Although two-thirds of affluent U.S. households have financial plans, the value of many of these plans is in doubt, according to a new report from Chicago-based consulting firm Spectrem Group.

Spectrem reports that the vast majority financial plans of affluent investors were not provided by independent financial planning firms, and nearly half of them were provided free of charge. Those investors who did pay for their plans generally paid less than $1,000.

Only 18% of plans came from independent planners, full-service brokers provided 41%, 6% came from insurers, with banks, accountants and lawyers also providing plans.

According to the Spectrem report, consumers have come to see financial planning as a commodity, with brokerage firms ranking as the most common source of plans for affluent investors.

More troubling still, 85% of investors rated the financial planning service as valuable, Spectrem says, “suggesting that many will never seek more objective, comprehensive planning even though it could offer them greater long-term benefits.”

“Taken together, the data suggest that many of the plans provided to affluent investors are nothing more than asset allocation-recommendations or single investment goal plans with a product recommendation,” the firm concludes.

“Financial planning has become a catch-all phrase for investment blueprints of all sorts. At a time when comprehensive financial planning is more important than ever, this raises real questions about whether these financial plans are adequate,” said George Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group.

The data for this report was collected in the spring of 2004. About 500 affluent households were surveyed; the margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.