How Does Vanguard Compare to Other Firms for Financial Advice?

My answer to a Quora.com question.  Well there are pros and cons of both. Vanguard is the lowest fee for their investment platform. No getting around that. And now they offer “financial planning advice” to go along with it. HOWEVER, having worked at Vanguard and another large financial planning firm, I wonder the true nature of their advice. Is it TRULY specific to YOUR needs, or is it boilerplate, off the shelf advice focusing primarily on investments. At my previous firm we could NOT talk about the benefits of Roth Conversions, Social Security maximization, asset LOCATION to name a few things. Big firms are so scared for their reputations they are VERY hesitant to allow any kind of individual planning discussion. I know. I was there. Which is why I left. Thus financial planning consisted of simple risk tolerance discussions and asset allocation advice. That was it. Ameriprise, to their credit, does focus on the FULL plan. You’ll walk out of your meeting with a full financial plan tailored to you. And you’ll pay for it, which is a good thing. But, be advised, Ameriprise does have an incentive to sell you their products, which they may receive commissions on. As long as you know that going in, I’d use Ameriprise. Just don’t buy anything right then. Wait till you get a chance to think about their offerings. Yeah, some may say Ameriprise has a conflict of interest, in that they only get paid on what they sell. This is true, actually, which is why Ameriprise advisors can not be listed as Fee-Only advisors and belong to Associations like NAPFA. But….doesn’t Vanguard ALSO have that conflict? I mean will you be able to use Vanguard financial planning services if you don’t have your money there? I’ve always found it odd that Vanguard escapes the “conflict of interest” charge, that others put on everyone else. Just call Vanguard, say you want them to do a plan for you but you don’t want to invest your money there. See what happens…