topic Re: Independent financial advisor in Among Friends

Independent financial advisor

KathyPet — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 08:52:57 GMT

has anyone ever used a fee based independent financial,advisor for assistance? I need to make a complicated financial,decision about where I want to spend my remaining time on this earth. Looking at two different continuing care communities with different entrance fee and monthly fee structures. Very complicated financial decisions looking at long term care insurance, tax benefits for one community involving pre paying for future medical care etc.

I have a financial,advisor who manages my money with one of the large investment firms and I like her very much but she is paid based on fees generated by my portfolio. I want someone whose advice on what options to choose for my future is not in any way dependent upon generating fees based on my investments.

This would be a one shot deal. I would provide this advisor with all pertinent information concerning cost structure for both communities, current assets, monthly income etc. and get them to run the numbers to see if this move is feasible long term and which community would be best financially for me.

Has anyone ever used a independent advisor for help in making a decision such as this?

Re: Independent financial advisor

docsgirl — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 09:07:13 GMT

Hi Kathy,

I have a fee based advisor who is beyond phenomenal. I would only work with a fee based advisor. He has given me financial advice on many an occasion and does not charge me for it. Why don't you ask her if she would run the numbers for you and advise you accordingly without charging you. Good luck. docsgirl

Re: Independent financial advisor

Cats3000 — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 10:13:26 GMT

Years ago, we wanted financial ADVICE while we continued to manage our own portfolios. We tried twice. We were extremely disappointed because the "advisors" were steering us towards high cost mutual funds even though we told them we were content with low cost index funds and low cost actively managed funds. We dispatched the "advisors" and continued to manage the portfolios ourselves as we felt comfortable. No too long ago, we found someone who was willing to look at what we were doing, offer suggestions and let us do our thing. We've done pretty well.

Re: Independent financial advisor

Lilysmom — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 10:21:32 GMT

@KathyPet, you could ask your current advisor for a recommendation for someone who specializes in your task. You don't have to take this advice but it will add info to your search. Do you know anyone else who has done this? A recommendation from someone like that would be good. I would be gathering info from several sources to inform your decision. Good luck. LM

Re: Independent financial advisor

haddon9 — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 10:21:42 GMT

DH and I use an independent financial advisor. He's been helping us since DH got sick in 2012 and doing our taxes for us. (He's also a CPA)

Back in 2012 our advisor was employed and had been working for many years for a large fortune 500 company but decided to retire from it. While working for this company he also had a side business doing taxes for individuals. He opened his own practice a few years ago. Now he has a thriving practice as an independent financial advisor.

Our biggest decision up to this point is how to manage our money since we've decided to stay in our home that we've had for 25 years for the time being. We had no idea what to do when DH unexpectedly retired a few years ago due to his illness. Our advisor is great!

We're going to visit him next week to go over some things. The stock market has been doing very well which concerns me. When we see our advisor he goes over all of our investments in detail and helps us to decide about certain purchases and if they are a good idea financially.

I think if you can find a good independent advisor they should be able to do everything that you need for making this very big decision. The key is finding the right person.

Re: Independent financial advisor

dal23 — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 10:24:47 GMT

I have not, but I would recommend that you do find someone who is independent. You need to make sure they are also a tax advisor. One resource for referrals might be a reputable estate planning or elder law attorney in your area.

Re: Independent financial advisor

Jtdmum — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 10:51:04 GMT

First, Best of luck to you. Lots of big decisions to make. My suggestion if you are looking is to check a few web sites, one is kent dot money dot com, kent smetters is from the wharton school and if you plug in your zip code you will find local fee based planners.

My CFP is not fee based, at one point he was but now works like the majority of them. Again, best to you in your decision making. Good health to you!

Re: Independent financial advisor

CalminHeart — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 11:03:19 GMT

I have a financial advisor who doesn't charge a fee and love her! I've purchased products from her but also spent a lot of time with her over the years needing advice and she never charged me.

Re: Independent financial advisor

jackthebear — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 11:18:02 GMT

we use a firm that charges a flat fee, and it has worked out well

he is independent

Re: Independent financial advisor

Snoopp — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 11:34:31 GMT

I thought fee based included a percentage of investments. I just started looking at a few and haven't seen the flat fee structure yet. Most want a cut of the investments which can be a lot of money.

Re: Independent financial advisor

Peaches McPhee — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 11:49:17 GMT

Check with your county of residence to see if they have an Office for Aging. They may be able to suggest a local nonprofit that does this -- low cost, and just as good advice as elsewhere.

Re: Independent financial advisor

itsmagic — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 12:07:01 GMT

I like @Peaches McPhee ‘s answer but what also came to my mind (since you already have a financial planner) is to consult with an Elder Law Attorney.

Re: Independent financial advisor

Snoopp — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 12:11:17 GMT

Can anyone tell me what they are paying with a percentage of assets invested? Fees I've seen are in the 3-4 percent range. I haven't seen anyone with an hourly or flat fee per project based fee structure.

Re: Independent financial advisor

panda1234 — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 12:15:07 GMT

It is smart of you to look outside the person you are using. Someone mentioned an Edler Law attorney and that is a good suggestion. My brother is an accountant and is very knowledgable in this area as well as others. So, an accountant is also a good resource. Best of luck.

Re: Independent financial advisor

KathyPet — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 13:08:44 GMT

There are Certified financial planners who are completely fee based. They sell no products and receive no commissions. They are paid directly by their clients. Fees are based on the type of advice they provide either ongoing portfolio management or in my case a once and done project asking them to analyze a specific potential decision (moving to a continuing care community, choosing which continuing care community and selecting the right entrance and monthly fee structure based on my financial status). They don’t sell you anything.

Re: Independent financial advisor

KathyPet — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 13:13:57 GMT

@CalminHeart wrote:
I have a financial advisor who doesn't charge a fee and love her! I've purchased products from her but also spent a lot of time with her over the years needing advice and she never charged me.

She may may not be charging you directly but she is making a commission from the products she is selling you. She sure isn’t providing you with financial advice for free. You need to be aware of how and how much you are paying for her services.

Re: Independent financial advisor

chrystaltree — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 17:49:02 GMT

I'd ask your current financial advisor who you know, trust and have a relationship with for a referral to someone.

Re: Independent financial advisor

Kachina624 — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 19:58:27 GMT

I love my Edward Jones financial advisor.

Re: Independent financial advisor

Mom2Dogs — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 20:44:07 GMT

@KathyPet....our advisor is fee based...we are very pleased with the firm as well as how well our portfolio has done since we started working with them.

The situation you are talking about is something that if we were in your position, the firm would help us make an informed decision....but they also handle all our investments, I would 'guess' that if asked they would do a 'one shot' deal with a customer.

I would find a firm, and just ask. You might prefer to put all your investments with the 'new firm'...we found that a fee based advisor was better for us than one that charges for every little thing that you do...our fee is based on our investments. Good luck!

Re: Independent financial advisor

Financialgrl — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 11:59:37 GMT

@Snoopp wrote:
I thought fee based included a percentage of investments. I just started looking at a few and haven't seen the flat fee structure yet. Most want a cut of the investments which can be a lot of money.

Pretty much true; however, I know my planner/firm will allow ppl to make an appointment and not be a client or choose to not become one and receive one time advice and seen the charge for that be quoted as "$800". That's either a little or a lot of money depending on what you want them to do.

If you choose to handle your own investments but say every other year get a second opinion it's probably cheap. If you think that $800 buys you the chance to pick up the phone and continually call back to ask other questions, I'm guessing they probably decide at some point that you've crossed the point where you now are into another whole scope of work and you'll have to pay again or more.