Comments on: Why Does Everyone Hate on Financial Planners? Defending Financial Advisors

By: Never Assume a Person Has a Completed Estate Plan

Never Assume a Person Has a Completed Estate Plan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:15:58 +0000

[...] firm. While my responsibilities in this role vary day to day my goal is always to help the financial planners/advisors spot issues and prepare the correct path for the financial plan. Since I end up reviewing most of [...]

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:15:35 +0000

Feel good to get that off your chest? It had to! Take a look at pareto’s law I think you’d like it.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:11:44 +0000

I work as a financial advisor and have to agree whilst the industry does get a great deal of negativity unfortunately it is primarily the fault of the industry. The commission based models along with the soft licensing have not done it any favors. That said it does depend on the clients since often many advisors deal with unsophisticated people that may earn good money however they have unrealistic expectations and are totally responsible for their own financial issues. The annoying thing is when a good advisor explains what needs to be done and is totally frank with them it comes as a shock, i.e often making sacrifices with existing lifestyles if they have left retirement planning too late for example. Clients may take up a plan or recommendation have it explained to them in great detail, costs, surrender charges etc and after a short period of time they lapse back into their old ways and realize they want to stop current investment or make radical changes because they think they know better and ultimately lose money – who would get the blame? the advisor of course despite having explained the risk previously. I only deal with sophisticated investors, I will pitch good ideas and explain the risk and then they make the decision to go ahead, if they lose money they knew the risk and donâ€™t bitch and moan like most unsophisticated clients do. You have two choices either build your wealth up slowly staking little risk and treat good years as a bonus or build fast but understanding the dangers involved – That’s it! people always want to high returns low risk and expect and advisor do achieve that and complain when they donâ€™t. People also complain about commissions but do not want to bay upfront feeâ€™s which are expensive, remember it is a service and if you feel itâ€™s of value pay for it, if you donâ€™t then donâ€™t and invest your own money. Another thing is always read the small print where your money is concerned. Even if you trust your advisor never take just their word for it. It is the clients responsibility to check they understand what they are investing in. The advisor is there to help you and assist you in growing and protecting your wealth. They are not responsible for it. That is you the client. If someone says they donâ€™t have any time to look after their money I tell them that is no excuse and need to start taking responsibility otherwise prepare to be poor. A good teacher can teach you almost anything but you need to be the one to actually learn and apply the knowledge. A good advisor and educate and provide you with a range of options but you need to be the one to ultimately take action and make it happen.

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:57:43 +0000

“Find one with the heart of a teacher”

Amazing advice

By: FinancialBondage

FinancialBondage — Sun, 23 May 2010 02:18:36 +0000

I guess there are planners that want to do nothing but sell you something. Those are the ones to avoid. Find one with the heart of a teacher… those that want to give you the right advice, whether they can make a sale or not.

By: Daddy Paul

Daddy Paul — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:34:27 +0000

I would never hire a financial planner. I would hire a tax accountant. I can do a better job than a financial planner. By the way I do change my own oil not just to save a few bucks but because I had a guy strip out my oil drain plug and that cost me some dough. I put the filter I want on my car not the one that the oil change place thinks is best for them. Yes I worked as an engineer in an engine factory for years and I know what I am talking about.

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:54:02 +0000

Great post. To those who say that financial planners are not policed by any organization, you need to check your state’s securities laws. Many states have started to regulate ANYONE who calls themselves a financial planner (whether fee or commission). Trust me – I dealt with my own state one this (though everything worked out fine for me because I was following the rules).

Also, there’s a difference between fee-based and fee-only. If a planner says he is fee-based, then he could receive an hourly fee (or flat fee or % of assets fee) and STILL get a commission. If he’s fee-only, that means absolutely NO commissions.

I chose to set up my business as a fee-only planner because I don’t think it’s right to “plan” when you’re going to get commissions. Specifically, I work only on an hourly or flat fee basis because there are some serious conflicts-of-interest with the assets under management model (% of your assets type of fee). But of course, no compensation model is completely free of all possible conflicts.

By: youngandthrifty

youngandthrifty — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:15:54 +0000

Great post! Yeah, financial planners like a lot of professionals can be great or they can be not so great. Just like you can have an excellent doctor or a mediocre doctor in life. You just have to pick wisely and make sure they’re out for you, not themselves. =)

By: Evan

Evan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:40:48 +0000

I’d love for you to tell me a little about your site?

By: Evan

Evan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:35:45 +0000

Mr. Credit Card,

I agree with about 98% of what you just said! Did you check out my post on High Net Worth individuals?

http://www.myjourneytomillions.com/articles/common-qualities-high-net-worth-individuals-balance-sheets/

I have a feeling you’ll love it