COMMISSION – Inherent conflict of interest between selling a product for a sales quota and a commission or representing the client’s best interest.

FEE-BASED – Don’t be fooled, it is the same as commission only with an added fee. It should be called Commission plus a fee, not fee-based. A great marketing job by Wall Street to blur the definition and confuse the public.

FEE-ONLY – Never accepts commissions, only represents and works for the client with complete transparency. A Fiduciary for the client.

The bottom line:

fee-only  ≠  fee-based