Quote:
Originally Posted by Gpsma
My questions on this thread still go unanswered. When people retired to TV….cashed out their company run, and advised 401ks, or had personal investments that could have been advised. Why would you go to a small local place. Its your retirement savings, go to the big guys…they will follow what you want.
Again…who would go to a small shop?….because he promised you the world and fed you a chicken sandwich.
MD…you said you went to him because others here said he was good….were these recommendations from astute investors?
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I am confident that only a very small percentage of seniors would be considered “astute investors”. Instead, they are well versed in teaching, engineering, medicine, etc, etc. Investing is not in their wheelhouse.
During the asset accumulation phase of our lives, the contributions most employees made were managed by the employer and their chosen fiduciary. Then, upon retiring, seniors were inundated with offers (free dinners) to rollover their 401k, 403b and similar accounts to a local micro-asset advisor.
Choosing a financial advisor with fiduciary credentials, years of experience and a friends’ recommendation is not enough. How many seniors know what a form ADV is and that a FINRA website exists? How many know about the disclosure page? How many posts on this site have exposed scams that these parasites have perpetrated on trusting seniors? It goes far beyond unscrupulous financial advisors. However, it likely has the largest impact on the well-being of one’s financial future in retirement.
We will always need help to accomplish tasks beyond our area of expertise. Weeding out the grifters is no easy task. The key is to educate seniors that they will be far better off with the giants of the financial services industry such as Vanguard and Fidelity. I’m not sure how to accomplish this on a large scale. Holding these charlatans accountable by filing complaints and spreading the word is a good start.