Who is the best financial advisor in The Villages?
 

We are new in town looking for good advisor who will keep our best interest at heart.

Your best choice is to do it yourself through vanguard or Schwab. Keep it simple use passive index funds. Alternatively you could use Vanguards financial consulting service.

http://https://investor.vanguard.com/financial-advisor/financial-advice

Keep you fees as low as you can. There is no magic greater returns that an expensive (over .5%) adviser can give you. As I've said before over a ten year period simple index investing beats managed investments over 80% of the time. No body knows what the markets will do in the future. a simple three fund portfolio rebalanced once a year is all one needs.

http://http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

You can set up these accounts with an appropriate equites/bonds percentage that makes you sleep well.

If you want to use an advisor in the Villages, Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is a low cost alternative. They invest in a broad range of index funds setup by your risk tolerance and age. They say it's got no fees, but require you to keep a portion in their money market account which is in effect a fee. If you need to see a local representative they have an office in Sumter Landing.

I Am not a financial adviser. So the advice here is only my personal opinion.

What do you want?
Just watch investments? Take above advice. Also look at robo advisors from same firms.

Since you are not looking to to self invest (smart move) Fross and Fross appears to be the cream of the crop in The Villages.

Fan of Maxman's advice. Indexing thru Vanguard has worked well for us over the past 40 years.

The best one is the one who helps you meet your financial goals. The good ones will offer to show you the track record on dollars invested vs plan one, five and ten years.

Also be on the look out for how they make their money with you as a client.

Usually two ways. One is flat fee based and this is usually more than made up in the invested returns. The second which I recommend against are those who make their money off the product they invest your money in. Here the incentive is for them to sell you something vs is it the best for your investment startegy.

Check the bigger banks like Wells Fargo and Chase who both have private banking investment and securities advisors....who are tied into their national securities investment and fund management systems.

Good Luck.

Lastly, don't limit your possibilities by only looking at the private investors that happen to be in TV.

Save yourself a lot of money and invest yourself in target date mutual funds - let the real experts pick the stocks and bonds, they know a lot more than any local adviser.
Set up a no load fund portfolio with Vanguard, Fidelity or T Rowe Price - you can't go wrong of any of these three.
I learned my lesson about expert broker advise long ago. Fortunately long enough ago to allow me to retire now.

Unless you desire to be very very pro-active with your porfolio I would not suggest handling it on your own. The market has been extrermely difficult to read in recent years, so for myself a financial advisor was necessary. She has structured a portfolio of stocks and bonds that have exceeded our goals the past 8 years. The advisor is Jayne Wakeman with Edward Jones in The Villages. I have dealt with numerous advisors to date and she is by far the best.

One question do you have any American funds through Edward Jones?

Edward Jones costs more in several ways:

1. The front load buying the fund (up to 5%)

2. Funds with higher expense ratios (1 to 2%)

3. Sales load for reinvesting capital gains or dividends (up to 5%)

Also, notice how frequently agents take family vacation trips internationally (probably some sort of sales incentive from Edward Jones or mutual fund family). Ultimately the investor is paying for these too.

Very pleased with Tom Ruggie at Ruggie Wealth Management. The great news is they now have an office in Pinellas Plaza.

Ruggie Wealth Management - Tavares, Florida

If your regular bank have investment people meet with them. My advice is to pick three or four companies or people, meet with them and make up your own mind.
Everyone has different needs,expectations, and goals for their money.

Interesting article on Edward jones
http://http://advisorhubinc.com/the-scientologists-of-the-financial-industryseriously/

disagree
 

I totally disagree that Fross and Fross are good. They are not fee only....they will put you into things that pay them high commissions. I realized that after going to the polo fields to watch them play polo....the amount of money under their control at a 1% fee couldn't possible pay for all they have.

go to Fidelity in Lake Sumter Landing. If you put your money with them you can either have them manage it for a fee, or they will advise you free and you have to make the changes. They also have low cost index funds.

In my opinion, you are your own best financial adviser. There is plenty of library and internet material available to help you make good choices about investment. You do not have to pay someone a large fee to (1) determine your goals, (2) determine your risk tolerance, (3) select diversified investments. Keep your money and find some solid index funds. Just open an investment account where they don't charge you unless you trade. Yes, you can. Really, you can. No, seriously, you can. It's not rocket science.

I like Morgan Stanley but my rep is out of Winter Park. He will come to the Villages to meet with you. I have been with him since 1992 and very pleased. He understand how to do proper asset allocations for retired folks.

The polo matches, wine tastings, dinner dances, drive-in movies, golf get togethers, etc. are all part of networking. All successful companies do it. The question you should be asking is if you ever heard of a Fross and Fross disgruntled client?

Well should Fross and Fross put IRA $$ into Annuities??

That may well be the worst investment advice I've ever read. :1rotfl:
Be wary of local banks selling annuities - MarketWatch

One bunch of advisors I would hesitate to use would those associated with many of the national banks such as Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Chase, etc. All have been fine MILLIONS and MILLIONS in the US and internationally during the recent past for the financial and legal shenanigans of their officers, leaders, policy makers and department heads. Personally I'd also be embarrassed to work for such companies especially when one of their main products is "trust". If the top is rotten how bad is the rest of the operation??:shocked: To them, I think, scruples is something they just put on their toast to eat each morning.

It takes very little effort to do it yourself. I think the only reason people use a financial advisor is to calm their fears and keep them from bailing in a bear market. I find the cost of this hand holding to be extreme. I've learned through mistakes over the years not to use an advisor.

We have free resources now that we did not have 10-20 years ago. Those resources make it very easy to put your investments on auto pilot.

Give Parady a chance. They have your goals first.
Good Luck

Could you please elaborate?

MAXMAN...For someone comfortable and has experience or wanting to learn, I cannot disagree....doing It yourself may be best from a monetary perspective.. But even the best of the experienced (non-professional) person can get spooked in rough markets for most lack discipline, patience, and foresight. In the community we live, you or I may be very comfortable in making investment decisions for the family BUT what will happen when (Note not "IF" but "WHEN") the experienced person who handled all the investment is no longer with us or unable to make these decisions and now your spouse or other family member(s) are left with a pile of receipts and records of investments.

If we are now talking about the need for a Financial advisor, we must have done something right during our adult life. I believe it is crucial that we develop a relationship with a financial advisor who is more than simply a number you call and place orders or you stop by their office to make investment decisions. This relationship should include your spouse or other family members who they can get comfortable with and when the time does come , they can call and ask for help in guiding them. Over my career, I have or had accounts with many types of firms including Fidelity, T Rowe Price, some major brokerage houses etc. and although they offered advice and assistance on my holdings, the relationship, as I speak about, was just never developed.

Will you make a million bucks with these advisors that are discussed on TOTV, probably not but most likely your money will grow. It may take 6-12 months for them to really know your comfort level, and how aggressive or conservative you are, but you and your spouse will be meeting with them twice a year where your needs, goals, and desires are discussed. From the 3 big advisors discussed here (Fross, Baum, and Paraday) each brings something different to the table, deal with different type of clients, and what may be good for you, may not be for me, but in the big picture, its the relationship that matters most.

Here's to Good Investing!!

Protect your retirement, heard good things about TB Financial
 

I have heard nothing but great things about TB Financial Group just outside of The Villages in Fruitland Park. Liz Cornell is the financial retirement strategist you would be working with, and TB holds free educational seminars called Annuity University 101, which help you to understand the "tough" questions you may have that most investors won't talk about... I know that they advertise their seminars in the Daily Sun. My friends say they are very informative and knowledgeable and host awesome client socials as a bonus.

Most if not all financial advisors do not have your best interest in mind. They have theirs. They will sell you products that pay them the highest commissions. No one will take care of your money like you will and it is really easy.

1. Determine the best asset allocation for you at your point in life based on your risk tolerance. There are many online tools that will help you do this. Age in bonds is a bit to simplistic for most people but not a bad place to start. I use 60% stocks and 40% bonds, but that is much higher risk then most retired folks should have. Try 50/50 or 40/60.
2. Buy a total stock market fund, a total international fund and a total bond fund from a very low expense mutual fund company. Vanguard, Fidelity or Schwab all have them. Buy them in a ratio of your desired asset allocation.
3. Re-balance once a year on your birthday.

Very simple, very low cost, and will beat the returns of all financial advisors. There are 100's of articles that will tell you that over any 10 year period in the history of the market that this approach will beat all actively managed portfolios and have lower downside risk. The only way you can achieve higher returns is to take higher risks and that will always have a down side.

I will be more than happy to help anyone set this type portfolio up for free. Have you do everything yourself so you know how to do it. I have managed mine like this for years. I do use some slight variations on this that add small cap and value funds, plus some international bonds, but I do not recommend that for others. Keep it simple with just 3 funds. Keep the bonds in tax deferred and the stocks in taxable if possible.

But where are the customers' yachts (or polo ponies)?

Once again I totally agree with l2ridehd.

Agree on all points.

Agree...I think we need a Bogleheads club in TV. It would be fun to share these simple principles and save folks $ in fees. I consider it a hobby and there's always more to learn.

My spouse has no interest in or knowledge in investing. I have left her instructions to call Vanguard and go with their advisory account in the event of my death or becoming incapacitated. They currently charge .03% for that service
which is quite fair.

As for Fross, Baum, and Paraday stay well clear of them, as their super high advisory costs will take most if not all of your potential gains.

Just think about an annuity. You give an insurance company your money and tie it up for ten years. If you want it back before then they charge you a penalty on your money. Any rube can sell you an annuity. And I mean sell you!

As said before this is not rocket science. Take l2ridehd's advice.

Part of the reason for keeping it so very simple and using just a 3 fund portfolio is so your spouse or someone with very limited experience and interest can continue to manage it.

I keep a book called for lack of a better name "my death book" and in there is all the information my wife will need when I go somewhere else. And a couple of pages are about how to manage our investments. I even include what to do if the market drops 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50%. When and how to re-balance. When to get more conservative. And why to manage it this way. What to do if she feels she can't manage it. How to un-freeze the credit reports, living will, when to turn off the machines, what to sell and what to keep. Even have anticipated values for land and other owned assets.

I have even written my own obituary and provided the deeds to our burial plot. Even who to officiate, who to hold the funeral, and have even purchased and installed the headstone. :wave:

yes I have
 

yes, me. I did better managing my own.

Dana Anspach;
"It still amazes me that so many people thing a stock broker or investment adviser has some stock-picking prowess, market knowledge, or timing insight that the rest of the world doesn’t have.
Think about it; if you truly had superior skill to time the market or pick stocks, you would trade your own account on a full time basis."

3 Reasons You May Be Focusing on the Wrong Retirement Goal

Bonnevie, good for you. I'm glad it has worked so well. I don't use Fross and Fross myself, but the OP's question concerned advisors in The Villages. I know a number of people who use them and are pleased with their choice.

Has anyone used Blackston Financial on 466? What are your thoughts?

now doing a mix
 

I don't entirely do it on my own now. I am using Fidelity which gives me the option of having them manage it for a fee, or to give free advice and I make the trades. I am doing a mix. If I can perform better using index funds then I will take over all my investments.

It wasn't until I went there that I fully discovered the mess that some of money was tied up in that I can not get it out of for years....

Fidelity Freedom Funds which are target date funds are good choices also. I have one in a 401k that I haven't moved into an IRA.

Been with Fidelity a long time...TRUST them whole heartedly and the "advice" rather than "sales pitch". Nick Langler at Lake Sumter Landing....ALSO, their computer software programs to self analyze your portfolio against stock and bond indexes are OUTSTANDING....they "advise" and you can go home and easily do a reality check with their tools online AND implement yourself for free....LOVE their "NTF" no transaction fee queries.....I left Merill Lynch for them....!!

Raymond James in Brownwood......so far so good....

Might consider keeping your old advisor. Use Skype and you can talk face to face.

I continue to use the advisors I have used since I was in my twenties and thirties who have done well for me plus myself. IMHO things have worked out very, very well!