A financial advisor for a subscription, not a percentage

What a traditional advisor actually did

Strip away the office and the quarterly lunch, and the traditional advisory relationship had four parts: gathering a picture of what you own, matching it to your goals and risk tolerance, recommending the trades that close the gap and placing them when the client has granted trading authority, and standing behind that advice under a legal standard of care.

Every one of those parts is work software can now do, and do more often. The picture is gathered automatically from linked accounts. The match is made against a questionnaire you can update whenever life changes. The recommendations arrive with a written rationale, and the orders are placed when you approve them. The standard of care is the one a registered investment adviser owes: StockLift owes you a fiduciary duty on the advice it gives in Advice Mode.

Why the fee model matters more than it looks

An assets-under-management fee is charged on your whole balance every year, in up markets and down, regardless of how much work was done. Over a long horizon it compounds against you quietly, and it grows precisely when your plan is succeeding.

A flat subscription breaks that link. The price of advice does not rise because your portfolio did, and the advisor has no incentive to gather assets rather than give good advice. That is the cost case for AI investing in one sentence: fiduciary advice in Advice Mode, held to the standard a registered investment adviser owes, at a small fixed price, instead of a slice of your wealth.

• AUM fee: a percentage of everything you own, every year
• Subscription: one fixed monthly price, whatever your balance
• AUM fee: advice at the next scheduled meeting
• Subscription: a portfolio that is monitored continuously

Questions to ask any advisor — including this one

Advisors differ in how they are paid, what standard applies to their recommendations, and what they are licensed to do. Ask directly, and get answers in writing. StockLift's answers are in the Form ADV brochure and investment advisory agreement you receive before Advice Mode is turned on.

• How are you paid, and by whom besides me? StockLift: a flat subscription from you.
• Are you acting as a fiduciary, and in what capacity? StockLift: yes, on the advice given in Advice Mode.
• What services am I buying? StockLift: in Advice Mode, personalized recommendations and placement of the orders you approve across linked accounts.
• May I see your disclosures? StockLift: the Form ADV brochure and advisory agreement are in the app.

Verify credentials yourself

Registration and disciplinary records are public. You can look up any investment adviser, including StockLift, through the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure system, and any broker through FINRA BrokerCheck. Both links are in the references below. Ask an AI advisor for the same transparency you would demand of a human one.

How to get the most out of your advisor

Advice is only as good as the facts behind it. Link every account so the advisor sees the whole picture, answer the questionnaire honestly, and update it when something changes: a raise, a child, a house, a new retirement date, a position you will not sell for personal reasons. StockLift can plan around a constraint it knows about and cannot plan around one you kept to yourself.

Then, in Advice Mode, read the rationale on each recommendation before you approve it. You keep the final say on every order, and the explanation is how you learn what your advisor is doing and why. If you want a human to walk through the plan with you, licensed human advisors are available in the app.