T. Rowe Price Financial Advisor free consultation

[ArkTinkerer]

I have received several notices of a free consultation with T. Rowe Price financial advisors in connection with my 401K. Never took them up on it. With retirement a short time away I thought I would check here and see if anyone has used them and thought it was worthwhile? It smells like a selling opportunity and a waste of time to me.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I went to a free session with Fidelity. Of course their whole point was selling and how can we make more money off you but they try to make it seem a little bit more subtle (not much though). They told us we needed 80% of our pre-retirement gross instead of looking at our actual spending and all the expenses that would decrease in retirement (no more need to save for retirement, kids becoming self supporting, college behind us, lower income and SS taxes, no more job and commute costs, etc.). They also had a conniption over us buying TIPS, which were probably paying 2% + inflation at the time, but of course that is something they cannot make ongoing fees from.

So pure sales talk with their financial interests at heart, not ours. They did show us how to use the RIP, so that was good. But if you know how to do that or use a similar retirement planning calculator, I am not sure how much value added you will get.

 

[ETFs_Rule]

I have received several notices of a free consultation with T. Rowe Price financial advisors in connection with my 401K. Never took them up on it. With retirement a short time away I thought I would check here and see if anyone has used them and thought it was worthwhile? It smells like a selling opportunity and a waste of time to me.

Have you heard the phrase "You get what you pay for"?
Never go to ANY non-fiduciary! Non-fiduciaries are nothing more than salesmen. They will look for ways to execute transactions that will pay themselves the highest commissions that indirectly cost you a lot of money. I'll bet they want to convince you to do a 1035 exchange to an annuity. Avoid these sharks.

 

[mathjak107]

I went to a free session with Fidelity. Of course their whole point was selling and how can we make more money off you but they try to make it seem a little bit more subtle (not much though). They told us we needed 80% of our pre-retirement gross instead of looking at our actual spending and all the expenses that would decrease in retirement (no more need to save for retirement, kids becoming self supporting, college behind us, lower income and SS taxes, no more job and commute costs, etc.). They also had a conniption over us buying TIPS, which were probably paying 2% + inflation at the time, but of course that is something they cannot make ongoing fees from.

So pure sales talk with their financial interests at heart, not ours. They did show us how to use the RIP, so that was good. But if you know how to do that or use a similar retirement planning calculator, I am not sure how much value added you will get.

just curious what fidelity tried to sell you and why ? i have had quite a few consultations over the years and never got pitched a single product

 

[bclover]

I have received several notices of a free consultation with T. Rowe Price financial advisors in connection with my 401K. Never took them up on it. With retirement a short time away I thought I would check here and see if anyone has used them and thought it was worthwhile? It smells like a selling opportunity and a waste of time to me.

don't go to the selling session, contact your local Price office and get a free consultation.

When I was first hunting around for a FA I had a one on one with a price guy. He was actually pretty thorough. collected my information, spoke with me about my goals. took about 2 weeks to comb through tons of information and then we had another review session with his recommendations.

Didn't try and sell me anything, I already had an annuity so there was no pitch for another and discussed the direction he thought was best.

At most I spent 5 hours (1.5 on the initial visit) and 3 on the second one.

I didn't go with him but he was really informative, answered all my questions, wasn't pushy.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I have received several notices of a free consultation with T. Rowe Price financial advisors in connection with my 401K. Never took them up on it. With retirement a short time away I thought I would check here and see if anyone has used them and thought it was worthwhile? It smells like a selling opportunity and a waste of time to me.

Does TRP administer the 401K? If not are they being paid by the plan to provide you with this advice?

 

[travelover]

Have you heard the phrase "You get what you pay for"?
.........

I've heard it, and for the most part it seems to be said by people who paid too much and are casting about for justification.

But I agree that salesmen should not be used in place of a fiduciary.

 

[PhrugalPhan]

Does TRP administer the 401K? If not are they being paid by the plan to provide you with this advice?

Exactly. My 457 plan is administered by TRP (and paid by my employer) and I haven't had any issues talking with them. In this case I think their interests and mine match. If I were to complain to my employer that they were giving me bad advice they could lose out on administration fees down the road. Of course the OP's situation may be different so always be vigilant.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Exactly. My 457 plan is administered by TRP (and paid by my employer) and I haven't had any issues talking with them. In this case I think their interests and mine match. If I were to complain to my employer that they were giving me bad advice they could lose out on administration fees down the road. Of course the OP's situation may be different so always be vigilant.

Yes -- they administer the 401K. The biggest issue I have with the offer is it is just a phone number. How can they do a decent consultation without a lot of other information? Also, if you try and follow any links to the web pages talking about their products you get the warning pop-ups about leaving your account and going to a different service with different rules (but its still TRP?).

For me, its more than "you get what you pay for" its "you get what you put into it". If there is no way for them to have all the info ahead of time, they certainly won't do me any good on a one hour phone call. It would take longer than that for them to understand our situation and getting them the info by phone is certainly not the most efficient way.

 

[PhrugalPhan]

Yes -- they administer the 401K. The biggest issue I have with the offer is it is just a phone number. How can they do a decent consultation without a lot of other information?

Ah, ok, I see. In my case we are big enough they have someone working on site 3 days a week so we can make appointments to have one-on-ones with them. In your case... I would be cautious.

 

[marko]

I'm going to disagree with most of the posters here.

Maybe the difference is if you already have an account with TRP.

I have a yearly review with TRP advisor. Yes, I'm a HNW investor with them and yes, I do pay them indirectly via fund expenses but I've found them to be helpful and insightful. Early on they helped me set up a portfolio but since then it's been pretty much fine tuning...or none at all.

As I'm fairly on track most of the time, the only changes they've suggested is to help me stay diversified, pointing out minor areas of movement. This year's review very rightly pointed out that I'm way over invested and need more cash in the event of a downturn.

Would I use TRP advisor as my sole input? No. Do I do everything they suggest? No. But I view it as an opportunity to have a second set of eyes on things.

 

[MRG]

just curious what fidelity tried to sell you and why ? i have had quite a few consultations over the years and never got pitched a single product

I think it depends, I've never been pitched to by my fido guy, my advisor knows me. I've heard tales of not so good reps.

I'd listen to TRP, they have some OK funds, but with extreme caution.

 

[Big_Hitter]

For me, its more than "you get what you pay for" its "you get what you put into it". If there is no way for them to have all the info ahead of time, they certainly won't do me any good on a one hour phone call. It would take longer than that for them to understand our situation and getting them the info by phone is certainly not the most efficient way.

If the plan is paying for it I'm not sure what you have to lose.

IMO, plan sponsors need to be doing a better job helping participants after they retire in a DC-only environment. It seems like that's what ur megacorp is trying to do here.

 

[ERD50]

Have you heard the phrase "You get what you pay for"? ...

I'm not a big fan of that phrase. I often find a lower priced product or service is not only a better value, but better period. It can be used as a guide in some cases, and most 'free' stuff has a price associated with it - you just have to find out what it is.

However, I TOTALLY agree with the following...

Never go to ANY non-fiduciary! Non-fiduciaries are nothing more than salesmen.

I've avoided FAs for many reasons, but I recently have seen more on this fiduciary versus 'suitability' standard - and it is a real eye-opener. There simply is no reason to work with anyone who is not going to act in a fiduciary role, with YOU (not their company) as the client (and will sign a contract to that effect).

I was just reviewing some old notes on my in-laws situation. One family member suggested that we go to such and such place for a financial review, simply because in-laws had an account there, and supposedly 'worked' with a guy there (though there was no evidence of any advice given/accepted, other than maybe rolling over CDs in the account).

Out of curiosity, I checked up on this guy. Google link shows Barrons lists him as a 'top 50 advisor' in IL. Wow - that sounds impressive! Well, I dig a little, and by 'top' they mean he brings in top money for his company and hasn't broken any laws, and not much more. No measure of how he performs for his clients.

2013 Top 1000 U. S. Financial Advisors Ranked by State - Barrons.com

Here are America's best financial advisors, organized by state. The rankings are based on data provided by over 4,000 of the nation's most productive advisors. Factors included in the rankings: assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record, quality of practice and philanthropic work. Investment performance isn't an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by clients' risk tolerance than by an advisor's investment-picking abilities.

And the fancy initials behind his name CPM (chartered portfolio manager), are near meaningless.

Chartered Portfolio Manager (CPM) Definition | Investopedia

And the granter of those initials is a pretty questionable organization:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Financial_Management

The American Academy of Financial Management is a US-based board of standards, certifying body, and accreditation council focused on the finance sector and management professionals.[1] It has been criticized in the Wall Street Journal as having low requirements for the credentials it confers and for excessive claims of links to other associations and industry experts.

-ERD50

 

[daylatedollarshort]

just curious what fidelity tried to sell you and why ? i have had quite a few consultations over the years and never got pitched a single product

Here is an article on Zvi Bodie and investment company focus on stocks versus inflation adjusted investments like I bonds that is illustrative of our experience:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/the-one-safe-investment--and-w-1/

"Yet despite their clear value as a safe and liquid anchor for any investment portfolio, few clients of investment advisors even know of the existence of I Bonds. Bona fide advisors who are truly fiduciaries serving the best interest of their clients would inform them about I Bonds....To the best of my knowledge, no major investment advisory firm in the U.S. does this.....The proposition that the risk of stocks diminishes with the length of one’s time horizon is a fallacy, as is the notion that stocks are a hedge against the risk of inflation. "

 

[Big_Hitter]

Here is an article on Zvi Bodie and investment company focus on stocks versus inflation adjusted investments like I bonds that is illustrative of our experience:

The One Safe Investment and Why You Never Hear About It From Financial Advisors

that's why I won't listen to a FA that doesn't have at least a CFA designation

I had to study Bodie's book - Investments (actually Bodie Kane and Marcus) and listened to him speak a few times - smart dude

 

[Sarah in SC]

And the fancy initials behind his name CPM (chartered portfolio manager), are near meaningless.



Chartered Portfolio Manager (CPM) Definition | Investopedia



And the granter of those initials is a pretty questionable organization:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Financial_Management







-ERD50

CPM....<snort>

 

[ETFs_Rule]

Certifications are fine and dandy but certifications say nothing about whether conflict of interest exists. The best and only choice is to go to a fee-only adviser on a one-time or one-task basis. Also get everything in writing or they may double dip.

 

[retirementguy1]

I am interested to see how it goes if you do it. IMO I think TRP is one of the more respectable mutual fund companies. I used to own PRHSX (health sciences) which has averaged 19% for the ten year period, (PRNHX) which was a small cap fund which is closed to new investors, I think it went up past 40% in the year I sold it. I also owned PRMTX (media and technology). These all were small amounts since I was an early investor but these funds didn't carry a load, front or back and the expense ratios were below average. <.8. I have long since gone to indexing but still have respect for companies like TRP, Oakmark, and Dodge and Cox. Based on fees and performance they seem to care a little bit more.

 

[ERD50]

CPM....<snort>

Thanks for that confirmation. My impressions are in line with your 'snort'.

-ERD50

 

[ArkTinkerer]

So I gave them a call. The person at the other end was not an adviser but told me the service was offered to anyone with a 401K there. They would be happy to discuss retirement/investment issues with TRP and to a lesser extent outside of TRP (mostly SS strategies). Didn't stick around for the adviser. They were suppose to send me an email with more info and a direct phone number for the advisers but so far no email.

 

[marko]

So I gave them a call. The person at the other end was not an adviser but told me the service was offered to anyone with a 401K there. They would be happy to discuss retirement/investment issues with TRP and to a lesser extent outside of TRP (mostly SS strategies). Didn't stick around for the adviser. They were suppose to send me an email with more info and a direct phone number for the advisers but so far no email.

It sometimes takes 'em a week or two to get back and set up a time. They usually devote a full hour or so with you so they're often backlogged.

I'm full-in with TRP and have had nothing but good experiences over 10+ years. Never been "sold" anything or felt pushed in any direction. They tend to lean more toward equities in a strategy vs bonds but it's up to you how to proceed.

With me, it's usually a matter of them pointing out if I'm keeping a good allocation or not.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Never got the impression it was involved enough to set up an appointment. More like you just called and they connected you with someone. I wonder if there are different levels of service tied to the company plan, your asset levels, etc.

 

[marko]

Never got the impression it was involved enough to set up an appointment. More like you just called and they connected you with someone. I wonder if there are different levels of service tied to the company plan, your asset levels, etc.

Could be. I'm a HNW with them so it might work differently.