Be careful who you talk finances with!

[TDub]

Not talking about finances is tough when I look around at w*rk and so many of them *could* FIRE if they only had the knowledge. I would never give my financial details to coworkers, of course, (even though everyone’s base pay is just a Google search away). But it’s difficult to want to spread the “gospel” of FIRE without people immediately assuming we’re on this track and therefore maybe alienating ourselves.

Not exactly related to the OP’s example, but it brings to mind my constant frustration. The battle between privacy/staying in my lane versus “This is amazing, I want everyone to know about it!”

 

[OldShooter]

Then allow me to rephrase my question:
Who the hell would use Edward Jones as an advisor

Sadly, many.

 

[kgtest]

I have read that new Eddie Jones reps are encouraged or even required to do this. So it probably doesn't imply anything at all about the individual except that his book of business is thin to nonexistent.

Yep, that's how my do nothing highschool friends were introduced to investing. They invested with EJ because the door to door salesmen was a pretty blonde. Hey, if it works it works. I didn't think they would ever invest a dime. Something tells me they've taken some withdrawals though haha.

 

[kgtest]

When an FA approaches, I immediately go to the expense ratio. Usually ends with, well we can't beat that but we have some other services...click.

 

[CaptTom]

Embarrassing for them--they couldn't tell him to ask you if it was okay for him to come over? Is he going to all their friends' homes unannounced (and not immediately identifying himself as the SIL of close friends)? I'd be peeved that they gave him my address etc.

That was my first thought, too. My second thought was about giving a total stranger any sort of financial information beyond "We're OK, and don't need your help, thank you."

I just read an old Sue Grafton novel, and in it the narrator describes explaining to Jehovah's Witnesses on her doorstep that she'd be happy to have a conversation, but she wanted their home address so she could knock on their door when it was convenient for her, and try to convince them that her religious beliefs were more valid than theirs.

I thought that was pretty good.

Good one. I wonder what the response would be?

 

[JP.mpls]

What the hell kind of financial advisor goes door to door looking for business??

Marko,
My coworker buddy and I are both close to retirement. We were talking about rolling over our 401K accounts after we quit.

He still plays basketball in an "old guys" league. He mentioned that 3-4 of the guys in his league have changed jobs late in their careers. You guessed it, they are all "financial advisors".

One of these guys was a teacher. He told him that he had to go through some training for six months, and he was ready to go. My friend doesn't like the idea of giving guys like this 1% of his IRA annually to manage his money, and he really doesn't like the idea that his financial advisor dude is operating on six months of training.

I suspect every financial advisor in their specific office allocates clients money the same way based on the client's age and how much they have anyway. I see this as just another reason to skip the FA, and do it yourself.

It sounds like we might start seeing more door to door type financial advisor sales people. So far all I have observed are the mailings inviting me to have a free dinner while listening to their sales pitch.

Personally my door bell quit working about 20 years ago, and I never fixed it. I like it that way.

Take care,

JP

 

[OldShooter]

... I suspect every financial advisor in their specific office allocates clients money the same way based on the client's age and how much they have anyway. ...

My experience (as a spectator, fortunately) is that priority #1 is maximizing commissions. Priority #2 is meeting sales goals for certain products, including products that are offering incentives such as vacation trips. Then, maybe, priority #3 is helping the client.

I took over DM's finances some years before her death. She had so little income that we didn't even file tax returns after a while. In her papers, I found a confirm where she had purchased a bunch of a Dreyfus muni fund. The confirm was marked "unsolicited trade." Right. Undoubtedly Dreyfus had a sales contest going and, to his great astonishment, that rep had been buried in "unsolicited" orders.

 

[brett]

We have only had one come to our door. Several years ago.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We have a grumpy cat sign with him holding up his paw with a middle finger up saying no soliciting. If someone rings the door bell I ask if they are stupid or just can’t read. We were getting many solicitors a week and now rarely get one.

 

[Scuba]

No solicitors ever is one benefit of condo living in a secured development.

 

[grasshopper]

I never have anyone come to the door the dog pack wouldn't allow it.

When Ms.G and I were writing our will the attorney was asking why a couple of yahoo's like us would need one. He about fell out of his plush chair when he saw our net worth and last statement.

 

[racy]

.... We also live in a subdivision of nicer homes....

Might consider moving to a gated community :`)

 

[socca]

...before he could go on I politely told him about our generous financial situation in some detail including our home being paid off. Well, he was of course blown away...

You provided a complete stranger with details of your financial situation? This is definitely not my approach to life. One of the nice things about my current situation is that I'm living comfortably but entirely without ostentation. The last thing I would want to do is suggest to a stranger that I might have a little stashed away. The crime mapping website regularly supplied with data by the local sheriff supports my approach: the upper-middle-class subdivision next door experiences much more crime activity than my relatively middle-class subdivision. The thieves are smart enough to go where the assets are, I guess.

 

[Choices]

Maybe we need a rerun of our stealth wealth thread.
Just saying.
We don’t tell nobody nothing

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Then allow me to rephrase my question:
Who the hell would use Edward Jones as an advisor

Well, I think a lot of people. A fella I flew with in the Air Force became an EJ FA back in 2013. He drank the Kool Aide (a requirement for the job) and is doing quite well...at least I assume as he has recently bought a brand new Porsche 911. For the first year he was doing it, he pestered me constantly to let him "help" me with my finances. Uh...no.

I have heard that EJ advisors go hunting for new clients in neighborhoods that have "large mature trees, long cars, and fat squirrels."

 

[imoldernu]

Needless to say, now it's a little embarrassing.

Great story!

 

[snappytom]

We had an EJ guy ring the doorbell a few years ago. Told him we managed our own affairs and when he tried to get details I simply told him ".... I could go into our financial details with a random stranger who rang the doorbell, but I am not going to ...".

It was all very civil and pleasant. The kids heard everything and commented later how easy I made it look to be nice while telling the guy to get lost.

 

[CaliKid]

What the hell kind of financial advisor goes door to door looking for business??

Edward Jones day one.

 

[youbet]

I politely told him about our generous financial situation in some detail including our home being paid off.

Wow! I understand your embarrassment at making such a huge mistake and appreciate your willingness to expose it here so we can all learn from your error in judgment. The calling of "bragadosis" is out there for all of us and understanding how a few moments of glee from boasting over our financial accomplishments can be quickly turned into unending embarrassment is important for all of us to understand and curb.

Zip 'er up and you'll be OK going forward!

 

[youbet]

you buy and pay-off your home

What is this "buy and pay-off your home" you speak of? I don't understand what that is.

You buy a home in some manner....... Purchase an existing home, purchase land and build a home home, etc. And you, of course, pay for it just like anything else you purchase.

I don't get what you're trying to say. You somehow get the home fraudulently without paying for it?

 

[brucethebroker]

Personally my door bell quit working about 20 years ago, and I never fixed it. I like it that way.

Our small, brave dog has a ferocious bark. If we answer the doorbell to a stranger, she will attack the storm door glass and bark insanely. I tell salespeople I can't hear them and am afraid to open the door, letting out dog out. They usually retreat.

 

[Jeb-NY]

As OldShooter says, it's a requirement at Edward Jones.

I don't think I'd do anything to convince a cold-caller I was well off; it would just encourage them. Decades ago I'd get cold calls on my office phone, mostly from boiler-room types who may have gotten hold of a directory of actuaries. (My last name is very early in the alphabetic listing, too.) I'd just tell them that I couldn't save much because I was the sole support of the family, which was true during the last 5 years of my marriage and after my divorce. My savings were actually pretty healthy but they didn't need to know that.

I use to get the cold calls at my office before I FIREd and I would tell them I didn't have any spare funds right then but a friend was looking to invest and I would give them the number of the security officer. I kept his number on the wall after he mentioned one time that we should get the info of these cold callers and he would do his best to shut them down since the company didn't allow such solicitations. It took a few of these calls till one of the callers apparently mentioned my name as the person that gave his number. Next time I saw him he laughed and congratulated me on the easy way to get him the information he needed.

 

[Jollyquick]

I am a military-retiree, I worked in a career that offered a 20-year pension, not a large pension, but just enough. If you buy and pay-off your home, and have a bit of investment income on the side, anyone from my career field can do pretty well retiring 'early'.

So you would think that it would be safe to talk about finances among my former co-workers, right?

No, 99% of them failed to pay off their homes, and they failed to have any investments. So their pensions are not anywhere enough to support them.

I had a similar experience when I was seriously contemplating retiring. I spoke candidly about finances with several of my senior mentors and was shocked that very few had any sound Financial Plans. One, a two star general at the time, found himself divorced, homeless, and without transportation from his retirement ceremony. He later confided in me that he didn’t even know how to balance his checkbook, or where it even was. The moral of the story is that brilliant success in leadership or craftsmanship or whatever, doesn’t necessarily translate into financial competence.

JQ

 

[DrRoy]

Love the signs. When I fired my FA a number of years ago, I though I wanted a fee only person to check things out now and then. As I looked for someone, one of the candidates said that I was doing great and they could not help me. Since then I just have the free guy at Fido.

 

[Dtail]

Love the signs. When I fired my FA a number of years ago, I though I wanted a fee only person to check things out now and then. As I looked for someone, one of the candidates said that I was doing great and they could not help me. Since then I just have the free guy at Fido.

+1 on the FREE Fidelity rep. Just met with him for 90 minutes and discussed in detail all sorts of investing.
Why pay for advice when one can get it for free?