WSJ on firing your financial advisor

[jazz4cash]

• I guess I never dreamed that an FA would have carte blanche like this.
• I can't imagine there was no discussion/agreement on how the transferred funds would be invested (advisor sold existing positions generating long and short term gains)
• The FA continued to act with no regard for the investor's wishes. It appears the investor was not told before or immediately after a trade and had to check his account to find out what was being done.
• I am curious how long it took to get his funds out of that firm.
• The investor has a lot of responsibility for letting the FA run wild like that. He asked a lot of questions before taking the plunge but it didn't help.

Imagine how badly an average investor would be taken advantage of. It would years (if ever) before they recognized they made a mistake.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerome len I'm my own FA but who should do it when I'm old and senile? That's what I worry about. So far I've thought about a very basic trust with Vanguard managing my money....I've known independent FA's that have taken 80 year olds into expensive annuities for the commission.....and the 80 year old's kids had very little financial knowledge and they trusted the FA when they shouldn't have. My kids are very honest but could care less about managing money.....not much I can do about that. I gave them subscriptions to Money Mag....they don't read it. And, WSJ writers are usually young, they don't make a ton of money so they dont have enough cash to need an FA. I knew many of them in my past life......today, newspapers are having a tough time.....writers just can't command big incomes. But, WSJ writers write for wealthy and successful readers.....and WSJ, for me, is worth reading....weekend edition especially along with Barrons are the only two papers I still read for financial updates. So, again, who manages my money when I can't do it because I'm old and senile....what ideas do you have?

Well maybe you would feel comfortable letting this young whippersnapper take your assets to manage since he is the overseer of 950 million dollars.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Kahn


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[razztazz]

[QUOTE=jerome len;1487701]I'm my own FA but who should do it when I'm old and senile? That's what I worry about./QUOTE]

Maybe this will put your mind at ease. If you are that old or, really any age, and senile you have no long term. It's over Pop. You're just running out the clock. Why are you worrying about investment returns?

Unless something happens very suddenly and in an unforeseen way (and these things usually don't) you will have plenty of time to cash-out of everything and just put it in a money market fund or bank account and just spend it down. There will still be a lot left. In fact you will likely have plenty oft time to get a lawyer/trustee to tie up your loose ends for you while you take your long ride into the final sunset.

[explanade]

I thought financial media can't buy stocks or other financial instruments.

Perhaps they have to have some kind of a blind trust?

Some actually have jobs with banks before they become reporters.

[Katiek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade I thought financial media can't buy stocks or other financial instruments. Perhaps they have to have some kind of a blind trust? Some actually have jobs with banks before they become reporters.

The article said he could own diversified funds, but not individual stocks.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerome len I'm my own FA but who should do it when I'm old and senile? That's what I worry about.

My plan is a managed payout fund. In Vanguard's, they take a "snapshot" of your fund's balance the last day of December. Then they send you 12 equal monthly payments of 4% of the balance the following year. Sort of an "automatic payout" that is hands off.

[Lsbcal]

Thanks for the link to the WSJ article.

Recently I got a free subscription to the WSJ through airline points that had to be used. For some decades a I was a WSJ subscriber but then reflected on the lack of personal finance acumen there. This article confirms my feeling that reporters are not good with personal portfolio ideas in general.

[LOL!]

This WSJ guy just joins the club.

Back in 2009, Ron Lieber, Your Money columnist of the NYTimes, found out he was using a planner that was stealing millions of dollars from clients: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/yo...s/18money.html

Carl Richards, who does the back of a napkin sketches at NYTimes and is a financial planner, wrote an article about losing his house due to non-smart financial decisions (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/bu...pagewanted=all).

Joe Nocera, a business/finance journalist at the NYTimes, reveals his lack of retirement planning: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/op...etirement.html and how he cashed out some of his 401(k) for home renovations.

Edmund Andrews economics reporter of the NY Times defaulted on his subprime mortgage. Ahem: NYT Reporter Who Defaulted On Subprime Mortgage Left Out Key Details - Business Insider

A finance show producer (company owner) found out about his retirement plan in the Frontline episode The Retirement Gamble | FRONTLINE | PBS .

I'm sure the list will grow as "My Bad" articles become more popular.