[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by TNLAKEPANDA

I would recommend that you meet with Parady before you sign up with anyone. Best thing we ever did.

Parady will most likely try to sell you an annuity.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Parady will most likely try to sell you an annuity.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Parady will most likely try to sell you an annuity.

Great money maker for the "advisor" not necessarily a good deal for the buyer.

As a wise man once said annuities are not bought they are sold.

[l2ridehd]

Parady used to have 3 or 4 full page adds in the Sun everyday. Didn’t it make you wonder how they were able to spend that much on advertising? I bet they sold a lot of very high commission Annunities. Personally that would be the very last place I would go. When someone tells you they can get you higher returns, there is only one way they can do that. TAKE MORE RISK WITH YOUR MONEY. That is the only way they can push returns. Sell you annunities, take more risk, use high commission products and then they can afford those ads. And why not, it’s your money at risk, not theirs. And the same logic applies to most other financial advisors. Expenses always hurt returns. So lower expenses is almost always better for you.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Parady used to have 3 or 4 full page adds in the Sun everyday. Didn’t it make you wonder how they were able to spend that much on advertising? I bet they sold a lot of very high commission Annunities. Personally that would be the very last place I would go. When someone tells you they can get you higher returns, there is only one way they can do that. TAKE MORE RISK WITH YOUR MONEY. That is the only way they can push returns. Sell you annunities, take more risk, use high commission products and then they can afford those ads. And why not, it’s your money at risk, not theirs. And the same logic applies to most other financial advisors. Expenses always hurt returns. So lower expenses is almost always better for you.

Parady is a heavy pusher of annuities.

[Carla B]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Parady is a heavy pusher of annuities.

Yes, but, they throw good parties.

[Boomer]

. . . Never mind

[manaboutown]

Many factors have driven this long bull market. Historically low interest rates which were initially put in place to artificially stimulate the economy have continued. Relief from confiscatory taxes also helped. With what we are facing now after a 12 year bull market who knows? Multi trillion dollar stimulus "relief" is sure to result in crushing tax burdens. There comes a time to pay the piper as my father used to say. P/E ratios are currently very high. No one really knows where this market will be in a year or five. Right now I am treading lightly.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

Right now I am treading lightly.

I have snow shoes on.

[SusanKD]

The banks usually have limited investment for you to choose from.

[dougjb]

There is a "financial advisor" at Wells Fargo who recently gave a seminar. He related how new legislation/regulation (during the prior administration) was lifting the requirement that financial advisors such as himself would no longer be required to serve in a fiduciary capacity to investors, i.e. bank customers who had been diverted to financial advisors such as himself. This mingling of banking services with investment advisory services, to me, is inappropriate. While monies on deposit with a federally insured bank (FDIC) are protected to hundreds of thousands of dollars, there is no such protection for those who work under a separate subsidiary of the bank holding company that is the employer of these so-called "financial advisors". When I heard the Wells Fargo financial advisor revel in the fact that he no longer had to serve as a fiduciary to investors, I blanched. There is only one reason a sound financial advisor would not like to serve as a fiduciary. Instead of being required to act in the investors best interest, the "financial advisor" could act in his own best interest, not his customers. I would never use a service associated with a bank holding company that employed "financial advisors". Best to go to a group like Vanguard or Fidelity.

[manaboutown]

Fiduciary duties: under what circumstances and conditions? It can get a little complicated. Best to have a contract drawn documenting an investment advisor's duties. It likely will cost more to obtain greater degrees of fiduciary duties. Here is how the SEC as of 2019 interprets fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940.

https://www.sec.gov/rules/interp/2019/ia-5248.pdf

[dewilson58]

On the death of Bernie.

Bottomline...............Don't be blind. Understand. Ask questions. If it's too good to be true, probably.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

They have quite a few recommendations of no load mutual funds with good long term track records.

No-Load Fund Definition.

Why Are There Loads?


The justification for a load fund is that investors are compensating a sales intermediary such as a broker, financial planner, investment advisor or other professionals for their time and expertise in selecting an appropriate fund. Some investors find the paying of these fees bothersome. However, there is evidence that shows load funds can at times outperform no-load funds in some portfolios. Investors should carefully read all fund information and compare similar funds before investing.

Even no-load funds will carry fees that the investor must pay. All mutual funds carry one form or another of such fees and expenses, and the difference comes in how and when these charges are paid. Rather than charging an investor upfront, at the time of purchase, no-load fees earned are part of a fund’s average expense ratios (ER).

[Plinker]

My first investment, at the ripe old age of 28, was $1500 into the Vanguard Wellington fund. Their reputation and rock-bottom fees made Vanguard an easy choice. I have never owned an individual stock. I’m not suggesting that owning individual stocks is not a valid approach to long term success. It’s just that I am a follower of the KISS principal (Keep It Simple, Stupid). By choosing very low-cost mutual funds or ETF’s, diversified over various asset classes, I was able to avoid the average 1.5% (all in) annual fees of an actively managed account. The average fee in my Vanguard accounts is less than 0.2%. If you need help, Vanguard offers access to a CFP for a really low 0.3% AUM fee.
The main reason that the managers of actively managed accounts have great difficulty in outperforming their benchmark is that they are unable to overcome their AUM fees. Numerous studies have confirmed that around 90% of actively managed accounts fall short of their benchmarks. There are plenty of low-cost advisors, including robo advisors, that can be successfully utilized.
Over 3 decades of investing and several more decades of retirement will result in hundreds of thousands of dollars that will remain in your account and not in the advisors account.
My advice is to contact a fee-only (not fee-based) fiduciary planner and pay for a comprehensive plan that you can personally set up with a low-cost brokerage and never pay AUM fees.
I also agree with several posts that calling Parady or any other insurance/annuity salesman is a huge mistake.