Advise on using a Fidelity CFP

[Al18]

Over the past few years, I feel like I received a good education on my finances simply by reading the topics on this forum. If you can spend 30-60 minutes a day reading the messages - that’s a good start.

I think there are many good mutual funds at Fidelity. I own some passive funds from Fidelity that cost 0.03% in fees, and I own some actively managed funds who are managed by a team of people to achieve the best returns, such as FBALX, FHASX (corrected) and others that have a fee of 0.47% per year. I don’t feel the need to spend any more on professionals to manage my money.

 

[El Gecko]

OP, I started my financial journey with:

1. Ameriprise: Sold high fee mutual funds that performed terribly. Fine. I learned about the sharks in the water.

2. An independent CFA: He was good. He taught me a lot about investing, all while taking his 1% off the top. He taught me so much, I decided I could do what he did, so took my money to Fidelity and replicated his AA without his 1% fee.

3. Fidelity. I don't have an AUM account, but the corpus eventually grew so large, that they assigned an "advisor," who I see as a relationship manager. He connects me with resources they have. He also occasionally attempts to get me to "buy" products/services that will earn him and Fidelity fees, but he is OK when I inevitably turn him down.

4. Next and eventual step: Name a successor trustee. I'm looking at one now that is local, charges per hour, and will work with my accounts at Fidelity.

Great to know, thanks for sharing the journey!

 

[El Gecko]

Over the past few years, I feel like I received a good education on my finances simply by reading the topics on this forum. If you can spend 30-60 minutes a day reading the messages - that’s a good start.

I think there are many good mutual funds at Fidelity. I own some passive funds from Fidelity that cost 0.03% in fees, and I own some actively managed funds who are managed by a team of people to achieve the best returns, such as FBALX, FHASX (corrected) and others that have a fee of 0.47% per year. I don’t feel the need to spend any more on professionals to manage my money.

Definitely getting the impression what you are saying (learn as much as you can and manage your finances yourself) is the way to go. Thanks!

 

[Al18]

Yes - manage them yourself, but also keep an eye on what the market is doing and make changes accordingly. I moved some FBALX last year and bought some FHASX, because FHASX is currently 30% foreign stock, and foreign stock has been less expensive and performing better for the last year. You can see this in the Callan Table 2025 Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns: Year-End 2025

 

[2cheap2eat]

I use a Fidelity CFP and I don’t get charged anything. My CFP is excellent and has helped navigate tax planning, retirement planning, college savings, etc.

I have not had any pushiness to use Fidelity funds, but they are very competitive to Vanguard and lower fees for many.

You account value may determine your fees, no cost CFP, etc. I highly recommend an initial consultation. You can switch CFPs too if you don’t like someone.

 

[COcheesehead]

I use a Fidelity CFP and I don’t get charged anything. My CFP is excellent and has helped navigate tax planning, retirement planning, college savings, etc.

I have not had any pushiness to use Fidelity funds, but they are very competitive to Vanguard and lower fees for many.

You account value may determine your fees, no cost CFP, etc. I highly recommend an initial consultation. You can switch CFPs too if you don’t like someone.

The OP is talking about a managed account. You are describing an assigned rep. They are two different things.

 

[HarveyS]

As stated earlier, be aware that many "fee-only" managers are not hourly fee. They charge based on assets under management (AUM). They are "fee-only" in that they do not sell funds that carry a sales commission (or so they state). For example, from one group I looked at:
"At Lake Road Advisors, we’re a fee-only firm, which means we’re compensated solely by you. No commissions. No product sales. Our fee is a simple percentage of the assets we manage on your behalf — and as your portfolio grows, your rate goes down."
Lake Road Advisors will look over your assets and make a detailed plan for you to follow. They charge about 0.5% of assets, minimum charge $5,000. Ouch.

 

[SnowballCamper]

1% fee on $950k = $9500. Find an *hourly* fee only advisor (even if you have do meetings online) and $500 per hour gets you 19 hours. This is if you don't have the motivation or disposition to do it yourself. Then once you're confidently on track you're not paying for service you don't need.

 

[OK EE]

There are certain situations where a CFP is warranted. Stock picking isn't one of them. Generally, my advise is:

• Your liquid net worth is more than $2M
• You own your own business
• You have complex income like foreign income
• You don't have your estate plan figured out
• You are in the complex withdrawal/conversion stage of your retirement
• You own property in multiple states or live in multiple states

If more than 3 of these apply to you it might be worth talking to a CFP. Note that none of these items are things you cannot figure out on your own but it might require some research. I had an AUM CFP for about 8 years before I ventured out on my own last year, and he definitely was worth his keep to get a lot of my financial picture squared away, especially the estate stuff.

I pay an accountant $600 to file my taxes every year too. Worth every penny. My tax returns are complex usually 80-90 pages and I have no desire to do that stuff myself. But CFPs are an order of magnitude more expense (or more depending on your assets).

 

[rkser]

Do not hire a FA.

We are at Fidelity & do go see the Financial Consultant occasionally & yes have refused any type of management as I self manage.

1) Do not buy Fidelity Mutual Funds as they cannot travel across Brokers, one would have to sell. When I was at Vanguard, had our Mutual Funds converted to ETFs then transferred to Fidelity. So if something I do not like here, I can transfer to Schwab or somewhere else.

2) Even though it may look daunting, investing is not that hard as long as you stick to broad Index Funds/ETFs

3) These are the mainstream, in my opinion & you may already know all these
VTI = Vanguard Total Stock Index Fund ETF
BND = Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF
VXUS = Total International Market Index Fund ETF

Then there are infinite multiple variations/infinite individual stocks/bonds/what have you.

If you keep it simple, cost effective, avoid the finance noise, you should be golden, avoid all these financial advisors/gurus & noise.

I would look at Target Date Funds, rather than a FA.

If you want one - look at Planvision.com, inexpensive, index fund oriented & low key.

Join Bogleheads.org if you have not already did, the collective knowledge/advise on this present forum & at Bogleheads is all one would need.