Financial adviser wanted
 

Hi I am looking for a recommended financial adviser that is local to the Villages. If you have someone that you know and trust, please contact me with their info.
Thank you very much.....

I know several, however I would recommend none. They all have to charge you a fee to manage your money and none of them care about your money as much as you do. None of them consistently beat the market.

I happened to be at Bonefish one night having dinner at the bar and started talking to the person next to me. He was a financial advisor and owner of one of the better firms in the area. I asked him about 6 questions and realized he was a salesmen and not an adviser. Most advisers are salesmen trying to sell you a product, not help you invest.

Here are some facts to consider.
1. In any given year 70% of all advisers and investment firms fail to beat the market.
2. Take it to 3 year and that climbs to 85% fail.
3. Take it to 5 years and 95% fail.

Good luck finding the 5% who succeed.

4. Returns are always directly related to the expenses of your investments. Lower expenses equal higher returns.

So what is a person to do? Learn to manage your own money. The information is available. Read books by Bernstein, Ferri, Swedroe, Bogle, and follow places like bogleheads.org and lazytraders.com. Use very low cost mutual funds from a highly respected company. Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab all have good low cost funds. Use index funds to diversify across the globe as much as possible. Follow the Farma French model for equity investments. Develop your own IPS (investment policy statement) and your own risk based AA (asset allocation). Become a passive investor who develops a plan and follows it.

This will take you less time then finding a financial adviser and a lot less time then finding a good financial adviser. Once in place it will take you at most 30 minutes a week to manage. And your results will always be far superior to any money manager. Go read, learn, and I will be happy to answer any questions or help you any way you need.

Try listening to Ric Edelman on Sunday on WFLA 540 AM at 11am-1pm out of Orlando. His show will give you a lot of insight and good questions to ask a financial advisor so you can pick the right one for you. Unfortunately Ric's closest Florida office is in Boca.

:highfive:
"If there's anything in the whole world of mutual funds that you can take to the bank, it's that expense ratios help you make a better decision. In every single time period and data point tested, low-cost funds beat high-cost funds." – Russell Kinnell, Morningstar's director of mutual fund research.

The expenses you pay is really the only thing that is under your direct control. Start with No-Load mutual funds.

Graunke & Hentz. 352-205-4101, very good and trustworthy. Have been with Jeff Graunke for several years. Very responsive to your needs.