Poll: Do You Use A Financial Advisor? Definitions in post #1.

[Midpack]

This comes up here often, but when I did a search I couldn't find anything newer than 2008. Though many of us may have used paid advisors years ago, I expect the % of DIY investors here is higher than the general population. I've attached a breakdown that I found online and here are the definitions they used (better than I could do on my own). There is nothing wrong with being in any category. I read another article that suggested that 73% of those who used an advisor, felt the advisor was value-added (some pride bias of course).

Just out of curiousity to see where this group falls. Definitions, specifically paid advisors, not free advice like here for example:

• An Advisor Dependent person relies on a Financial Advisor to make most of his or her investment decisions.
• An Advisor Assisted person relies upon the Financial Advisor for advice but feels that he or she ultimately makes the investment decision.
• A Life Event Driven assisted investor will reach out to use a Financial Advisor when he or she is making investments about significant life decisions (i.e. Retirement, divorce, etc.).
• Clearly a Self-Directed investor is someone who, for the most part, makes his or her own investment decisions without the help of a Financial Advisor.

How Much Do Investors Rely Upon The Financial Advisor? Or What Their Financial Advisor Might Be Missing though I was more interested in the definitions & graph than the article content.

 

[frayne]

100% self directed my whole life and loving it.

 

[Moscyn]

Self-directed and this forum helps a lot!

 

[braumeister]

I subscribe to a couple of investment-oriented financial newsletters. Do you count them as paid advisors?

 

[Sarah in SC]

• An Advisor Dependent person relies on a Financial Advisor to make most of his or her investment decisions.

.

No one here is going to fess up to that response,Midpack

 

[easysurfer]

I consider myself a self-directed investor, though when I FIRE'd I did hire a fee-only advisor to go through my numbers with me.

To rephrase, I say I'm self-directed, but leave the door cracked open and never say never. Similar to taxes. I'm been a Turbotax user for years, but if my taxes get too complicated, I keep the option open to hiring a "professional."

 

[H2ODude]

Self directed. Let FIDO propose a few months ago, while some of their approach (well, picks) made sense, others did not. So I made a few changes on basis of their approach and moved on. They hold all my investments so I felt no guilt about slightly picking their brains for free.

As an aside, I DID pay a CPA $225 to do our taxes. What a bargain. Submittal was 1/4" thick, had a bunch of foreign tax credits on mf's I had no clue on what he was doing. So I'll pick where the money grows (and save ~1%) and pay a measly $225 for well done taxes and the ability to give the guy a call anytime with questions on things tax/financial.

 

[Animorph]

I said self-directed, relying on that "for the most part" clause. I did a one-time consult when I got started with retirement planning. I'll probably need some help handling my mom's estate when the time comes. Other than that, once you know enough to know your advisor is doing a good job, you can do it yourself.

 

[Midpack]

No one here is going to fess up to that response,Midpack

May be not, though there's no tracking on this poll so no one would ever know. I actually know someone (with a degree in accounting) who is Advisor Dependent with Mass Mutual. He's a few years younger than me, still working at my former employer, and he tells me he expects to work at least 10 more years. Something to consider for anyone considering using an advisor.

And my MIL is Advisor Dependent and should be - though the FA is a carefully chosen attorney monitored by a BIL. And she's better off with the arrangement - her VCR blinks 12:00 for years now...

 

[REWahoo]

I'm not sure how to respond. I consider myself "self-directed" but did pay a USAA advisor for a one-time consultation a couple of years prior to retiring. Not sure I'd consider the $500 as well spent, but he did agree I was nearing the point I could pull the plug.

So, does that put me in the "life-event driven" category?

 

[Midpack]

I didn't author the definitions but I'd go with whatever fits best. If you've used a financial advisor once or twice for something unusual and are otherwise DIY, I'd call that DIY. Beyond that, the definitions are probably better than I could have done.

 

[misty57]

I selected self-directed in the poll, however, we did see a sales guy at one of the major investment firms very early into our retirement accumulation phase. We listened, read the prospectus that he gave us (which was totally inappropriate for our income/net worth) and never looked back.

 

[REWahoo]

OK, then I'm voting self-directed...

 

[Midpack]

I selected self-directed in the poll, however, we did see a sales guy at one of the major investment firms very early into our retirement accumulation phase. We listened, read the prospectus that he gave us (which was totally inappropriate for our income/net worth) and never looked back.

I added the word currently hoping to help with that call...

 

[Texas Proud]

It sounds to me that a lot of people are voting self directed when that is not what they write...

"A Life Event Driven assisted investor will reach out to use a Financial Advisor when he or she is making investments about significant life decisions (i.e. Retirement, divorce, etc.). "


So, if you did reach out to a financial advisor when you made your 'significant life decision', I think you fall in this category...

It does say that you paid for the advice... so I do not think a seminar or other similar vein where the guy is up front talking about options would fall here, but someone who actually looked at your numbers and gave advice would (again IMO).... Not that you followed that advice, buy you did use his assistance to figure out 'that guy is a dufus, why did I waste my money'....

 

[harley]

No one here is going to fess up to that response,Midpack

You should.

 

[rescueme]

Don't need no stinkin financial advice (stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night )...

 

[Sarah in SC]

You should.

LOL! Oh, wait, the FA is me? Dang it, I answered wrong, too!
I only occasionally consult myself, the rest of the time I use the Magic 8 Ball or the Ouija board.

 

[FIREd]

Went from advisor-dependent (pre-2003) to advisor-assisted (2003-2007) to self-directed (post-2007).

 

[scrabbler1]

I have never paid for any advice, but I did meet informally with a FIDO rep (unpaid) back in the mid-1990s who (at my request) pointed me to a stock mutual fund I later invested in and have been in ever since.

I answered "self-directed."

 

[W2R]

I have never seen a financial advisor. In fact, I have never even met a financial advisor socially. Friends and relatives almost never give me any financial advice at all, and if/when they do I thank them and ignore it. I did run my investment plan by the Bogleheads, reflected upon their comments, and acted on some. That's about it. I guess I am about as self-directed as a person could possibly be.

I really do not think that anyone cares about my nestegg and financial well being as much as I do. So, being an entirely self-directed investor is one risk that I am willing to take.

 

[pb4uski]

I have TWO BILs who are insurance agents, but I have steered clear of their attempts to sell me. I made it clear very early on that I felt quite comfortable investing on my own.

 

[Major Tom]

I met once with the rep for a company that was trying to sell me on their own funds. I didn't understand the investment at all. They were telling me that I was allowed to put in a certain amount each year, and after several years (something like 4 or 5) the entire amount would have tax-free gains "just like an IRA". I did find out that the fund manager had presided over a couple of funds in the past that had failed spectacularly, so steered well-clear of it.

A few weeks ago, I saw an ad on the Motley Fool site for Fisher Investments. In return for my e-mail address, phone number and street address, they promised to give me access to their latest outlook for the stock market. I hardly ever go for these things, but figured it would be interesting to read and I'd just have to put up with some inevitable sales pitches from them.

The report was an interesting read, and a couple of weeks later I did receive a package in the mail and a sales call from their local rep. I had already decided that their services would have to be stellar in order for me to be interested, as they charge a 1.25% fee for the amount that I have. I told the guy that unless they had a proven track record of consistently beating the benchmarks by a significant amount, it wouldn't be worth it to me. He gave me some figures over the phone. If I was interested, I'd have asked for further information in written form but I wasn't - and he could tell.

At this point, if I'd had the slightest bit of interest in his product, his final comment to me would have changed that anyway. He said he accepted that some investors like me prefer to manage their own money instead of turning over control to an investment firm. He also said that he knew there was little point in his trying to change my mind, as my way of thinking is a belief system rather than a financial decision.

It was the last phrase (in bold) that bugged me. If he'd told me that if I ever changed my mind, he'd be happy to help, and left it at that, that would have been the professional approach. With that comment, what he was saying was that my approach was based on dogma rather than sound reasoning. It was his way of ending the call by telling me that he was right and I was wrong. He just had to get his own smug dig in. I agreed with him just to shut him up and get him off the phone, but it just confirmed the fact that -

I HATE salesmen

I voted self-directed.

 

[Major Tom]

I would just like to re-iterate the fact that I HATE salespeople.

Thanks. I think I've got it out of my system now

 

[Alan]

No one here is going to fess up to that response,Midpack

It's an annonymous poll, so just like in an election, you can say one thing and vote another.

I have never paid for any advice, but I did meet informally with a FIDO rep (unpaid) back in the mid-1990s who (at my request) pointed me to a stock mutual fund I later invested in and have been in ever since.

I answered "self-directed."

Same here. I went through a free financial analysis with VG over the phone and internet.