Quote:
Originally Posted by capecoralbill
I would go with Schwab, or Fidelity, maybe even Edward Jones. A friend of mine used a local Advisor (Who does host dinners here) with a small office of maybe five or 6 employees they put her into some questionable stocks, some of them even went bankrupt and she lost seven to 10 thousand dollars on two of them. He was charging her 1 1/2 per cent every month. We eventually got away from him entirely and split her assets between Fidelity and Schwab. They are both self directed accounts, which means no fees. They both offer some financial guidance at either one to two percent, if you need guidence. So just go talk to them without swapping your money there and listen to their sales pitch. But I would definitely stay away from these small outfits especially when they have relatives working in their office.
Just think if one of their principles would die, the chaos your money and income taxes Would be in.
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Schedule a visit with all three! I use fidelity exclusively and have forever so I would start there. Ask to set up an informational session to go over all the advice options they have. It doesn’t sound like self directed will be comfortable you (this is what I do but I am a confident investor). Their management fees are in line with all the larger firms and there are options for levels of service. I have a very good friend who has them manage everything and he considers the fee very reasonable for how well he sleeps at night. The biggest thing is to NOT be afraid to say, after the first meeting (whichever if the big three you go to) that “we like your services but aren’t sure the person we spoke with first is the right fit. Can we speak with other advisors?” This is VERY hard for most of us to do but it is critically important that you feel understood by your financial advisors.
Good luck. Stay away from insurance and annuity salespeople. Don’t rush the choice. Go for a fiduciary with an office here so you can meet in person if desired. I would start with Fidelity.