works
Three steps. No pitch. No obligation.
STEP 01
Upload your documents
Your tax return alone surfaces most high-impact findings. Add a performance report for deeper fee and return analysis. We pull your advisor's Form ADV from the SEC ourselves. Two minutes to submit. Encrypted transfer.
STEP 02
We run your analysis
Our analysis cross-references your tax return with your advisor's public disclosures to surface fee, performance, and tax-efficiency gaps. Households with $220k+ income receive a personal review from a credentialed NerdWallet Wealth Partners advisor (CFP® or CFA®) who verifies findings against your actual documents and adds specific recommendations for your situation.
STEP 03
Read your personalized report
Plain English. Specific action items — not "consider diversifying." For eligible households where a CFP review was completed and a deeper conversation makes sense, your report includes a no-obligation offer for a free 30-minute consultation.
What's in your report
Five things every fiduciary review should cover.
Findings most clients have never seen — because they require cross-referencing your portfolio with your tax return.
01What's already working
A complete picture means documenting what's right, not just what's missing. We check the basics — contribution limits, filing accuracy, deduction capture — and confirm when your household is on track.
"Both 401(k)s are at the 2026 limit. Your HSA is at the family maximum. No missed contribution opportunities in the current structure."
02Fees you can't see
Total cost — including fund expense ratios, wrap fees, 12b-1s, and custodial markups — compared to peer-group medians for portfolios like yours.
"Your all-in cost is 2.31%. The median for similar portfolios is 1.42%. The gap is $4,450 / year."
03Performance vs. a fair benchmark
Your returns after fees compared to a risk-matched index baseline. Apples-to-apples — not the sales-pitch comparison.
"Your 5-year return is 6.2%. A baseline mix of your same risk level returned 8.1%."
04Conflicts of interest
How your advisor is compensated, what their Form ADV discloses about potential conflicts, and where their incentives may not align with yours.
"Your advisor's ADV discloses revenue-sharing arrangements with their custodian. Here's what that means for you."
05What they should be telling you
The fiduciary table-stakes most brokers skip — visible only when we cross-reference your portfolio with your tax return: 529 funding, backdoor Roth, asset location, charitable structure.
"No 529 plan contributions for your 6-, 5-, and 2-year-olds. The 5-year gift election alone could move $570,000 tax-free."
Ryan Sterling
Lead Reviewing Advisor
CFA® · NerdWallet Wealth Partners
Who's behind your check
A fiduciary RIA — NerdWallet Wealth Partners, LLC.
Advisor Check is a service of NerdWallet Wealth Partners, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Every report is reviewed by a CFP®- or CFA®-credentialed fiduciary on our team before it reaches your inbox.
A fiduciary is legally required to act in your interest. Many advisors aren't fiduciaries — they're brokers operating under the lower "suitability" standard. We are. That obligation is what makes a second opinion meaningful.
We're affiliated with NerdWallet, the consumer finance brand. NerdWallet's editorial team operates separately and doesn't review our service. Your relationship — if you choose to have one — is governed by NWP's fiduciary duty to you.
Plain English. Not buried in legal terms. Your tax return is treated with the same confidentiality your CPA's office uses.
Encrypted in transit and at rest.
256-bit AES, TLS 1.3. Same encryption your bank uses.
Only your reviewing advisor sees them.
Document access is logged. Your name and account numbers are masked from any benchmarking aggregates.
Deleted 60 days after delivery.
Unless you ask us to keep them on file. We'll remind you.
We don't sell your data. Ever.
Not to advertisers. Not to other advisors. Not to anyone. Read our full privacy policy.
Common questions
What people ask before uploading.
Will my advisor know I did this?
No. We never contact your advisor. Your check is between you and us — and the documents you upload never leave NerdWallet Wealth Partners' systems.
Why is this free?
We're a fiduciary RIA. We hope that if your check shows real gaps with your current advisor, you'll consider talking to us. If you don't, you keep the report and we move on. We don't sell your data, and our compensation as an advisory firm is fully disclosed in our Form ADV.
How can you analyze my advisor fairly?
We don't rank or rate advisors. Your check benchmarks your fees and performance against peer-group averages — portfolios of similar size, similar asset allocation, and similar service models — and against fiduciary best practice. Methodology is documented in every report.
Is uploading my tax return safe?
Yes. Documents — including your tax return — are encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). Access is restricted to authorized NWP personnel and fully logged. We never share or sell your documents, and they're deleted 60 days after report delivery unless you ask us to keep them on file. Same standard your CPA's office is held to.
Will I get hammered with marketing emails or calls?
No. We don't run marketing campaigns and we don't make sales calls. We don't even collect a phone number. You'll receive your report and nothing you didn't ask for. Your contact info is deleted 60 days after delivery unless you ask us to stay in touch.
What if my advisor is actually doing a good job?
Most advisors are competent at most things. When that's true, the report says so — explicitly, with the data behind it. Knowing your advisor is actually doing well is worth finding out.
Ready when you are
See if there are planning opportunities your advisor hasn't flagged yet.
Upload your tax return. Two minutes. See if there's anything your advisor hasn't flagged yet.
As a fiduciary, we're required to understand your situation before reviewing your advisor. Takes 30 seconds.
Two quick questions.
Helps us focus your report on what matters most to you. Your tax return tells us about household, income, and dependents — so we don't ask.
Ready to submit?
Your analysis of your advisor will be emailed to you shortly.
Upload your tax return
Optionally add a performance report
The tax return alone gives you most of the value. Add this for fee + performance analysis on top.
Optionally add your advisory agreement
Your advisor's published fee schedule (Form ADV) lists maximums. Your actual contracted rate may be lower — upload your advisory agreement for a more precise fee analysis.
AI Processing Disclosure: We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to review the documents you submit and generate preliminary insights about fees, performance, and potential advisory gaps. This AI-generated analysis may be incomplete and is not final financial advice — a licensed financial advisor will review the results before sharing them with you. Your information will be retained for 60 days and used solely to provide this analysis. Please avoid uploading unnecessary sensitive information, such as full Social Security numbers or complete account numbers, unless specifically required.
