kumquat
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Who are you and why are you [-]investing [/-]mucking with MY money?
Of course, how could somebody who has guided dozens if not hundreds of people through all the stages of retirement know any more than somebody who has done it ONCE?
I think it's mostly ignorant communication between the customer and the paid professional.I don't agree. Would you say that an attorney who during her career had worked on dozens of cases wouldn't be able to know the details of yours. What about an accountant? Most of them (who do compliance work) will do over a hundred returns during a tax season, would they not be able to know the details of their clients?
I'd focus on questions that would be difficult to answer on my own:
1. What did I miss?
2. What am I forgetting?
3. What stupid/misunderstood assumptions have I made?
Yep, me too! Exactly my experience.Another problem is that most people aren't willing to keep shopping around for a good CPA or adviser. Get burned once or twice and the search is over. The one time I used a CPA I immediately regretted it (he compounded his mistake by lying about it). While I was researching what I'd need from a CPA, I learned that it was easier to learn how to do my own Form 990s & 1099-MISCs for our small non-profit than it was to find a good accountant.
Many years later in the 1990s, I consulted a CPA firm about the AMT implications for my stock options... all they did was come "up to speed" at my expense.
Yakers and your comments brought back some more memories. In Saluki's/FD's defense, I did get good advice from two FAs.i had a very good experience with a CFP back in 2002. i asked a ton of questions about investing, estate, retirement, etc. i negotiated a set price for a soup-to-nuts analysis, and documented all tasks and products delivered. i delivered all the necessary documentation and let them do their thing. i got exactly what i asked for and then some.
i still use their report as a baseline for financial planning. my current status is DIY. if i were to revisit with them, i would ask exactly the same questions i did last time for checkpointing my status post-FIRE status.
One listened to my questions/issues over the phone and said "Gosh, it sounds like you know what you're talking about and you seem to have all the issues covered. Why not just take 3% from your portfolio every year and stop worrying about it?" This being the summer of 2001, in retrospect that was a gutsy call. Best money I'd never spent for good advice.
The other was an AXA rep who I'd been referred to for what at the time was their awesome modeling software. They had an extremely detailed [-]data form[/-] questionnaire that, by the time I'd completed it, reassured me that I hadn't missed anything. When I went over the paperwork with their rep and started asking Monte Carlo questions, he admitted that he didn't know the answers but would get them from the guy who was designing the new software. I asked him more questions about the new software, learned all about its features, and said that I'd love to continue the conversation when they implemented it. They never implemented it (or at least they never called me back) and I found FinancialEngines' MC software to be more than enough for my needs.
i had a very good experience with a CFP back in 2002. i asked a ton of questions about investing, estate, retirement, etc. i negotiated a set price for a soup-to-nuts analysis, and documented all tasks and products delivered. i delivered all the necessary documentation and let them do their thing. i got exactly what i asked for and then some.
i still use their report as a baseline for financial planning. my current status is DIY. if i were to revisit with them, i would ask exactly the same questions i did last time for checkpointing my status post-FIRE status.
TY. i went in the same way i would running an R&D contract - do the statement of work, ID the deliverables, put it all down in writing, agree upon the fixed fee, award and sign. the CFP loved working with me cuz i saved both of us a lot of Q&A time and we were both able to get down to business. we got along great. but i'll bet he secretly sighed with great relief when we were done.Your experience is what happens when you, a well-prepared person, finds and hires an actual planner. I'm glad it went well for you.