Financial Planner - Fee to Create Financial Plan

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philly17

Dryer sheet aficionado
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Jul 16, 2014
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Hi,

I'm 57 years old and manage all my own investments but am interested in hiring a fee based financial planner to create retirement financial analysis that would hopefully validate my view on my ability to retire.

I want a plan/model that will take show my annual spending and optimal ways to manage social security payment timing, tax efficiency for IRA withdrawls, etc.

I use FireCalc and other free tools but want to pay someone to do personalized and detailed plan for me.

How do I find someone to do this and how much have you paid?
 
philly17 said:
Hi,

I'm 57 years old and manage all my own investments but am interested in hiring a fee based financial planner to create retirement financial analysis that would hopefully validate my view on my ability to retire.

I want a plan/model that will take show my annual spending and optimal ways to manage social security payment timing, tax efficiency for IRA withdrawls, etc.

I use FireCalc and other free tools but want to pay someone to do personalized and detailed plan for me.

How do I find someone to do this and how much have you paid?
Click to expand...

Hi Philly, I think this is an excellent idea and I would encourage you to pursue finding an advisor who can help you with these many decisions/ strategies.

I know that some here don't like the idea of financial advisors and paying them, but they can be very helpful to meet your goals and even to validate your own projections and analysis.

We found a financial advisor through inquiries of friends and various financial websites. After speaking to a few and going to some "no obligation" information dinners we found an advisor that we liked and engaged them. We contracted with them (we were actually assigned 2 advisors to work with) about 3 years before I retired.

They charged us an initial fee of $3,000 to develop an overall strategy for retirement and providing a plan for retirement timing and post retirement.
This included detailed analysis of expenses, income sources, asset allocations and timing of social security, asset withdrawals, tax considerations and contingencies.

We have been using them for all of these services and they are always availablle to bounce questions and ideas off of. They know our family, our financial priorities, legacy goals and our lifestyle.

Finding a good one that you hit it off with and can trust is key.
Best of luck.
 
Our company (I'm pre-FIRE) just created a referral program with large wealth management firm, and I've got a free consultation next week. I've got an idea of what they do and am interested to see how that aligns with my DIY process and if there is a fit. I'll respond with info once I hear their "pitch."
 
as a supplement to my prior post, have you checked with your 401k company? Ours is affiliated with wells and they connected me with a rep who ran a full blown report, also, at no cost.

I filled out a form that included goals with timelines and benchmarks and provided a list of all our asset and he ran with it. I'm sure there would be charges if I wanted to engage them actively in the management of our plan, but the initial consult was gratis, and gave me a high degree of confidence.
 
If you work with Charles Schwab, they will do this for a fee. If you have a decent nest egg there, they will likely wave that fee.

They did a very nice job for us.
 
I found a local woman I liked to do this for me about 20 years ago. I recently tried to find someone to help my sister-in-law in Chicago and got nowhere.
 
Kings over Queens said:
... have you checked with your 401k company? Ours is affiliated with wells and they connected me with a rep who ran a full blown report, also, at no cost.
Click to expand...
One data point on this strategy... Yes, I got a free report, which was a "black box" output, so sure, it had a projection, but nothing to indicate how they arrived at the results. Then, and this is the bad part, they hounded me through every possible orifice for a decade, despite my asking them to never to contact me.

As to the original thread question, I'm not sure they'll do a one-off analysis, and I'm sure it won't be cheap, but you could contact marrottaonmoney and ask. They're a fiduciary, but their posted plans are priced as AUM, and they want an ongoing relationship. Alternatively, you can probably find planners that will do a "free evaluation". I've done two of those, and each time, without paying them, I got some actionable results. The way it worked was they asked me to supply my specifics via their forms, which I did. Then I had to go to their offices for their "pitch". I listened politely and didn't challenge the BS they threw at me, but probed on things I hadn't thought about. And I had a list of things to ask about. They were trying to impress me, so they offered some pretty decent nuggets of wisdom. Then I went home and implemented the stuff myself that they were going to charge me many thousands of dollars for, LOL!
 
philly17 said:
Hi,

I'm 57 years old and manage all my own investments but am interested in hiring a fee based financial planner to create retirement financial analysis that would hopefully validate my view on my ability to retire.

I want a plan/model that will take show my annual spending and optimal ways to manage social security payment timing, tax efficiency for IRA withdrawls, etc.

I use FireCalc and other free tools but want to pay someone to do personalized and detailed plan for me.

How do I find someone to do this and how much have you paid?
Click to expand...

Pay $200 for access to this database then pick one from there:

https://adviceonlyfinancial.com/how-to-find-advice-only
 
Some years back, I went to one of those free seminars (no dinner) on planning for taxes in retirement. DW and I went. Of course, there was the traditional free offer to review our personal situation which we did take. It was extremely basic and nothing that we didn't already know. I do believe that it was more of a screening on his part to see if we were worth "the pitch" for us to move our assets to him. I think we passed his screening, but we didn't take the bait. What we did do though, is to have him create a report on a 30 year view of our finances including tax obligations. We paid him less than 2k for that plan. I thought it was pretty high at the time. From that report. I built my own spreadsheet and use it to this day. The work he did do for us was worth the price to confirm our plan. It was financial planning IMO so we did include it in our deductible come tax time.
 
Here is the link I recall being posted frequently in the past but I have no personal experience. They use the term “fee-only” (as opposed to “advice-only”) but I seem to recall some caveats that they may receive compensation from other sources. It might be wise to inquire directly how they are compensated. National Assoc of Personal Financial Advisors
https://www.napfa.org/
 
@OP, I have never used an FA the way you are thinking though I think you are on the right track. The one thing I would suggest, though, is to ask to see a real plan done for someone else with identifying information blacked out. (Not a fake generic plan put together for sales purposes.) That's really the only way you can be sure you're going to get what you want. A retirement analysis is whatever the seller calls a retirement analysis. It may well not be what you have in mind.

jazz4cash said:
... They use the term “fee-only” (as opposed to “advice-only”) but I seem to recall some caveats that they may receive compensation from other sources. ...
Click to expand...
In the industry, a "fee only" advisor is one who is paid via fees; AUM fees or by fees directly paid by the customer and who usually has a fiduciary relationship* with the customer. Saying "fee only" is to contrast from the advisor who is paid commissions on products they sell. Around here people often think that "fee only" excludes advisors being paid on an AUM basis. In industry parlance it does not.

*SEC Interpretation Regarding Standard of Conduct for Investment Advisers: https://www.sec.gov/rules/interp/2019/ia-5248.pdf
 
I was fortunate in that Megacorp offered this free, as an employee benefit. I used them yearly during the 5-6 years before I retired. They were good, and their results and recommendations lined up with the various models I had been using.

As was mentioned about, if your retirement accounts are big enough, particularly for a 401K, check with the plan administrator, they may have something free.
 
OldShooter said:
@OP, I have never used an FA the way you are thinking though I think you are on the right track. The one thing I would suggest, though, is to ask to see a real plan done for someone else with identifying information blacked out. (Not a fake generic plan put together for sales purposes.) That's really the only way you can be sure you're going to get what you want. A retirement analysis is whatever the seller calls a retirement analysis. It may well not be what you have in mind.

In the industry, a "fee only" advisor is one who is paid via fees; AUM fees or by fees directly paid by the customer and who usually has a fiduciary relationship* with the customer. Saying "fee only" is to contrast from the advisor who is paid commissions on products they sell. Around here people often think that "fee only" excludes advisors being paid on an AUM basis. In industry parlance it does not.

*SEC Interpretation Regarding Standard of Conduct for Investment Advisers: https://www.sec.gov/rules/interp/2019/ia-5248.pdf
Click to expand...

Good info, thanks. What does "advice-only" imply? i don't ever recall seeing this term.
 
Before we retired at 61 we turned to our CPA/Financial Planner who had prepared our taxes for the prior 10 years but never engaged for financial planning services. Vanguard and FireCalc already agreed that our plans would be 100% successful, but wanted an independent analysis. Provided budget and financial growth projection spreadsheets based on us starting SS at age 62 which paid our bills with a pension and allowed savings/investments to grow at a faster rate. He spent an hour just talking to us about what each of us desired in retirement and identified what we want him to do which was to check our spreadsheet files for issues and to advise if we were ready to retire. At our second meeting he provided an analysis of my files, his independent analysis of our plan and concluded we were good to retire. Cost was $500.


We still manage our investments but have added an annual meeting after tax season to discuss 1-3 questions for about $250 to review tax/investment questions.


Your search for validation is important for peace of mind.
 
jazz4cash said:
Good info, thanks. What does "advice-only" imply? i don't ever recall seeing this term.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I have seen it either. Certainly it is not in common use, but I'd take it as someone trying to differentiate from what "fee only" means.
 
OldShooter said:
I'm not sure I have seen it either. Certainly it is not in common use, but I'd take it as someone trying to differentiate from what "fee only" means.
Click to expand...

I am guessing it is a way to imply that the advisors do not get commissions but I just wondered if there was some industry context. The term is from the link someone posted for a subscription to a list of “advice-only” advisors.
 
For social security analysis I would start here:

https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/

I read Laurence’s book and found it to be very helpful but you can just sign up for the service for $39/year and then pay a $250 fee to review the results if you want a live person to go over it with you.
 
G-Man said:
Anyone has any experience with Roger Whitney?
Click to expand...

He has a podcast that's popular. His flat fee planner is a CFP and the software they use is a customized money guide pro. It's excellent and has lots of what/if and stress testing. Also shows a great cash flow over time etc
 
MrsHaloFIRE said:
He has a podcast that's popular. His flat fee planner is a CFP and the software they use is a customized money guide pro. It's excellent and has lots of what/if and stress testing. Also shows a great cash flow over time etc
Click to expand...

I already have access to Income Lab, RightCapital, NewRetirement Planner Plus, and the Fidelity Retirement Planner tool. Not sure I need access to another retirement planning tool.
 
Whatever you spend will be outdated as soon as tax brackets adjust. Tax rates change. RMD age changes. etc etc. It will be good for only a short period at a high cost likely.

I'm just not sure you will get anything out of it that Firecalc and other planning tools can't already do.
 
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