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Quesition of the Day – Planning

By JLP | November 14, 2006

Here’s today’s Question of the Day:

Do you currently work with an advisor (accountant, financial planner, stockbroker, etc.)? If so, what made you decide to work with this particular individual?

Topics: Financial Planning, Question of the Day | 10 Comments »


10 Responses to “Quesition of the Day – Planning”

  1. Mark Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 10:47 am

    I currently work with Ameriprise Financial (formerly American Express Financial Advisors). The main reason I work with them is because I had wanted to start investing, and didn’t know where to start. I had signed up for a Preferred Rewards credit card for my job, and one of the benefits was a free consultation. That’s where it’s been since then. I’ve had a good experience, but it’s hard to find good articles about them online.

  2. Miguel Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 2:22 pm

    I do.

    I decided on this individual because:
    1) I had already known them for several years in a different context, so knew I could trust them.
    2) Their personality is fairly low-key and non-judgemental.
    3) My wife gets along with them and trusts them (not an easy task).
    4) They don’t mind taking the time to explain things to my wife, who does not have the finance background that I do. This one is key – if my wife doesn’t understand what we’re talking about, then she is not going to trust the recommendations and we will end up in a stalemate of sorts.
    5) They don’t take it personally, when I challenge their recommendations – which I almost always do.
    6) They understand that my wife and I are the boss – we have the last word.
    7)Their advice is highly tailored to our individual goals and preferences.

  3. Dimes Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 4:04 pm

    Not really.

  4. sam Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 4:15 pm

    I work with an Edward Jones representative because they are also handling my mother’s investments, which makes it easier to transfer stock.

  5. EconUpdate Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 9:33 pm

    It has been my experience that retail brokers/advisors are actually in the business of providing a disservice. I say this because even the best professional portfolio managers have an incredibly tough time consistently beating the market which basically makes retail brokers/advisors a money drain. Unless you have very specialized investment needs there is no reason you shouldn’t put together a well balanced portfolio of ETFs and ride the market. It seems like a defeatist attitude but not everybody can be above average.

  6. moneysmartlife Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 9:57 pm

    We work with a fee-only financial advisor. We picked her because she’s a CFP and CPA; sees both the investment and tax side of things. I like the fee-only model because there is no conflict of interest in our relationship. We pay her for her financial advice, she doesn’t get any money from financial institutions to push thier product. The only way we keep going back is if she makes good reccomendations so she has a vested interest in providing quality advice.

  7. Foobarista Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 10:49 pm

    I do and I don’t. That is, I invest as a silent partner in a couple of partnerships, in situations where I trust the management of the partnership with my money.

    With stocks and 401K stuff, I don’t; I haven’t been able to find an adviser who wasn’t massively expensive, or wasn’t trying to sell us junk.

  8. Khyron Says:
    November 15th, 2006 at 7:50 am

    No. Mostly because I haven’t found a compelling need to seek out an adviser given my level of personal knowledge. While I could be overconfident in my abilities, I think I’ve done reasonably well so far. In the future, I could see myself using a fee only planner, hopefully someone who can address both the tax and investment sides. Not a huge need for estate planning as yet (single, no dependents).

  9. Stacey Says:
    November 15th, 2006 at 2:44 pm

    We manage everything ourselves–my CPA and CFP coursework and hubbie’s MBA and law degree serve us well…however, we did engage a lawyer for our estate planning. No reason to be pennywise when the repercussions could be so great. We’re motivated and somewhat disciplined and try to put investing (529s/401k/extracurricular investing) and bills on autopilot.

  10. Scott Brison Says:
    November 16th, 2006 at 8:06 am

    I frequently see the frustration in peoples’ eyes when they are living paycheck to paycheck and don’t know where to start when it comes budgeting and saving/investing. While I like to gear my advice to the younger generation in the hopes of getting them started on the right foot, I’m well too aware that there are plenty of people in my age bracket and older that would benefit from good financial practices and even get themselves back on track.

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