Financial advice should be unbiased, honest, and never shaped by what's being sold.
That single rule is the foundation everything else here is built on.
Not all financial advice is priced the same way.
Before choosing who to trust with your finances, it helps to know how they're actually paid — because that shapes what they recommend. Broadly, there are three models in the market.
Commission-based
Usually tied to a bank, mutual fund or insurance company, and paid a commission by that company for what they sell.
- ✕ Paid by the product, not by you
- ✕ Primary goal is selling their company's products
- ✕ Advice tends to favour the highest-commission option
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Fee-based
Earns from both sides — a fee from you, and commission from whatever product gets sold. A blend, not a fix.
- ✕ Two income sources pulling in different directions
- ✕ Conflict of interest is reduced, not removed
- ✕ Hard to know which part of the advice is which
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Fee-only
Earns only the fee you pay — no commission, no product sales, no referral income of any kind, from anyone.
- ✓ Paid only by you — nothing else, from anyone
- ✓ No sales targets, so no incentive to steer you
- ✓ Free to recommend whatever genuinely suits you
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Nitin Purwar is a SEBI Registered, Fee-Only Planner.
Registered with SEBI as an Investment Adviser (RIA No. INA000023010) — every recommendation is judged on one thing: whether it's right for you.
Four reasons it works in your favour.
Independent by design
My advice is not tied to a bank, mutual fund or insurance company. Recommendations are based on your goals, circumstances and risk profile — and the fee is disclosed upfront.
Personalized
Your plan is built around your goals and circumstances, not a template. I stay involved as it's implemented, not just at the point of handing it over.
SEBI registered
I'm licensed with SEBI as a Registered Investment Adviser based in Dehradun — a standard that comes with defined education, disclosure and conduct requirements, not just a claim.
Fiduciary duty
I'm bound to act in your best interest as a matter of regulation, not just as a promise — with the documentation and process to back it up.
Why independent advice can be different.
Advice can be offered in different ways. When the adviser is paid directly by you, the relationship is clearer and recommendations don't need to be tied to a product sale.
Scattered advice
Insurance from one place, investments from another, tax advice from someone else — with no one looking at how it all fits together as a whole.
Transaction-focused relationship
When advice is closely linked to a transaction, the relationship can naturally focus on the product. Planning keeps the focus on the wider picture.
Costs within products
Some products include distribution costs or commissions within their expenses. With fee-only advice, the advisory fee is disclosed separately.
Choice of products
Independent advice can consider options across providers rather than being limited to one company's product range.
Same fund. Same manager. You just keep paying more for it.
A Regular Plan and a Direct Plan can hold the exact same underlying fund. The only difference is a trail commission built into the Regular Plan's expense ratio — paid out of your returns, every year, for as long as you stay invested. It looks small as a percentage. Compounded over decades, it isn't.
Regular Plan
- ✕ Higher expense ratio — a trail commission is quietly deducted from your returns
- ✕ You keep paying it every single year, whether or not anyone is advising you
- ✕ That gap compounds — the longer you hold, the more of your own money you lose to it
Direct Plan
- ✓ Lower expense ratio — no trail commission taken out
- ✓ You pay me directly, only if and when you choose to
- ✓ Same fund, same manager — the difference stays in your corpus, not a distributor's
Illustrative only — adjust the inputs above to match your own SIP. Assumes the only difference between plans is the cost gap you set. This is the amount a Regular Plan's trail commission would quietly take from your corpus over the period — not a promised gain from switching. Actual returns are market-linked and not guaranteed.
Want to see this from the advisory-fee side instead? It compares paying a flat advisory fee against an ongoing commission, using your own numbers.
Try the Fee-Only vs Commission Calculator →I succeed when I save you more than the fee you pay.
That's the model — and it's how my goals stay aligned with yours instead of working against them.
Quantifiable: lower commissions and hidden fees, more efficient use of existing investments and insurance, and avoiding the cost of the wrong product choice — which can run into lakhs over time.
Not quantifiable: clarity on where you stand, an independent view of your finances, and the confidence that comes from knowing decisions are being made on purpose.