So I guess I accidentally fired my FA yesterday....

[travelover]

I read this thread today. Later, while surfing around found this forum post.

Responding to the Do It yourself (DIY), passive, anti-fee investor | WealthManagement.com

Seems the "Fire the investor that questions the value" is discussed and encouraged between FAs.

Thanks, it confirms the worst.

 

[jjquantz]

Thanks, it confirms the worst.

Wow, what a bunch of a******s. Only one comment that showed any respect for the customer. And that was from someone who was leaving Fidelity.

How about if I offer them this: OK, you think you can do better than I can. Fine, we will sign a contract that says if your performance exceeds that of a mutually agreed upon index, you get 1/2 of the excess. If you fall short, you reimburse me 1/2 of the difference.

If they are so sure of their skills, then they should JUMP at this, right?

Right...

 

[powerplay]

Wow, what a bunch of a******s. Only one comment that showed any respect for the customer. And that was from someone who was leaving Fidelity.

How about if I offer them this: OK, you think you can do better than I can. Fine, we will sign a contract that says if your performance exceeds that of a mutually agreed upon index, you get 1/2 of the excess. If you fall short, you reimburse me 1/2 of the difference.

If they are so sure of their skills, then they should JUMP at this, right?

Right...

I didn't notice any guarantees with the bold statements some were making in the linked thread.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks, it confirms the worst.

I think it confirms that for some, the feelings are reciprocal.

 

[yakers]

I like the entry about 'you're wasting your time with Bogleheads....'
Ain't it the truth. And I know none of those advisors approaches have matched Wellesley or a balanced index portfolio

 

[2k6_TX_Dad]

Wow, what a bunch of a******s.

Yea, this group, for sure. Don't look around the rest of the WealthManagement.com forum posts, they are not any better.

 

[MRG]

Thanks for the link. It tells what these guys think, you're a paycheck to them nothing more. They hook people who aren't confident and throw ten stratagies at them. They really should advertise how they view their relationship with you, oh wait then their clients would all run for the hills.

A guy down the road is a Jones guy, took months to get rid of him. Never actually threw him out the door, but I made it very clear multiple times, no thanks.

Today I get a LinkedIn invite from a guy I barely knew at Megacorp. I knew he was an id10t then, I always said he needed a map to find his cube. Couldn't figure out why he wanted to connect, he's with E.D. Jones, go figure. I'd let my dogs pick funds before I let him manage my money.

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[Walt34]

Today I get a LinkedIn invite from a guy I barely knew at Megacorp. I knew he was an id10t then, I always said he needed a map to find his cube. Couldn't figure out why he wanted to connect, he's with E.D. Jones, go figure. I'd let my dogs pick funds before I let him manage my money.

And your dogs would most likely get better returns.

TX_Dad, thanks for the link. Suspicions confirmed.

 

[Bestwifeever]

They had me at "I make a cold call" in the first post. All they would hear from me is "click."

 

[Walt34]

They had me at "I make a cold call" in the first post. All they would hear from me is "click."

Generally that's what they get from me too. But occasionally I'm in an impish mood so I'll take their call, waste their time, and mess with them. While I'm doing that they're not bothering anyone else.

 

[MichaelB]

They cold call my mother regularly, and knock on her door as well. She's part of the "polite generation", brought up to trust, answer the call and open the door, unprepared to deal with the well trained objections management skills these slaes people have. I have no doubt they target older people for that reason.

There's a place and a role for legitimate financial planners. Unfortunately, these folks know that and take advantage.

 

[haha]

It blows me away that people are upset that financial planners look to them for commissions, not love. How lovable are most of us anyway? Selfish, arrogant, sure that we have a lock on THE TRUTH. I am not and never have been an FP, but if I were one first my qualifier question would be, "Dude,(or Dudette) do you read ER.org?

Yes? Click.

Ha

 

[REWahoo]

Ha, how is your anti-curmudgeon therapy going?

 

[NW-Bound]

Ha, how is your anti-curmudgeon therapy going?

Strange! I never thought curmudgeonliness is a problem that needs to be remedied.

 

[gozer]

They had me at "I make a cold call" in the first post. All they would hear from me is "click."

Yup. If they were as good as they think they are, word of mouth from existing clients would generate more business than they could handle on their own. Cold calling would be a ridiculous waste of time after you had a few clients. You would be busy trying to hook up with the clients that were beating down your door.

 

[haha]

Ha, how is your anti-curmudgeon therapy going?

As you no doubt see, haltingly.

Ha

 

[travelover]

Yup. If they were as good as they think they are, word of mouth from existing clients would generate more business than they could handle on their own.......

If they were as good as they think they are, they would invest their own money, get stinking rich, and not have to put up with us peons.

 

[MRG]

If they were as good as they think they are, they would invest their own money, get stinking rich, and not have to put up with us peons.

+1

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[audreyh1]

If they were as good as they think they are, they would invest their own money, get stinking rich, and not have to put up with us peons.

+2!!

 

[harley]

It was very interesting that they considered it a given that they all would beat the indexes and averages over time. It was such an obvious "truth" that there wasn't even any discussion about it. The one mention I saw was a comment that said something like "even if the indexes beat the plan, the investor will buy and sell at the wrong time."

 

[ERD50]

It was very interesting that they considered it a given that they all would beat the indexes and averages over time. It was such an obvious "truth" that there wasn't even any discussion about it. The one mention I saw was a comment that said something like "even if the indexes beat the plan, the investor will buy and sell at the wrong time."

Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!"

-ERD50

 

[Helen]

This was my favorite:

Try this rebuttle. "Even if the total rate of returns on index funds and some of the managed mutual funds out there are similar, without the help of a financial professional, most individuals end up buying and selling those index funds at the wrong times, and YOUR rate of return will almost certainly be much less than what I can provide you over the long term. Not to mention, you get access to a financial PROFESSIONAL, instead of having no one to turn to when you have questions or need help. I do agree with the above though. This type of client, unless he has a substantial amount of money, and even so, will probably be more of a problem than hes worth.

 

[harley]

I didn't make it past "rebuttle",

 

[2B]

I liked the last sentence. I would definitely be more of a problem than I am worth.

I saw two interesting themes in the link. First, it was clear that the time required to possibly deal with a DIY investor is only going to take away time from other cold calls. They are looking for value for their time which seems primarily linked to the amount of time they spend making cold calls. I only saw one post where they mentioned the "experts" that were with his firm doing all the high value research that wouldn't be "practical" for a DIY to do -- What's their time worth? All of the unbiased research in the field says that these experts have no value.

The second theme brings up the broader expertise needed to handle personal finances in areas like insurance, taxes, portfolio draw-down strategies, succession planning, etc. This is probably more valid which is why fee only planners can make sense. I also believe that most people can use the many resources available to get this done without using a fee only planner unless they are in a very complicated situation. Of the people I know that have used planner that charge them a % of assets, none have told me about any help in this area. My favorite was a guy I knew that had a mini-stroke at age 68. He asked his planner if he had enough to retire. This guy had several million in his portfolio. The planner said that he thought he had to work at least to age 70 and they could look at it again then.

 

[Cat-tirement]

They had me at "I make a cold call" in the first post. All they would hear from me is "click."

They wouldn't even get a click from me. We don't answer the phone unless there is a recognized caller ID. (If it's important, they can leave a message.) To aid this, we also have phones that speak the caller ID info, so we can hear it anywhere in the house, and don't even have to look for the phone when a call comes (unless it is the rare occasion when we hear it is a desirable call).