Jun. 21--QI received a letter from my financial adviser that said I would have to pay a higher percentage in fees because my account size fell below $250,000. The reason my account fell below $250,000 is because the adviser lost money on the investments. To charge me more seems outrageous. Do you agree?

Mary

AI find it distasteful, too, because of the sharp decline in the market over the last couple of years. You would think a conscientious adviser would be reluctant to charge higher fees after these circumstances.

Still, some of the large brokerage firms are rigid. They charge the highest fees to clients with $250,000 or less in accounts -- sometimes the fees can be 2 percent of assets or more annually. When your account goes over $500,000 fees go down, and usually at $1 million they are at the lowest levels.

Fees of 2 percent might not sound like much, but the impact, even compared to 1 percent, is huge. Over a lifetime of investing, paying an extra percentage point can reduce your nest egg by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I would not balk at an adviser who charged about 1 percent, paid close attention to you and your account and selected sound investments. I also would not blame an adviser if together you agreed on a portfolio that fit your stomach for risk and had stock mutual funds that declined 40 percent last year. The leading market benchmark dropped roughly 40 percent, so it would have been typical for your stock funds to drop like that too.

But if you went through the downturn without hearing from your adviser, that's a different matter. If your first contact, after all this market devastation, was a letter stating you'd be charged more, I think you could do better.

With such an account -- and $250,000 is considered small by many top advisers -- you could have a challenge finding another low-cost adviser at a large firm.

If you are simply saving for retirement and do not need advice frequently, you might consider a certified financial planner who will charge you an hourly fee for perhaps one or two hours of advice.

If you simply need to know how to divide your money between stocks and bonds, and want mutual fund suggestions, a couple of hours of advice a year might be adequate. If you need more help than that, an adviser that charges you a percent of assets and works with you regularly might be better.

You can find a certified financial planner at CFP.net or NAPFA .com. For a certified financial planner who will charge you by the hour, try GarrettPlanning.com.