No trusted, conflict-free financial advice — "advisors" are commissioned salespeople

Pain point

People with real money ($3M) can't tell whether their planner is advising or selling. Annuities, insurance products, and bundled AUM fees are suspected cash grabs.

Signal

Strong. Top comment explicitly asking for a solution at **42 upvotes** — *"Pay someone who will charge an hourly rate to advise you as a fiduciary... do not rely on salespeople who do not act as a legal fiduciary"* — this is a near-"I'd pay for this" signal. Reinforced by "Annuities are sold, never purchased" (10), commission callout (18), "get a new FP" (10). Theme recurs implicitly in the windfall thread (#1) and CD thread (#5, banks structuring products for themselves).

Opportunity

A "Fiduciary Second Opinion" marketplace: upload your advisor's proposal (annuity illustration, fund list, fee schedule), get a flat-fee ($200–500) written teardown from a vetted hourly fiduciary within 72 hours. Also: an annuity/fund "commission estimator" as a free lead-gen tool. Feasibility: the estimator tool is quick to build (public product data + rough commission tables); the vetted marketplace is medium (supply-side recruiting, compliance review of marketing claims).

Evidence

• Annuities thread
• Windfall thread