Bank financial planner or independent financial planner, which one?
 

Any thoughts on using your bank investment firm or would you use an independent firm i.e. Fidelity, etc. for your financial advisor?

Thanks for your feedback.

Prefer to deal with someone who does not earn a commission buying and selling just selling you advise with no ax to grind.

I would definitely not use a bank as a financial advisor. If you really need someone to advise you on investments, I would would hire a "fee only" financial planner, who is a fiducuary, and states it in writing. Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Investments are two excellent companies to deal with. And, whatever you do, DO NOT let someone talk you into transferring your money into an annuity. If you contact a commission based advisor, that is the first thing they will recommend to you, because it will make them a huge commission.

In my opinion. Stay clear of banks!

I would not use a bank.

The reason?

I don’t know if this is how it is in TV, but I know that there are banks in the city I’m from where tellers are instructed to pay special attention to customers who maintain large balances in their checking accounts. (They are told to be especially aware of older customers who can sometimes tend to keep larger balances.)

Then — as part of their “customer service” — the teller is supposed to suggest an introduction to the bank’s investment advisor. (I am pretty sure there are incentives for tellers who make these connections.)

How do I know this?

I know two people who have been tellers, one is a friend who retired from a tech career with a big company but wanted to work part time. She got a job at a branch of the biggest bank in the city.

She said the tellers were constantly pressured to sell, sell, sell — might be just a credit card, but even better, getting money into the hands of the bank’s investment department.

She would not do it. But she did not need the job so she was immune to pressure. She was also very good at being a teller so the boss left her alone.

The other story made my skin crawl. This one was from a woman who had worked as a teller in a downtown bank. She had been there for a long time, and knew many of her customers who had been coming to her window for years. I remember she said her customers were among the richest and the poorest in the city. She loved her job because she liked interacting with people and the day went by fast.

Then the bank was sold and Cruella DeVil was the new manager. The pressure was on to grab those big accounts for the bank.

One older lady had an especially large balance and the teller was told to reel it in.

The teller had known the woman as a customer for a long time. She said to the boss, “I can’t do that. I am afraid she is slipping into dementia.”

To which the boss replied, “So much the better.”

The teller quit.

The banks I am talking about are not in TV. But the stories I am telling you are the reason why I would never put investments in the hands of a bank. Whatever they are selling has to be super high commission to cause that kind of pressure on tellers.

I bank only with community banks, but I do not invest with them either. I have an aversion to big banks because of the stories I just told you. (I guess online banking has cut down on the in-person opportunities for “customer service.”)

Fidelity or Vanguard can help, as can others like them. You can arrange to talk with someone and see if you click. If you are rolling money from a 401(k) or a 403(b) into an IRA, they can help you do that so you don’t cause a tax consequence. They should also help you evaluate your risk tolerance. With companies like this, you also have the option to manage your own accounts.

(Oh my, you asked for the time, and I built you a clock. I must feel like typing tonight.)

Anyway, take your time and find your comfort zone.

Boomer

They all need to make money......fee based or buy/sell.
The fiduciary paper DOES NOT guarantee best interest.
Depending on your balance & your knowledge & your willingness to learn.......FA probably has no value.
All the information you need on investing & modeling is available without a FA.

But if you must......Understand Fees.

I really appreciate the feedback. It's a lot to figure out when I have no expertise in this area. I am trying to learn but need guidance to go in the right direction.

Interesting, we put money into 3 annuities quite a few years ago, we now enjoy a steady stream of income each month from them.

No Expertise
 

Please be very careful and don;t rush into anything.

No on banks. That's pretty much universal.

Finding a fee only financial planner is good advice, but might be more difficult than it sounds.

I am not a fan of annuities. Opinions differ. I just read a book by a retirement expert that explained annuities and how they are constructed - it did not change my opinion one bit -

Going to Fidelity or Vanguard is good advice. Their products do not carry what is known as a front end load, which in many cases is over 5%. I have some money in Fidelity - they do not manage my account, but the local support I receive from them has been phenomenal.

Without reaching too far, it appears you may be single, or recently single. In addition to a financial plan, or part of it, you need to shield your money from any upcoming "relationships" you might get into. That would be an estate planner. There are plenty of them here as well. Do a search for Amy Pittman to get an idea of what services they provide.

Advice to do it yourself is ill advised. If by now you have not developed expertise or confidence in this arena, you definitely need help to construct a plan to grow and protect your assets.

God Luck

My obligatory canned reponse...

In addition to all this good advice, take time to read Paul Merriman’s 3 free ebooks.
1. First-Time Investor
2. 101 Investment Decisions
3. Get Smart or Get Screwed (this is a MUST read)

Found at paulmerriman.com

Many people don't know that a variable annuity is a life insurance policy. It is a contract, not a typical investment. In rare cases, an annuity can be an acceptable product. But, typically, a person who sells a variable annuity will receive an upfront commission of about 10 percent of the amount invested. So, if a client buys an annuity for $100K, the salesperson will get a windfall bonus of $10,000. That is why many annuities are sold to people who should not be buying them. The insurance companies are happy to pay these large commissions because they know that they will recover the money with the annual built-in management fees for the annuity contract itself, and also the management fees for the underlying investments that are made on behalf of the client as part of the annuity contract. Also, the annuity contract will have a "surrender charge" if the client wants to terminate the contract early, usually within 7 to 10 years after signing it. This is a penalty for early termination that many people end up paying. So, annuities are often pushed by salespeople just to get a commission, and not to assist the client with appropriate investments.

Annuity contracts are very lengthy and complicated, and the salesperson will not even let you read the contract until you have already paid for it. Last year, a friend asked me for advice on a specific annuity, so I called the insurance company and asked for a copy of the contract. The person I spoke to refused to provide it, got extremely angry, and hung up on me. I would not advise anyone to sign a contract that you cannot review before signing.

Debfrommaine,

The advice from valuemkt that I am quoting here is excellent.

Everything he has said is in your best interests.

You might want to call Fidelity and see if you can get an appointment to talk with someone in person. That would be a start.

If the money is sitting in the bank right now, don't feel like you have to make a decision right away. Leave it there, even though it is not making any interest, until you know how you want to handle investment possibilities. I strongly believe in maintaining a moat of cash around stock investments. We are never going to see the return on CDs that our parents got -- or even the 5% that some of us got several years ago. But sitting on some cash is never a mistake.

Please give consideration to every point valuemkt made in his post. (I don’t know Amy Pittman, but I especially like that valuemkt said to protect your assets -- and your privacy.)

Boomer

I don't know why my last post showed up twice. The server seems to have gone haywire this morning.

Annuities are great, especially for the salesman selling them.

Old saying is annuities are never purchased they are sold.

The same thing can be said by putting your money in a checking account, or in your mattress............but at least with these options, no fees.


:ohdear:

I agree that using a fiduciary doesn't guarantee good advice. But the financial industry is fighting tooth and nail against laws that require their advisors to be fiduciaries.

Avoid annuities and anyone pushing them. They are not looking out for you. Also do a “broker check” on them. Google it.

Unfortunately most people will not devote the time and effort to understand how to take care of their money and rely upon others sometimes with devastating effect.

we use Fidelity, & are VERY pleased :MOJE_whot:

Beware of bank trust departments as well. I have heard of good solid stocks being sold and the proceeds "invested" in the bank's CDs.

I am going to say that a Fidelity CFP is not a fiduciary but has a commission of assets under management. Now this is from long time fidelity managers who have left fidelity and i have worked with at my current employer(more than one). One of them was a colleague in my finance department and told me of inside stories within fidelity as well as his financial advisor from Fidelity and his response to certain questions. I have also seen some of Fidelity's AI recommendations, and I don't necessarily agree with 100% stocks for a new retiree.

Therefore, I would 100% recommend an independent fee only advisor, who actually will give you an excel model and provide different ETFs or mutual funds with expected capital gains returns and income returns. I want to take the CFP exam prior to relocating so that I can legally provide recommendations along with a model for you to manage your expected incomes, taxes, etc. as income and taxes etc can be a huge mystery for certain personality types.

finance sportsguy

And eventually the money in your mattress will run out. We'll have an unlimited stream until both my wife and I are dead. We have no children or siblings so it won't really matter what happens after.

Although we don't use Fidelity we use another national company and have for 25 years. We were able to retire earlier than we would have had we not had them manage our money.

Whatever you do, please do not get conned into a reverse mortgage by our local high pressure salesman!

I got screwed so bad the first time I let an advisor deal with my investments. Lost a third of my savings. I decided to educate myself and do my own investing. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to letting people use your money for their own greed or carelessness.

At an extremely low ROI rate.............same as mattress or savings accounts.


Unlimited?????.........:1rotfl:...........request your monthly payment to double, see how unlimited your stream is.

There are several things in all these replies that may or may not be good advise. I will list what I would advise and I have been doing my own and helping others for a long time.

NO to annuities. They tie up your money, significantly increase your risk and reward the person selling it to you with your money.
Estate planning is good advise and I use Amy Pittman. She is very good.
NO to banks. Commissions are high, products are expensive and returns are usually lower then available.

I would contact Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab and ask them for a basic investment plan. Make them explain all costs and fees. Using any of those 3 will give you a low cost investment plan. Personally I use Vanguard and my total investment fee’s run about 1/10th of a % a year. Most advisors will charge you 1.5% or more each year plus trading costs. Index funds are your friend. Cost is low, risk is low and returns will typically beat the market. But talk to all 3 and make a decision who you are most comfortable with. Make them explain costs, risks, and expected returns. All 3 have very low cost low risk index funds that can be used to build a very diversified plan.

PM me if you have any questions and I will help you any way I can. I have managed my own for over 35 years and have been very happy with my returns.

AND their free chicken dinners !

Check out Creative Planning they are also a fiduciary investment company with a great business model. We also used them to set up our Revocable Trust.

You hit the nail on it’s head. Your knowledge and willingness to learn

Independent for sure!

Do not trust financial advice from a bank.

A certified fee-only fiduciary is the best person to hire for financial advice.

Actually, an impossible to answer question. We do not know you. Your finances. Your personality.

My view, I self manage my investments. Personality, I would not trust anyone else to do it. Were I to, and do it properly, it would be as much work as it is now. Hum, why did you do that? Was your goal to earn more commissions or to benefit me. Reality, no one works for free. Perhaps, that is not true. I do not pay myself anything for managing my money.

You can if, you wish find people to manage your money and for some it can be a good idea. People often do not understand. If you hire a manager you will pay them. They will put you into funds, ETFs etc. You will also pay the fund,ETF fees so you are paying twice.

Places like Fidelity and many others offer retirement date funds. You can easily compare results to the others-return, risk, fees etc. Perhaps, not true for many of us but, if you are willing to accept more risk for more return, it is you who puts in your retirement date. You do not need to put everything into the fund that says you will retire in 2025. You can put some in a fund that says you will retire in 2050 and except more risk in the hope of getting a higher return.

There is no shortage of brokerages. The biggest are Vanguard, Fidelity and T Rowe Price. Perhaps, I've missed some. Vanguard far as I know has no offices. If, you need advice it is mon to fri 9-5. T. Rowe has closed most if not all of their offices. Phone is also normal business hours. Fidelity has an office in Lake Sumter Landing. You can call
24 hours a day seven days a week and find someone qualified to help you. Sometimes
the person will tell you you need to call back, normal business hours and speak to.........
I do not go there often, but, complicated matters forms etc it is great to know you can get face to face help. I like their reports, perhaps because I am just used to them.
I regularly laugh that their reports keep me honest with myself. You made xx% this year
as opposed to as many of us do. I made 25% on xyz. OOPs I forgot that I lost 50% on zyx

I’ve been very unhappy with my Fidelity representative. All I get are recommendations for assistance that is the highest commission for them. I have now hired a private individual that I am extremely happy with. He also does a first consultation for no fee. In the villages there are many people who are retired from the same profession who offer a great service for less money.

The Villages has investment clubs where you can learn how to handle your own investments, join one or two. Stay away from banks, or if you have to make sure you speak with a licensed person, some have no securities or investment licenses. A local bank here trained a young teller to sell investment advice, no schooling or licenses. Why would you take advice from someone who is only trained to sell investments that make the bank money? I taught myself and am doing amazingly well, join a club, read every book you can about investing, watch videos on Vanguard.com, Fidelity.com and Transamerica.com. Financial advisors for the most part make their money from commissions they get by selling you products, not by following their own investment advice. You can do this yourself, just take the time to learn how. Good luck.

FEE FOR SERVICE ONLY. Look
At the website of the National Assn of Independent Personal Financial Planners.

Investment Advisor
 

Royal fund management, Kelley Pyles, CFP

352 750-1637

The problem is that anyone can call themselves a financial advisor. And, the people who need advice the most are the least able to tell the difference between a good advisor and one who only cares about making commissions. Learn as much as you can and buyer beware.

I would use a firm like Wells Fargo Advisors. I would not use a bank.

Cfp
 

Whomever you choose, check their certification. A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) has the most rigorous certification to do your entire financial planning.

Fidelity likes to promote their actively-managed funds.