Coffee Mavin
Dryer sheet aficionado
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May I ask where on the site this is?
Q about FA No Flame
- Thread starter Jack_Pine
- Start date
May I ask where on the site this is?
LOL!
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2005
- Messages
- 10,252
It is not in a specific place at Bogleheads.org
Also, many of the folks recommending the advisors don't use them, so they have no basis for their recommendation.
Actual client testimonials for specific advisors are very rare and seemed to be frowned upon at that site because they are so close to advertising.
Example: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=117576
Also, many of the folks recommending the advisors don't use them, so they have no basis for their recommendation.
Actual client testimonials for specific advisors are very rare and seemed to be frowned upon at that site because they are so close to advertising.
Example: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=117576
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SVHoper
Recycles dryer sheets
The classic boglehead is a proponent of do it yourself, but financial advisor questions come up very often and can be found by searching. For example, Bogleheads • View topic - Picking a good financial planner?
The above is a typical thread which hits most of the popular categories: wiki advice, regular posters who are financial advisors and generally subscribe to low cost index funds, and pointer to general financial organizations. I did not use boglehead recommendations but thought it might be a good starting place checklist.
I don't know, but I suspect my situation is not unique. I've always been, and will continue to be a DIY investor. But I've been ER'd for over a dozen years, and when DW finally retired last year I got the idea that it might not be a bad thing to get a completely independent opinion on what I was doing.
I went to this website:
Fee-Only Financial Advisors Home - NAPFA - The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
and looked for fee-only advisors. I found about a dozen in my area, and all but one had websites. I went through all their sites carefully, and just kept getting more and more turned off.
Every single one of them was "percent of assets under management" instead of the hourly fee I wanted. The worst one made it very clear on their site that their percentage fee was based on my total net worth, not just the portion they managed.
Some of them tried (feebly) to disguise this by claiming they were not using this model, but looking through the verbiage it was clear that this was not true. They used wording like "bands" with different fees based on your band, but the bands were merely levels of your total assets.
The other issue was right up front. An initial consultation would cost at least several thousand dollars, sometimes considerably more. And that was just for the first meeting.
By the time I was through, I was so thoroughly turned off that I had totally lost any interest in going this route.
I still might have a (free) sit-down one of these days with a Fidelity rep to get his take, but that's about it. My Fidelity rep calls me about once a year to chat and invite me to something, but he's very low key and completely understands my DIY nature.
I went to this website:
Fee-Only Financial Advisors Home - NAPFA - The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
and looked for fee-only advisors. I found about a dozen in my area, and all but one had websites. I went through all their sites carefully, and just kept getting more and more turned off.
Every single one of them was "percent of assets under management" instead of the hourly fee I wanted. The worst one made it very clear on their site that their percentage fee was based on my total net worth, not just the portion they managed.
Some of them tried (feebly) to disguise this by claiming they were not using this model, but looking through the verbiage it was clear that this was not true. They used wording like "bands" with different fees based on your band, but the bands were merely levels of your total assets.
The other issue was right up front. An initial consultation would cost at least several thousand dollars, sometimes considerably more. And that was just for the first meeting.
By the time I was through, I was so thoroughly turned off that I had totally lost any interest in going this route.
I still might have a (free) sit-down one of these days with a Fidelity rep to get his take, but that's about it. My Fidelity rep calls me about once a year to chat and invite me to something, but he's very low key and completely understands my DIY nature.
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MRG
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2013
- Messages
- 11,078
Braumeister,
We did go to one of those guys, got the review for much less than his normal fee(mutual friend). His stuff was educational for us at that point in time. I could have learned more reading a couple of good books recommended here. His plan, it made pretty confetti. I'm sure YMMV.
My Fidelity guy sounds much like yous. I do get value from our meetings, and some of their training.
MRG
We did go to one of those guys, got the review for much less than his normal fee(mutual friend). His stuff was educational for us at that point in time. I could have learned more reading a couple of good books recommended here. His plan, it made pretty confetti. I'm sure YMMV.
My Fidelity guy sounds much like yous. I do get value from our meetings, and some of their training.
MRG
Ready
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Braumeister,
Based on your history of posts, I do not think you will find any value from using a financial advisor. However, if you have access to a free advisor through Fidelity or Vanguard, I think you would find it enjoyable to have someone to talk to and ask them to poke holes in your plan to see if you are missing anything.
I spent a full hour on the phone with my Vanguard advisor. He was very knowledgeable and had no desire to pressure me to buy anything. He made some good observations but in the end agreed that what I'm doing is just fine. It cost me nothing, it was an enjoyable conversation, and it felt good to know that someone who does this for a living looked at my plan and validated it.
FWIW, I spoke to an advisor at Fidelity several times last year. He connected me with Fidelity Portfolio Advisory Services, which wanted to charge me 1.25% to manage my assets. The guy from the FPAS group who I spoke to sounded like a complete moron, and very sleazy at that. It was my last time contacting that advisor, or anyone at Fidelity for that matter.
I read somewhere on the internet recently that only 30% of financial advisors will perform their services on an hourly basis. I can't recall the source, so I don't know how accurate it is. For those who really want one, I did read a good book last year called Bond Investing for Dummies by Russell Wild. I thought the book was well written, especially for novices. At the end of the book is his contact information, and he does specifically point out the importance of using an hourly fee advisor, of which he is one. I never spoke with him, but based on his book, I felt comfortable knowing enough about him that I'd likely be fine using him if I chose to pay for an advisor.
I won't post his contact information since I suspect I may be violating a variety of rules by doing so, but perhaps reading his book first might be a good idea, and then if you still think you need an advisor, maybe give him a ring?
Based on your history of posts, I do not think you will find any value from using a financial advisor. However, if you have access to a free advisor through Fidelity or Vanguard, I think you would find it enjoyable to have someone to talk to and ask them to poke holes in your plan to see if you are missing anything.
I spent a full hour on the phone with my Vanguard advisor. He was very knowledgeable and had no desire to pressure me to buy anything. He made some good observations but in the end agreed that what I'm doing is just fine. It cost me nothing, it was an enjoyable conversation, and it felt good to know that someone who does this for a living looked at my plan and validated it.
FWIW, I spoke to an advisor at Fidelity several times last year. He connected me with Fidelity Portfolio Advisory Services, which wanted to charge me 1.25% to manage my assets. The guy from the FPAS group who I spoke to sounded like a complete moron, and very sleazy at that. It was my last time contacting that advisor, or anyone at Fidelity for that matter.
I read somewhere on the internet recently that only 30% of financial advisors will perform their services on an hourly basis. I can't recall the source, so I don't know how accurate it is. For those who really want one, I did read a good book last year called Bond Investing for Dummies by Russell Wild. I thought the book was well written, especially for novices. At the end of the book is his contact information, and he does specifically point out the importance of using an hourly fee advisor, of which he is one. I never spoke with him, but based on his book, I felt comfortable knowing enough about him that I'd likely be fine using him if I chose to pay for an advisor.
I won't post his contact information since I suspect I may be violating a variety of rules by doing so, but perhaps reading his book first might be a good idea, and then if you still think you need an advisor, maybe give him a ring?
When we went looking for a FA a few years ago, we were appalled by their factless beliefs. We're trained as scientists and we assumed that there would be data behind their recommendations, but instead it seemed like they were pushing random, made-up stuff that they had heard on the TV. They all seemed to have multiple TVs, too. Admittedly, we went looking for an FA in the middle of a giant financial meltdown, but they just didn't seem to have any framework of facts in which they worked. OTOH, Vanguard was really great about helping us simplify all of our accumulated accounts and walking us through basic tax planning.
We also got everything set up in a family trust through a lawyer whose financial recommendations were eye-rollingly bad (”no one can afford to retire with less than $10M" still makes us laugh).
We also got everything set up in a family trust through a lawyer whose financial recommendations were eye-rollingly bad (”no one can afford to retire with less than $10M" still makes us laugh).
CaliforniaMan
Full time employment: Posting here.
I am in a similar situation, however I would be very worried that the way the FA treated me and the way they would subsequently treat the DW once they saw the chance to make some big bucks would be very different. The FA you can trust while YOU are watching them may not be the same after only your DW is watching them. I think going the VG FA route is the way to go. Leave instructions on moving everything to a balanced VG fund, and just setup a draw percentage. Might not be the best approach if you were alive, but a lot better than the once trusted FA is taking their 2% or more a year in upfront plus hidden fees.
I don't think you could trust a FA to handle things after you are gone. Not sensible at all. Kind of like having the fox guard the hen house don't you think?
