Independent financial advisor

KathyPet · ‎03-09-2010

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?

docsgirl · ‎03-09-2010

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

Cats3000 · ‎10-07-2013

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.

Lilysmom · ‎03-09-2010

@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

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

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.

dal23 · ‎03-06-2012

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.

Jtdmum · ‎03-17-2010

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!

CalminHeart · ‎03-09-2010

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.

jackthebear · ‎03-11-2010

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

he is independent

Snoopp · ‎02-02-2015

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.