Dear Bernard,,

Does it feel like the cost of everything is going up?

For quite some time, the financial services industry has tried to avoid increasing expenses. In fact, if you look at the "price of advice" you may note that advisory fees have actually come down over the years. Some of this is due to economies of scale, greater use of technology, and overall competition of vendors for advisor's business. Advisors as well have lowered fees in what our industry has called the "race to zero."

Like any other profession, those providing a service have to make a certain income in order to stay in business. The debate will always run between how much is too much, and how low is too little.

I'm also thinking about the perception of price and what you pay for. The story I am reminded of involves a dentist and a patient. The patient must have a tooth extracted and goes to the dentist for service. The dentist comes in, examines the patient and pulls the tooth. The process takes only a few moments and the dentist tells the man the cost is $200. The man complains "$200! You only took 5 minutes. The dentist replies, "if you'd like, for $200 I can make it last an hour."

No one wants to feel a dentist pulling a tooth for an hour. I think we all can recognize the need to pay something for expertise. I also want to be sure to pass on ways you can save money, or at least spend less.

With that in mind, if you are an account holder with Axos Investments, this next item is for you. The monthly fee for paper or mailed statements will be increasing to $5 per mailing. Another way to look at this is $60 per year. I hate to see anyone pay that kind of fee when you can get your statements online for free. (Tax statements are not part of this increase and will continue to be mailed at no additional cost.)

If you want to change your statement delivery method, or check to see how your statements are delivered, I have attached an instruction page below. Please note, we can help you identify the method you receive your statements (paper or email), but to change this option you will have to make the change yourself. We can, however, walk you through this process if you are having difficulty.

Axos E-Delivery Instructions

As always, thank you for reading.

Bernie & Chad