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

[Choices]

Wow, I never had much good to say about these "advisors" before but now I'm pretty shocked at their disdain for us DIYers. I read another " insider" blog to be alert to their marketing and just to see what's going on in that industry but never see comments like these. Jeez, if they hate people so much how do they stand to call us up? It must be awful to talk with someone like me, though I am the one to say " thankyouverymuch".

 

[audreyh1]

Wow, I never had much good to say about these "advisors" before but now I'm pretty shocked at their disdain for us DIYers. I read another " insider" blog to be alert to their marketing and just to see what's going on in that industry but never see comments like these. Jeez, if they hate people so much how do they stand to call us up? It must be awful to talk with someone like me, though I am the one to say " thankyouverymuch".

I think their "disdain" is mainly due to us not being an opportunity for them. So we're best to be avoided.

 

[REWahoo]

I think their "disdain" is mainly due to us not being an opportunity for them. So we're best to be avoided.

+1

They don't want to waste time on anyone who isn't an easy mark.

 

[travelover]

.......... 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..........

And as I've mentioned before - 1% of a million is $10,000 or one hundred hours at $100 per hour. Do these guys seriously spend a hundred hours a year on a million dollar account? Do these guys seriously deserve to make $100 an hour?

 

[MRG]

The sales type are scum. My DF was always a DIY Fidelity guy, he followed some subscription newsletter and did pretty well. Only active managed Fidelity funds, not suggesting he beat the averages or anything but he did well. Around age 93 he let that same company manage his funds and they were great to deal with. He had dementia at that point but was trying to hide it.
So DF is moving into AL, sells the house to my sister. Enter the neighbor an independent FA. He knows DF just collected ~200k from home sale. He sells DF on these great bond funds. They were class c pimco funds with a 1% 12B-1 and a 1% deferred sales fee. DF waited the year for the sales fee, my DS has now told the neighbor DF has dementia she has POA, DF isn't happy about funds, also tells him she knows absolutely nothing about investments. He asks for an opportunity to win back DFs trust. She let him put together a proposal, then emails it to me. Suddenly there's an additional advisor to the advisor and an additional 2% just for them. No idea what the investment is, I didn't get that far. It's a 3% rip off.

Really trying to con a demented old man and a self admitted ignorant POA holder out of 3%. Legal yes, right no!

DS asked if I could call the neighbor/advisor and explain why that was not where DFs money was going. He thought the whole family was ignorant or demented.
I did and managed not to tell him what I thought of his tactics.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[2B]

And as I've mentioned before - 1% of a million is $10,000 or one hundred hours at $100 per hour. Do these guys seriously spend a hundred hours a year on a million dollar account? Do these guys seriously deserve to make $100 an hour?

Scott Burns did a recent column on "unbundling" financial products and in it he compared FA costs to a CPA's time. With a $1MM account, it's next to impossible to need as much CPA help as you're paying to a %FA. The CPA might add value but a %FA is unlikely to add any.

 

[Choices]

MRG, that " advisor" is like something you would want to scrape off the bottom of your shoe! ICK!!

 

[audreyh1]

+1

They don't want to waste time on anyone who isn't an easy mark.

Exactly!

 

[gcgang]

OK. We've established that FAs don't want to deal with ER types, and ER types don't want to deal with FAs.

Next.

 

[M Paquette]

OK. We've established that FAs don't want to deal with ER types, and ER types don't want to deal with FAs.

Next.

Well, there is a constant stream of new members arriving at this site. Threads like this serve as a handy cautionary note for them concerning the nice man who wants to buy them dinner and help them with their finances at no charge.

 

[HFWR]

Have never used, or been tempted to use, a FA, but I have several friends/acquaintances who use them. Most don't seem to know how much they're being [-]fleeced[/-] charged, what their investments are, how they compare to a passive portfolio, etc.

I've tried to nudge some of them to learn more, but it seems to annoy people, and I get responses like "I don't want to worry about it" or "I'm happy with my returns". Have learned not to talk about it...

 

[Walt34]

MRG, that " advisor" is like something you would want to scrape off the bottom of your shoe! ICK!!

Now, that is being insulting to dog poop.

 

[nash031]

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

+1

It's great having a last name that's difficult to pronounce correctly just by reading. It helps me weed out the cold calls. Usually, they get, "If it was that important to speak to me, you'd know my name already." *click*

 

[travelover]

Well, there is a constant stream of new members arriving at this site. Threads like this serve as a handy cautionary note for them concerning the nice man who wants to buy them dinner and help them with their finances at no charge......

+1. For any given thread, compare the number of views compared to the number of replies.

 

[Rick_Head]

Every cloud has a silver lining.

 

[harley]

And every silver lining has a touch of gray.