Several years ago I found a web site that listed fiduciary money managers nationwide and would list ones in your area and if they had been any complaints or they had been in trouble. I think this was a non profit website maybe run by the organisation who licenses them. I am not talking about a website like smart asset that these businesses pay to be listed and then you get bombarded by continuous e-mails afterwards.

I’m sure many Humble Dollar readers have read various iterations of this innumerable times.
I was just reading Adam Grossman’s (soon to be published on the HD website) weekly email where he quotes Warren Buffet as stating, “Performance comes, performance goes. Fees never falter.”
John Bogle’s is famously quoted as saying, “You get what you don’t pay for. Costs matter.”
Yesterday I was speaking with my daughter in law about these famous quotes when urging her to investigate what her 403b fee is.

My wife and I are a year or two away from retirement.  We have been with a financial advisor for 2o years.  The advisor is calling all the shots.  Our retirement accounts have done very well.  We are currently paying a 1% assets under management fee.  Our advisor does not try to sell us products: he just guides the ship.  We would like to reduce the amount we are paying for financial guidance.  In general, are the flat-fee advisors a good choice for getting through the retirement years?

I know what a mutual fund is. I can even engage in a semi-literate discussion involving things like alpha, beta, inverted yield curves, and etc. On the other hand, I’d be lost in an in-depth conversation with the likes of a Grossman, Clements, or certain other HD contributors. So how much knowledge does one actually need to manage their own investments without the need for paid help?

Let’s play a hypothetical – a married couple 60 and 58, with a net worth of $10M.  No debt, no children.
What roles does a financial advisor play, assuming the couple is content on how they invest?
What role might a tax expert play for planning and managing cost avoidance over time?
 

“SELL THE SIZZLE, BOYS.” With those words from the sales manager at a big insurance company, the 2003 class of newly minted registered representatives were off to the races, extolling the virtues of the firm’s products to family, friends and anyone else who would listen.
I still vividly remember that moment. Yes, I was there.
To become registered reps, the 2003 class had to pass the necessary exams to get a Series 6 securities license and a license to sell life and health insurance.

THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Commission recently proposed that registered financial advisors be compelled to act as fiduciaries when recommending rolling over 401(k) money to an IRA. Whether this rule gets adopted or not, plenty of advisors are eager to help investors with the issue.
Indeed, as I approached retirement, a number of advisors contacted me about rolling over my 401(k). Of course, these advisors also offered to manage my funds for a fee, usually around 1% a year of assets.

WHEN MY WIFE AND I got married, she had a credit card with an outstanding balance. Back then, you could write off the interest on your tax return. Still, I hate debt and I paid off her balance. Ever since, she’s continued to maintain a separate credit card because I wanted her to have a credit history, so she could take out a loan on her own if I died. We’ve always paid off her monthly balance in full.

WHEN I TOOK OVER responsibility for my developmentally disabled uncle’s finances, following my father’s death in 2001, I inherited the stock broker that my dad was using. The broker was associated with a well-known financial company. I’d never used a broker before. Any investments I personally owned were held in my employer’s 401(k) plan.
The first time I met the broker, whose name was Jim, I took notice of the large and finely appointed office he had.

I’VE SEEN FINANCIAL advisors do great work and I’ve seen them do poor work. Which brings me to my late father’s experience.
Dad was a heck of a small businessman. Starting in 1956, he and his partner sold and serviced radios, televisions, appliances and furniture. Forty years later, he sold the business to four of my brothers.
By the mid-1960s, Dad had accumulated what was for him a small fortune. This was the time of the stock market’s so-called go-go years.

I WAS A RABID football fan as a kid. I would sweep across our front lawn, fantasizing about the many and varied ways I would run to daylight for Hewlett High School. But when I finally got the chance, I lasted only a few practices. I hadn’t counted on all the bruises that came with the program.
So, too, was it with my brief stint as an independent investment advisor affiliated with a large discount broker.

I MADE A MAJOR change late in my career, leaving behind my job as a financial manager at a dying computer business. I knew I needed to change. If I didn’t, there was a good chance I’d soon be out of work.
My new job, however, wasn’t what I expected.
I’d been with the computer company since graduating college. I was in my mid-50s and smart enough financially to know I still needed more savings for a successful retirement.

I WAS OFFERED a “free retirement review” by Carlson Financial a year ago. The review would—among other things—”help me answer the five biggest questions I have about retirement.” I didn’t realize I had only five questions. Still, I decided a financial review might be in order.
I then forwarded an uncomfortable amount of personal information, financial statements and tax returns to a man I’d never met. Scott seemed like a nice enough guy, but hey,

ONLINE INVESTMENT advisor Personal Capital offered me a $25 Amazon gift card to open an account and then link it to one of my existing financial accounts worth more than $1,000. As a bonus, it also offered a complimentary financial checkup.
I duly signed up and linked one financial account. I then dodged the complimentary checkup and subsequently used my newfound wealth to purchase a portion of a good-enough HP computer.
I thought I was home free until I inadvertently answered a phone call from a member of my “Personal Capital team,” who again offered me the complimentary financial checkup.

EVERY SO OFTEN, I see comments on social media about Vanguard Group’s Personal Advisor Services (PAS). One person posted that he’d talked to a growing number of people who quit PAS. There was no particular reason given for why they left. But I don’t doubt it. I’m a PAS client. I’ve often thought about terminating my relationship.
I’ve been with PAS since 2018. When I first joined, the PAS advisors made a few changes to my investment portfolio.