OT: Picking a financial advisor

[sjbraun]

How do you pick a financial advisor? I'm retiring soon and while we've been good about saving and investing, but I have no idea how to develop a withdrawal strategy. I'm not keen on paying Fidelity to actively "manage" my retirement funds. I'm just looking for someone who can devise an intelligent plan that will provide for some growth, but also provide the funds I need to maintain my current lifestyle. There's always the internet, but so often info derived there is suspect.
Are advisors affiliated with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors legitimate?

Thanks

[smontanaro]

Also interested in this topic, for much the same reason.

[saab2000]

Be careful about how they charge.

You can probably do it all yourself by reading a few books and educating yourself on personal finance. It's not nearly as complicated as it seems and there are TONS of books on this subject.

Just opening websites like Investopedia or scroll through the Finance section of Yahoo for articles. Just beware of the source and if they're trying to sell something.

[clyde the point]

Bogleheads.

[biker72]

I think anyone with average intelligence can manage their own portfolio. I used some of the advice given by Scott Burns.

I built a portfolio of low cost index exchange trades funds, (ETF'S) and mutual funds. Mabe gamble a few bucks on some stocks here and there

I retired at age 59 and am now 80. I have quadrupled my retirement account value even after having to take the required minimum distribution starting at age 70.5.

Problem with financial advisors is that you never know if you have a good one until it's too late. There are good one out there.

[pinkshogun]

My folks had a financial adviser for a about 10 years. they made money with him. he was in touch with them about 4 times a years including some house visits. they didnt hear from him in a while and calls to his office got nowhere

they googled his name and found out he passed away but had another name and identity. long story short, they money is/was safe but we still could never figure out the reason for his other name/identity

[echappist]

Originally Posted by biker72

I think anyone with average intelligence can manage their own portfolio. I used some of the advice given by Scott Burns.

I built a portfolio of low cost index exchange trades funds, (ETF'S) and mutual funds. Mabe gamble a few bucks on some stocks here and there

I retired at age 59 and am now 80. I have quadrupled my retirement account value even after having to take the required minimum distribution starting at age 70.5.

Problem with financial advisors is that you never know if you have a good one until it's too late. There are good one out there.

that's the main thing. beware of people trying to sell stuff, in particular those whose income are derived from the transaction.

fee-for-service removes that, but there's nothing to say that they'd be able to pick out things better than the OP could

what would be helpful to the OP may be a CPA, someone who can help to lower taxes on the withdraws, etc.

Originally Posted by clyde the point

Bogleheads.

this

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one last thing for the OP, seriously ask yourself if you need the growth. If you've won the game, stop playing and move your assets to somewhere safe.

[Jmaxwel8]

You will have to look hard. I agree with other’s comments, most that I’ve encountered aren’t going to make you much money at all. I kind of feel like most of them are like real estate agents... at this point you can do most of the work yourself.

Granted I’m sure there are some that are making their clients a nice return. I’m just saying you will be lucky to find one. I’m also not saying that I haven’t dealt with honest advisors, just not ones that brought much to the table that I couldn’t or haven’t learned on my own.

[zzy]

Whomever you pick, be utterly certain they have a fiduciary duty towards you and have that in writing. Many 'advisors' are really just sales people in disguise who operate with their company's profits in mind. Many will do their best to dance around the fiduciary question. It's often a good idea to find a advisor who will charge by the hour, rather than take commission or a percentage. Online brokerages and exchanges make it much easier to manage your own money if you're so inclined.

[Ralph]

I'm retired from Merrill Lynch (30 year career) the financial services firm. I use Vanguard myself mostly. They have the lowest cost investments. And plenty of good free advice on their web site. You can get all your answers there. Why give anyone part of your money? If one mutual fund group has a .5% expense ratio on their investments, and Vanguard has a .1 % expense ratio.....on every $100,000 that's an extra $400 per year for your pocket. It adds up.....and I don't trust many people for financial advice. You can say, and they will say, you are investing for long term growth......but how do you know you will get it? Be careful.

[54ny77]

You might try Clarence Beeks. He's got great tips in the commodities markets, in case you want to diversify.

[Ralph]

And BTW....No one advisor is better than picking good investment than another. All have lucky streaks. All know the market has been going up for about 10 years now....that at some point it won't. All know what the Fed is doing. All know the geo political news....and how that affects investments.

How they differ......and what is important to you is.....helping (as you say) diversify and devise a portfolio that gives you the income you need with minimal risk. Take market timing and politics out of the equation. You may not even need to own stock investments at this point. Shucks....I'm so tired of this see saw market.....I'm mostly in a money market fund at vanguard yielding over 2%. With some more in a tax free money market fund. I'm tired of losing money with every piece of perceived bad news, then waiting awhile for it to come back. Just going to wait for the next recession, before I invest in stocks again.

At any rate.....You mostly need some help to meet your goals. Vanguard is free, Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade are very inexpensive. Full service places will probably want at least 1% annually for this "advice".

[Tonger]

A few suggestions:

- A financial advisor that charges by the hour is best. This removes any conflict of interest regarding potential purchases and trades.

- A good advisor will perform a detailed interview and help you determine the asset allocation that works best for you. The record bull market has made a lot of folks feel like stock market heroes that may be overexposed to a downside correction or bear market. Proper asset allocation will give you ‘sleep insurance’ and enable you to weather the downturn and optimally position yourself for the recovery.

- Our advisor knew about stuff that we were not familiar with like the use of charitable giving funds and state tax film credits which have favorably impacted our tax payments.

- A good advisor can do a retirement income simulation to give you an idea of what you can expect at your current savings state. He or she can also help you simulate life changes such as a vacation home, college tuition, or change in employment.

- The advisor should help you assess whether you have any holes in your insurance coverage - umbrella, disability, long term care, and life.

In a nutshell, picking stocks and funds is the easy part - especially in a record bull market. The role of the financial advisor is to help you think about and manage the other stuff well - downside exposure, asset allocation, insurance, legal tax optimization.

Best of luck!

Tonger

[cnighbor1]

http://www.merriman.com/ My strategy is get into a system for managing your assets. Merriman does that. They have priority systems developed by them that they lose. Why systems ? Your individual advisor may just take a vacation just before great market upheaval > little he can do away from his desk. than say a big market upheaval happens. Your one person advisor can't react to all his accounts in a day or o more. With a system in place it just reacts to market conditions and all in that system get the same buy or sell positions

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by zzy

whomever you pick, be utterly certain they have a fiduciary duty towards you and have that in writing. Many 'advisors' are really just sales people in disguise who operate with their company's profits in mind. Many will do their best to dance around the fiduciary question. It's often a good idea to find a advisor who will charge by the hour, rather than take commission or a percentage. Online brokerages and exchanges make it much easier to manage your own money if you're so inclined.

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