Finding a financial planner is a pain in the a$$...can I just vent?!?!

Re: Finding a financial planner is a pain in the a$$...can I just vent?!?!

• Wulfgar member

  

  February 2015

  Be careful, make sure that the person doesn't trade just to increase his fees.  MW's one employer talked her into having her Roth IRA handled by such a person and the fees ended up being close to 5% at times with returns that were lower than my mutual funds. 
  

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• bmo88 member

  

  February 2015

  Good to know @Wulfgar. I will ask about that before committing!

  

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• maple2 member

  

  February 2015

  If none of those options work out, you could also consider picking a particular investment company (e.g. Fidelity, Edward Jones) that overall seems like it would meet your investment needs. Most of those places will provide you with in-person investment advice for free as long as you have a minimum amount of money invested with them (maybe $100,000?). We have been fairly happy with our company and haven't felt pressured to select particular funds that were managed by them, which was something I worried about.
  
  I was initially resistant to going that route and sought out fee for service help, but after several years of retirement saving through various employer accounts and my own IRAs, it seemed really helpful to consolidate most things with a single company. It's much easier to understand our asset allocation and keep track of whether we are on track and investing the way we want to now that I can see everything in one place.
  

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• Xstatic3333 member

  

  February 2015

  maple2 said:

  If none of those options work out, you could also consider picking a particular investment company (e.g. Fidelity, Edward Jones) that overall seems like it would meet your investment needs. Most of those places will provide you with in-person investment advice for free as long as you have a minimum amount of money invested with them (maybe $100,000?). We have been fairly happy with our company and haven't felt pressured to select particular funds that were managed by them, which was something I worried about.
  
  I was initially resistant to going that route and sought out fee for service help, but after several years of retirement saving through various employer accounts and my own IRAs, it seemed really helpful to consolidate most things with a single company. It's much easier to understand our asset allocation and keep track of whether we are on track and investing the way we want to now that I can see everything in one place.
  

  I was going to suggest this too. I'm with Fidelity, and they will meet with you face-to-face no matter how large your portfolio is. Mine is much smaller than $100,000, but I know that people like OP with more to invest can get access to more "specialized" help. I have a family member who works for Fidelity and manages very high net-worth (multi-millions) portfolios. They can meet all needs.

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• vlagrl29 member

  

  February 2015

  Xstatic3333 said:

  If none of those options work out, you could also consider picking a particular investment company (e.g. Fidelity, Edward Jones) that overall seems like it would meet your investment needs. Most of those places will provide you with in-person investment advice for free as long as you have a minimum amount of money invested with them (maybe $100,000?). We have been fairly happy with our company and haven't felt pressured to select particular funds that were managed by them, which was something I worried about.
  
  I was initially resistant to going that route and sought out fee for service help, but after several years of retirement saving through various employer accounts and my own IRAs, it seemed really helpful to consolidate most things with a single company. It's much easier to understand our asset allocation and keep track of whether we are on track and investing the way we want to now that I can see everything in one place.
  

  I was going to suggest this too. I'm with Fidelity, and they will meet with you face-to-face no matter how large your portfolio is. Mine is much smaller than $100,000, but I know that people like OP with more to invest can get access to more "specialized" help. I have a family member who works for Fidelity and manages very high net-worth (multi-millions) portfolios. They can meet all needs.

  agreed!  I am also with fidelity and had a phone conversation with an investor with them to go over my portfolio and see what was lacking.  I can also go into their office if I wanted to.  All that is free.

  
  

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• hoffse member

  

  February 2015

  vlagrl29 said:

  Xstatic3333 said:

  If none of those options work out, you could also consider picking a particular investment company (e.g. Fidelity, Edward Jones) that overall seems like it would meet your investment needs. Most of those places will provide you with in-person investment advice for free as long as you have a minimum amount of money invested with them (maybe $100,000?). We have been fairly happy with our company and haven't felt pressured to select particular funds that were managed by them, which was something I worried about.
  
  I was initially resistant to going that route and sought out fee for service help, but after several years of retirement saving through various employer accounts and my own IRAs, it seemed really helpful to consolidate most things with a single company. It's much easier to understand our asset allocation and keep track of whether we are on track and investing the way we want to now that I can see everything in one place.
  

  I was going to suggest this too. I'm with Fidelity, and they will meet with you face-to-face no matter how large your portfolio is. Mine is much smaller than $100,000, but I know that people like OP with more to invest can get access to more "specialized" help. I have a family member who works for Fidelity and manages very high net-worth (multi-millions) portfolios. They can meet all needs.

  agreed!  I am also with fidelity and had a phone conversation with an investor with them to go over my portfolio and see what was lacking.  I can also go into their office if I wanted to.  All that is free.

  +1.

  
  

  A few months ago I called Fidelity's 800 number to ask some pretty specific questions about the timing of IRA conversions because H and I will have to fund our Roths through the conversion method this year.  The person who answered the phone was able to answer all of my questions.  Now, she did tell me that she couldn't give us specific investment advice, but she did suggest I just check out Morningstar (which is what we do already), because that's where a lot of your standard issue financial planners are going to be getting their investment tips from anyway.  Unless you have a multimillion dollar portfolio, it's really unlikely that you're going to be talking to somebody who has actual contacts with the business folks on Wall Street, you know?  And not going to lie - even if you did have access to somebody who has "insider knowledge" I would be really hinky about using them.  The word "insider" is like a 4-letter word to the SEC, and they don't mess around.

  
  

  It really depends on what your goals are.  If you want investment advice, skip the middle man and sign up for an account on Morningstar.  It's a paid service, but it's usually cheaper than a person who charges a fee.  It's also very user-friendly, and you can sort by all kinds of categories to narrow down the options you really need to read about in just a few minutes.  

  
  

  If you need to understand how the basic tax or timing works for these kinds of accounts, just call the 800 number of your investment bank, and they can talk to you for free.  If you just have $10,000 and don't know what to do with it.... I think that's when a financial planner is most useful.  But after they have helped you clarify goals and understand your personal feelings toward risk, I don't know that I would be inclined to use them for much else.  

  
  

  
  

  

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