RUN FORREST!! RUN!!
Years ago I worked with a guy who left our company and got a job as a financial advisor with what was then Shearson-American Express and has since moved to Ameriprise Financial. Nice enough guy although we weren't close, I always thought him to be above-board and basically ethical and honest.
So some time had passed and I bump into him at a business afterhours social gathering hosted by the local chamber of commerce. He hands me his card and invites me to get a "free consultation" for retirement planning. I was in my late 30's and thought it couldn't hurt so why not? Now I had started IRA investing in the mid-1980's with the typical 65/35 mix of stock & bond mutual funds with low fees. Not setting the world on fire but they were pretty much matching the decent market performers. I was slowly getting good returns.
THREE-CARD MONTY WITH LUNCH PROVIDED
We meet at his nice offices and he brings in coffee and lunch...does a Q&A about my current investments, future retirement goals, horizon, visualize what I expect at what age, etc. Then he tells me he'll take my current account info and compare it with his products and tells me his market resources will find "better options" to help me get to FIRE sooner and safer.
A couple of weeks go by and he calls to set up lunch and presents me with this custom 3-ring binder with my name on the front and it has tabbed sections with my goals and wants and needs. Then shows the amount I'll need for FIRE and outlines how to get there with Shearson-AE investment products ONLY. I get a tiny notation disclosing annual administrative and management fees along with a total balance fee based on a percentage of my total accounts and then other "possible fees" for update consultations, etc.
A quick add-up showed me I was looking at paying 3 to 4%+ before paying upfront loads on Shearson-American Express products, no mention of any other product outside their fold.
Keep in mind I had been using no-load / low cost mutual funds performing at decent levels. I then asked for the page that compares my current holdings with Shearson-AE products he was recommending. He sort of froze and said "Well I didn't really find anything that stood out worth mentioning here OR there was very little information on my holdings out there." HUH? What happened to all his "vast data resources on all financial products available" pitch?
I didn't really react but took all this as a well-scripted sales pitch and told him I'd think about it. A week later he called and I told him that I decided to go a different route but thanks for the lunches and binder.
SUMMATION:
Now I don't begrudge someone getting paid for a service but the built-in fees and charges just to have an account were beyond reasonable IMHO. Besides I had enough knowledge to know I could do OK on my own if I do a little reading and listen to enough people who know more than I do on certain things. And considering the fate of Shearson-American Express, I think I did the right thing by declining their portfolio.
I met a fork-lift driver with Ford Motor Co. and he was a high-school dropout who amassed a fortune buying smart and holding. So much in fact that he was one of the largest donors to HBCU's in the U.S. at one time. He donated about $200K to set up a tuition fund for a local school in his hometown, that's how I met him. His advice was the same as I would give you: "Listen to others who know more, take good notes, dollar-cost-average, AND watch your costs/fees."
I'll add that if you feel you need some advice, get with a CFP "Fee-Only" planner and avoid buying anything they get a commission. Today I have mostly Vanguard funds that have done pretty well over time, along with a few other non-VG in the mix that have <1% fees and some have been doing really, really, really well. I'm no expert nor super-smart, I just pay attention to the markets and carefully read my statements.
Good luck.