Help choosing a financial planner!!

[Frankie G]

Hello....My wife and I are finally going to start that college fund and start planning for retirment! There seems to be tons of companies (Schwab, Ameriprise, Fidelity) wanting to help, but who does the majority of people trust? Any help? Thanks.

Frank

[twaddle]

Analyzing the 'high-fee' DFA-approved advisor's sales pitch.

[crazy connie]

No one is more interested in my risk & returns than I am. Spend a FEW BUCKS at the book store and jump in the pond. What you don't pay for advice can add up to a whole lot of money and bad advice is more common than good. JMHO

[Frankie G]

Thanks connie. I think I will do that first!

[Frankie G]

Thanks to you too twaddle. That was some interesting reading and lots of great facts!

[DblDoc]

I agree with connie. Look in the mirror. To get into the spirit I'd recommend saving a few bucks and going to the library. Books by Bernstein, Bogle or Malkiel are a good place to start. Check out the FAQ's here. I'd also recommend the Vanguard Diehards site.

DD

[bssc]

Hi and welcome.

You are your best financial advisor since you know your likes and dislikes best. Look around and read the threads. Start off slow, no one expects you to be trading options tomorrow (or ever).

[chinaco]

Invest in your knowledge. That will take a small amount of money... you can get most books at the library. It will mainly take some personal time and effort to study it a bit.

IMO -I would not use a Financial planner and not recommend it unless you are completely lost. If I did use one, I would use a fee based one and get a one-time consult. If you want an autopilot strategy right now look at the Vanguard site and invest in Index Funds. Pick one of their models that seems to fit your needs and go with it. Spend the next year reading a few well selected books. Then consider tuning the portfolio. If you do not know what you are doing (and most do not), stay away from individual stocks and bonds and fancy strategies. Stick to the basics and grow rich slowly.

[Frankie G]

GREAT replys! The books ound like a great place for us to begin, which I will be ordering one if not 2 today. Anyone have any isite on saving for college? Educational IRA's or I have heard of a 529? I need to obviously make my own decision on which is best for us, but has anyone had any experience with either or others? The web site rocks! Thanks again...

Frank

[jIMOh]

If you have the time to manage your assets, then research and experience will teach you more than any advisor could ever help.

Best advisors are fee only, not commission based. Look for CFP designation on their credentials.

[Midpack]

Do it yourself, here is the best list of book recommendations you will find anywhere. Go at your own pace. You have to learn and pay attention, but what it takes to do reasonably well doesn't have to take over your life by any means, and you can take it as far as you want.

Investment Books

[unclemick]

Target Retirement - the one suggested for your age.

Don't read books! "Do or Do not - there is no read books." -Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back.

Weelllll - not exactly but close handgenade wise.

Put some real money in the game - it improves concentration. People never listen and read books anyway.

heh heh heh - faith and time in the market trump reading every time. .

[BigBob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankie G Anyone have any isite on saving for college? Educational IRA's or I have heard of a 529? Frank

Try Savingforcollege.com - The internet guide to funding college and Section 529 college savings plans. as the best site for learning about college savings plans. Pick a plan that gives you the best bang for the buck and begin investing. You won't regret it. I have 2 in college now and am so thankful I saved (529s and Coverdells) over the past years.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinaco Invest in your knowledge. That will take a small amount of money... you can get most books at the library. It will mainly take some personal time and effort to study it a bit. IMO -I would not use a Financial planner and not recommend it unless you are completely lost. If I did use one, I would use a fee based one and get a one-time consult. If you want an autopilot strategy right now look at the Vanguard site and invest in Index Funds. Pick one of their models that seems to fit your needs and go with it. Spend the next year reading a few well selected books. Then consider tuning the portfolio. If you do not know what you are doing (and most do not), stay away from individual stocks and bonds and fancy strategies. Stick to the basics and grow rich slowly.

i soundly second this advice.

in my experience as a new investor many moons ago (late 90s), any commission based planner i worked with did not work for me, they work for themselves. a given.

a short horror story...i briefly worked with an investment planner that i thought was above board, and they sold a MF that i explicitly told them not to. at the time it (VFINX) was my biggest holding. their explanation was "oops". so i oopsed myself right out of our contract. the contract gave me the right to terminate at any time for any reason, with 10 days written notice. nice clause. the guy actually asked me what he could he do to repair the damage and would i reconsider.

success story - i did go to a CFP (fee based only) in 2002 for a full assessment of my financial & retirement & estate situation. negotiated a set fee for a package deal, with known deliverables, and got it all in writing up front. best money i ever spent. their advice has saved me a lot of problems.

[jIMOh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 success story - i did go to a CFP (fee based only) in 2002 for a full assessment of my financial & retirement & estate situation. negotiated a set fee for a package deal, with known deliverables, and got it all in writing up front. best money i ever spent. their advice has saved me a lot of problems.

care to share highlights?

[retire48in2018]

I agree with learning it. Put the money in money market funds until you read/learn. Even if it takes a few weeks/months to read a couple of books.

I found the dummy series books by Eric Tyson (don't like the dummy part...) to be decent books. Personal Finance is very general, and a starting point.

Eric Tyson is a little biased towards index funds, but I think he presents all sides adequately. After the personal finance, I recommend his Mutual Fund book - but, I might be biased as I am a mutual fund buy & hold investor.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jIMOh care to share highlights?

absolutely.

1st off, make sure they are a CFP. not an FA, not a FP, not a ChCFP. make them show you their business card or license. if they can't produce the CFP proof - smile, stand up and leave.

2nd, take a list of exactly what you want to be done. my list...
- wills/estate review (usually farmed out to a legal firm in coop with CFP firm, that's OK)
- assessment of current financial state (income, expenses, investments, liabilities, etc) in nauseating detail
- assessment of future financial state (projections including various inflation effects)
- review/recommend investments, DCA strategy, and asset allocation
- what-if scenarios (grim but had to be done, if one spouse died, what if etc)
- retirement benefit assessment (both were federal, they earned their money here)
- health insurance/ LTC insurance asessment or recommendations
- estate assets review
- titling review (single, joint, JTWROS) of all assets - CRITICAL ITEM
- goals (near, medium, and long term) and strategy to achieve

there were probably more, but i'm almost 50 and the brain is going...LOL

we wrote all this down, they mailed me a proposal, i negotiated a lower fee cuz i am Miss Orgnaized and had most of the data "camera ready". the product was a detailed customized report that pulled everything together and the what-if scenarios were amazing. and two 2-hour sessions with the CFP to go over it all in great detail.

i accepted the proposal - they said bring ALL your stuff, drop it off and we'll contact you in 4 weeks. it took so long cuz they had to plow through both sets of fed retirement system docs (CSRS and FERS).

cost me $1500 in 2002. i was 44 at the time.

it is not my intent to be grim. it is my intent to let you know how important this exercise can be.

i never regretted a penny of that cost. life thru me a real hardball in late 2004 when DH passed suddenly. i was 100% prepared financially and document wise. had no probate to deal with except for a few vehicles and some artwork. all assets were titled JTWROS.

so, good luck and get 'er done!

[jIMOh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 absolutely. 1st off, make sure they are a CFP. not an FA, not a FP, not a ChCFP. make them show you their business card or license. if they can't produce the CFP proof - smile, stand up and leave. 2nd, take a list of exactly what you want to be done. my list... - wills/estate review (usually farmed out to a legal firm in coop with CFP firm, that's OK) - assessment of current financial state (income, expenses, investments, liabilities, etc) in nauseating detail - assessment of future financial state (projections including various inflation effects) - review/recommend investments, DCA strategy, and asset allocation - what-if scenarios (grim but had to be done, if one spouse died, what if etc) - retirement benefit assessment (both were federal, they earned their money here) - health insurance/ LTC insurance asessment or recommendations - estate assets review - titling review (single, joint, JTWROS) of all assets - CRITICAL ITEM - goals (near, medium, and long term) and strategy to achieve there were probably more, but i'm almost 50 and the brain is going...LOL we wrote all this down, they mailed me a proposal, i negotiated a lower fee cuz i am Miss Orgnaized and had most of the data "camera ready". the product was a detailed customized report that pulled everything together and the what-if scenarios were amazing. and two 2-hour sessions with the CFP to go over it all in great detail. i accepted the proposal - they said bring ALL your stuff, drop it off and we'll contact you in 4 weeks. it took so long cuz they had to plow through both sets of fed retirement system docs (CSRS and FERS). cost me $1500 in 2002. i was 44 at the time. it is not my intent to be grim. it is my intent to let you know how important this exercise can be. i never regretted a penny of that cost. life thru me a real hardball in late 2004 when DH passed suddenly. i was 100% prepared financially and document wise. had no probate to deal with except for a few vehicles and some artwork. all assets were titled JTWROS. so, good luck and get 'er done!

I do see the value in the 4 highlighted entries in particular.

In the case of the first two (projections)- was there anything provided which could not be done by you online? Was this a second opinion, or was most of projections new to you?

We did wills earlier in 2008. I agree what if is tough, but needs to be done.

I assume the titling of the assets was part of the will preperation/ related to will preperation?

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jIMOh I do see the value in the 4 highlighted entries in particular. In the case of the first two (projections)- was there anything provided which could not be done by you online? Was this a second opinion, or was most of projections new to you? We did wills earlier in 2008. I agree what if is tough, but needs to be done. I assume the titling of the assets was part of the will preperation/ related to will preperation?

at the time, there were a few good online resources to be had. but no way to fuse all the data together. at least i couldn't find any.

i'm an engineer, so my brain told me to look for the systems (package) approach with a pro. may have been able to do it on my own, but wasn't up on all of this at the time.

titling was indeed part of will prep. JTWROS titling, at least in NY, bypasses probate.

BTW, if you have more detailed questions, feel free to PM me if that's appropriate.

[packrat44]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 i'm an engineer, so my brain told me to look for the systems (package) approach with a pro. may have been able to do it on my own, but wasn't up on all of this at the time.

It is always nice to see a fellow engineer on the forum.

By the way, has anyone seen where I parked my train?