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The debate about the best way for financial advisers to be paid is heating up, with the Labor Department expected to soon propose rules that would require individuals providing advice on retirement-account investments to put the interests of their clients first.

Some advisers are already held to that fiduciary standard and typically get paid only by client fees, but many others are investment salespeople who typically get paid by commissions. The latter are held to a lesser standard requiring them to sell only products that are “suitable”; some advisers provide some advice as fiduciaries and also handle some transactions as salespeople.

The Obama administration is throwing its weight behind the fiduciary approach, which it is expected to endorse as soon as next week. An internal White House memo last month suggested that retirement investors lose billions of dollars a year due to “conflicted” advice and excessive charges under the current system.

But some in the securities industry say there are investors who are better served by advisers who aren’t fiduciaries and who are paid commissions.

The fiduciary standard “sounds very attractive,” says John Straus, an industry consultant who previously held top posts in wealth management at companies including Morgan Stanley and UBS. But, he says, “in many cases the clients would be much better off paying a one-time commission than they would be paying a fee.”

Here are three reasons cited by Mr. Straus and others to pay commissions to an adviser:

It will cost less in some scenarios. Mr. Straus, a cofounder of FallLine Strategic Advisors in Darien, Conn. offers the example of an adviser who is assembling a ladder of 10 municipal bonds that will typically all be held to maturity; each year a maturing bond is replaced with a new purchase.

Today, those bonds might yield only 1.5% on average and even a low 0.15% annual advisory fee would eat up 10% of the return, he says. To me thats an egregious fee for something that has that low a return, Mr. Straus says.

Also, a fee-only adviser’s annual fee could be 1% or 2% of assets and that might seem like a lot if that adviser rarely changes the holdings he or she recommends, Mr. Straus says. (That would also depend on whether other services are provided for that fee.)

Commissions could also be cheaper if you mostly manage your own money but occasionally want some professional input, some say. In that case, you pay a commission only if you seek an adviser’s input on a purchase or sale, or you follow a recommendation that he or she offers.

Some investors prefer to pay only for the advice they act upon, and they can do that through a commission, says David Bellaire, executive vice president and general counsel of the Financial Services Institute, a group that represents advisers and brokerage firms that typically are paid in part through commissions.

You have a small account and cant find a fee-only adviser to take you on. This reason isnt about preferring a commissioned adviser but rather about not being able to find a fiduciary who wants your business. The business model of many fee-only advisers emphasizes a high degree of service, which means a small account can be a money loser for the adviser.

Many fee-only advisers have at least a $50,000 account minimum, so “what do we do with the individual who doesn’t have that amount of money to invest?” asks Juli McNeely, a Spencer, Wis. adviser who sells insurance and investments for commissions. She is the president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, many of whose members operate similarly.

(One new wrinkle: In recent years, consumers have also had the option of online “roboadvisers” that charge fees to provide automated investment management even for small accounts.)

You have an adviser you like and trust who does business by commissions.  “Many current advisers operate in that commission-based world, and many American consumers already have an established relationship with those individuals,” says Ms. McNeely. A key factor is the personal connection between the adviser and the client, says the Wisconsin adviser, who adds that her clients know how she gets paid and are comfortable with that.

Mr. Straus says that “the best advisers I have met behave as if they are fiduciaries whether they are under that standard or not.” He says he personally pays an adviser a fee to manage part of his investment portfolio while paying commissions to buy and sell other holdings.