Do you use a financial advisor?

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
With pensions being replaced by 401Ks it means that many will seek financial advice. The Obama Administraion is concerned that too many are being ripped off by churning and commissions that they are proposing a new law making advisors fiduciary responsible to their clients. What has been your experience...
 

Mixed. Years ago we went to a financial advisor and followed the advice that turned out to be more to his benefit than ours due to trailing commissions. We are now a wakeup and pay up front for independent financial advice which we follow only after educating ourselves about the benefits/downside. We're doing nicely now. Our investments went down in the GFC but are holding their own now, even after we draw down our allocated pension.
 
Yes... I could have never grown my weath without him. Yes.. he gets commission... but I am comfortable paying it.. He earns it. He is very "hands on".. keeps us informed. Moves our money around when needed... advises new investment opportunities... He has figured how we will "turn on the spigots" of money when I retire in order to keep our lifestyle.. and made sure we are positioned so our money will last us no matter how long we live.. If that isn't earning his keep.. what is?

I look at it this way... I am in the medical profession... and I know my stuff... however, I am NOT a financial advisor.. I wouldn't dream of trying to handle it myself any more than my financial advisor would try to do what I do.. I can read about it until the cows come home and I'm not going to understand what I'm reading.. I wound't trust myself. THere are too may stories out there of "do it yourself investors" losing their money by making stupid uninformed decisions.
 

I do all of my own investing. I studied economics in college as part of my double major. At one time, I was a day trader for many years. By using Fidelity and Scottrade to execute my trades, I save a lot on commissions compared to the big brokerage houses. I still buy and sell individual stocks, but most of my money is in no-load mutual funds, meaning that I do not pay a fee to buy or sell the funds. The funds pay all of the expenses, so I look for no-load funds that have low maintenance fees, but pay a good return. There are thousands of funds to choose from, but the investor has to do his/her homework and then be diligent on how they are performing.
 
Nope, not when my wife has so much "working" experience in Accounting and as a Financial Analyst. She does very good with our budget.
 
I'm great with my budget also... BUT I do not pretend to know the finacial markets enough to know what fund to invest in.. I do not know who their board of Directors and and their past trading habits.. nor to I care.. I do not know what areas may take a hit.. When to move my money out of the European market or Bonds. When to invest in a certain Real Estate investment fund... and what their track record has been. I'm busy working in MY field, and I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert in this... It's WAY to complicated for the average person with just a casual understanding. This is something my Advisor spends his entire day studying. I don't have the time or the inclination to so so.
 
I don't use a financial advisor except a CPA who does my taxes and advises me on tax questions. I've kept it simple and conservative and I'm happy with the level of my net worth, although I suspect an advisor would have told me to take on more risk. When I was in my 40s, I decided to really buckle down and learn enough by reading about investing so I could make my money work for me, understand what I was doing, and still sleep at night. I've done pretty well but I realize most people are not interested in reading as much investing stuff as I have.
 
I was my own financial advisor during the 8 years of the Clinton administration and because of that I retired at 58 to Florida from Mass.
 
As one who worked and retired as a financial advisor my advice would be, check out the credentials of the individual from whom you seek financial advice. Look for the following designations after their name on the business card or stationary. These designations impose a Fiduciary Obligation on the bearer, and though it is no guarantee of their honesty it does represent their commitment to the profession. CFP, ChFC,CLU,RIA,
 
Lon said:
As one who worked and retired as a financial advisor my advice would be, check out the credentials of the individual from whom you seek financial advice. Look for the following designations after their name on the business card or stationary. These designations impose a Fiduciary Obligation on the bearer, and though it is no guarantee of their honesty it does represent their commitment to the profession. CFP, ChFC,CLU,RIA,
Click to expand...

Agreed... Let's put it this way. I had my figure in mind when I started working with mine... and he has more than surpassed that.. I'm very pleased.
 
QuickSilver said:
Agreed... Let's put it this way. I had my figure in mind when I started working with mine... and he has more than surpassed that.. I'm very pleased.
Click to expand...

I do for my Defined benefits retirement money, and my 401K and my SS. I take care of my farms myself. Not too many advisors out there that specalize in farms.
 
My husband is my financial advisor, and he also files our taxes each year. He understands financial business much better than I do.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top