Experience with financial planners/advisors?

[liamthompson]

Not sure if this is the right place for this question...does anyone here have a financial planner or advisor and willing to share their experiences?

I've been reviewing my family's finances and finally admit I'm out of my depth...and probably have been for a couple years now, ha. I'm not sure what type of person/company to hire. I want to make sure I've allocated things in a tax-advantaged way and we also have several random accounts from various points in our lives and I want to consolidate/make sure we're working toward the same goal. I also would like someone to help with estate planning/will/power of attorney.

I feel quite lost and any advice is appreciated.

 

[glocon]

I found my financial advisor when I went to a free workshop at my library.
I went to a few different workshops and liked this person the best.
We did have a free consultation office visit to discuss what he could do for me before I decided.
Maybe go to some free seminars and get a feel for different people.
Also, make sure your financial advisor is a fiduciary who puts your interests first.

 

[Sleepy425]

When I was 21 and didn't know any better I started using one for my Roth IRA, then when I had kids I set up their 529s with him. I got wise about 5 years ago and realized I was paying him good money for something I can do alone. I switched all of my accounts. When I get to the point where I feel I need one, it will be a fee based fiduciary. NOT one that gets a percentage of my accounts. That small percent that automatically goes to them doesn't seem like much, but it adds up over time. Plus, I found out my advisor was making things much more complicated than they needed to be, presumably to justify his costs.

 

[_19disnA]

Have used several financial planners over the years as I have relocated for business a number of times and prefer to use someone who is local. My experience is a financial planner is not a lawyer/attorney and if you are looking for legal advice in how to setup a will (for example), that isn't what they do. What they can do is explain the tax implications for various choices from an estate planning perspective.

Financial planners can offer investment advice based on your specific financial situation and what your goals are. That relates to not only the size of your portfolio, but your age, how long you intend to work, work sort of pension your company offers, etc. Usually they offer a variety of investment options which range from conservative to more risky. The potential for higher returns generally means it involves more risk. You need to be able to communicate your investment goals to them so they can best assist you. Usually most banks offer some sort of financial services so that is one place to start. None of them have any magical formulas to apply that guarantee you get the best returns. Markets can go up as well as down for a LOT of different reasons that NO ONE can predict ahead of time.

A law was passed a few years ago about that whole fiduciary thing so that isn't really a reason to choose one over the other. Financial advisors often have access to various types of investment products that you can't buy as a private party. That is one reason to use their services. They can also narrow down investment choices and make recommendations that save you time when deciding where to invest. All of them charge for their services, but clearly part of what you are paying for is the time saved by not having to research everything yourself.

 

[mjkacmom]

My husband has been a CFP for 40 years, he highly recommends fee based (and thats who we use although it’s free as a company perk).

 

[tvguy]

I use the financial advisor my mom found, I think she found him at a free retirement seminar. I think she attended about 15 of those free seminars with free meals before deciding what her financial goals were, and who she would use. In her case, he got her set up to minimize taxes on her IRA distributions, and to have a way to pay for Long Term Care. Both worked out perfectly.
He has been our financial advisor for over 30 years. We were able to retire early, 64 for me and 63 for my wife and waited until our full retirement age of 661/2 to start our Social Security. Our total portfolio as a whole has never lost money. He did put us in a high tech fund in 1999 right before tech crashed, but the other funds he had us in overcame that 50% loss.
A good financial adviser will:
1) Listen to your wants
2) Look at your needs
3) Evaluate your tolerance for risk.
4) Give advice, but accept your choices even if they are against the advice given.
5) Evaluate your other investments not under their control, things live 401ks and factor them into your total financial picture. I mentioned this before here on the DIS and someone thought that was none of their business. I disagree completely. Not sure how a responsible financial advisor can't do that, it would be irresponsible. In my case, my wife 15 years ago made changes to her 401k, shifting to more conservative investments. Out of the stock market. Our advisor monitored that and point out she would have made a whole lot more money staying in the stock market.