Experience with financial planners/advisors?

[tvguy]

a POA is valuable for the college students but I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone whose student is attending more than an 'errand's drive' away from home to find out what particular forms INDIVIDUAL entites need your student to fill out and have on file (and find out how long they are good for before they need to fill out a new one) for anything they may want/need parental help with. I overhear panicked calls between parents and student/frustrated calls between vendors/provider's and out of area parents all the time when I go into the university town near us. some of the common special releases of information/permission for you to act on your student's behalf seem to be-

university-permission to speak to them about ANYTHING. a separate one for the university's student health department (valuable if you are trying to co-ordinate an issue between that coverage and any other coverage your student has).

medical providers-like I said above whatever is required for the university health plan but ALSO you need whatever your student's other coverage requires (as well around us every provider group has their own form so it can be a nightmare dealing with an insurance glitch if all the forms are not in place). the local pharmacies also field allot of calls esp. when filling scrips from 'back home' and require a release on file for a parent to help sort it out.

rentals (b/c those online portals to report issues are not always responsive and your student may be in classes the limited time the rental office is open to speak with a live person). same with internet providers and local utilities.

I remember some controversy at my son's college parent orientation when they warned parents, that if your child is 18 or older, you have ABSOLUTELY no legal right to ANY information about them, grades, health care, etc, if they do not give you permission. Oh, and this applies even if you are completely financially responsible for your child's bills. You are still responsible for paying the bills. One woman stood up and tried to argue with the University official about that.
On a more humorous note, there was an audible gasp in the room when that University official also said...."look around this room, there is a 50-50 chance your child's future in-laws are in this room"

 

[amcnj]

I may be wrong, but I think even when my children started college and were still 17, the parents were out of the loop on everything, except the bills! But maybe the college just sent standard issue communications assuming all students were over 18. At the time I never looked into it, and just accepted my new role.

 

[liamthompson]

It is a little like finding a therapist and you want someone that you are comfortable with.

I have not thought of it this way and it seems like a good comparison!

 

[liamthompson]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond and share your experiences. This has helped me organize my next round of thoughts.

For context, I have been loosely following the bogleheads approach for the last 15 years and it has worked out pretty well...but in the last few years, we're hitting more uncommon tax situations and I'm feeling increasingly out of my depth and need help.

That being said, I am comfortable with simple investing so I'm not really looking for someone who will manage a sum of money for me and make a good return.

5) Evaluate your other investments not under their control, things live 401ks and factor them into your total financial picture.

This is exactly what I'm looking for. I need someone to keep track of the big picture. I am now wondering, when I go through the interview process, if I can ask each potential CFP how they would handle our specific situation to evaluate if the CFP is a good fit for us or not? My husband thinks this would basically be asking for free advice and that no one will do it...is this really the case?

We've had a free session with a CFP before (employee perk) and it was very scattered. We've also done a meet and greet with a firm that was recommended by an acquaintenance and it was a sales pitch. My experiences haven't been great but I know we need to hire someone and I'm trying to figure out what kinds of questions to ask.

I appreciate the comments about POA and estate planning. I'm juggling 3 separate situations, in addition to mine/husband's:

(1) My parents have a trust set up and there will likely be a headache over how to best distribute assets, which is one reason I would like to set up a relationship with a CFP now.

(2) My in-laws have a will set up and expect MIL to need financial assistance after FIL passes. We have begun transferring money to MIL but again, would like an advisor to help with the most tax efficient way to do this.

(3) We have a young child and need to set up a will to name potential guardians. We also want to structure our assets so that he will be provided for...but also protect the assets from immaturity and recklessness.

Do I need an estate lawyer or a tax attorney? Or will a financial planner be able to provide the kind of tax advice I'm looking for? This is a jumbled situation to me and I want to make sure I'm hiring the right group of people.

 

[tvguy]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond and share your experiences. This has helped me organize my next round of thoughts.

For context, I have been loosely following the bogleheads approach for the last 15 years and it has worked out pretty well...but in the last few years, we're hitting more uncommon tax situations and I'm feeling increasingly out of my depth and need help.

That being said, I am comfortable with simple investing so I'm not really looking for someone who will manage a sum of money for me and make a good return.



This is exactly what I'm looking for. I need someone to keep track of the big picture. I am now wondering, when I go through the interview process, if I can ask each potential CFP how they would handle our specific situation to evaluate if the CFP is a good fit for us or not? My husband thinks this would basically be asking for free advice and that no one will do it...is this really the case?

We've had a free session with a CFP before (employee perk) and it was very scattered. We've also done a meet and greet with a firm that was recommended by an acquaintenance and it was a sales pitch. My experiences haven't been great but I know we need to hire someone and I'm trying to figure out what kinds of questions to ask.

I appreciate the comments about POA and estate planning. I'm juggling 3 separate situations, in addition to mine/husband's:

(1) My parents have a trust set up and there will likely be a headache over how to best distribute assets, which is one reason I would like to set up a relationship with a CFP now.

(2) My in-laws have a will set up and expect MIL to need financial assistance after FIL passes. We have begun transferring money to MIL but again, would like an advisor to help with the most tax efficient way to do this.

(3) We have a young child and need to set up a will to name potential guardians. We also want to structure our assets so that he will be provided for...but also protect the assets from immaturity and recklessness.

Do I need an estate lawyer or a tax attorney? Or will a financial planner be able to provide the kind of tax advice I'm looking for? This is a jumbled situation to me and I want to make sure I'm hiring the right group of people.

Sounds like you need both an Estate Attorney and a Financial Planner. I would expect a good Financial Planner to expect to be interviewed by a potential client. There might be a little bit of interviewing of YOU by the planner too. They need to know what you are comfortable with, and what you are not. And in some cases, they may have a minimum account balance. If they are part of a larger firm, if your investment is less than the advisor's minimum, it may be as simple as being referred to another advisor in the firm that handles smaller accounts.

 

[barkley]

(3) We have a young child and need to set up a will to name potential guardians. We also want to structure our assets so that he will be provided for...but also protect the assets from immaturity and recklessness.

our situation is slightly different BUT we are guardians for our disabled adult child. he will need guardianship after we pass as well so we used an attorney who SPECIALIZES in both elder law and guardianships. guardianships (or conservatorships as they are called in some states) differ greatly state to state so it is vital to have someone set things up to make it as protective to your beneficiary as possible but also the least cumbersome to whomever will handle it (and it is entirely possible to set something up where the person with physical day to day guardianship is not the guardian over the person's assetts-there are financial institutions that can be used for that purpose-and all the associated tax aspects).