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Need Advice Recommend your financial advisor

Discussion in 'General Chat Forum' started by Brewer, Mar 16, 2010.

  1. Brewer

    Brewer New Member

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    Looking for recommendations for someone that can give us some good advice about solid investing and how to set up a portfolio, how much cash to keep around and how to get our money working for us.
     
  2. Twriter

    Twriter Get a Mac!

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    Rule #1. Never choose a financial advisor that works for a brokerage firm. They have a vested interest in running up your charges. Choose an independent.
     
  3. luftinarr

    luftinarr Member

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    Irv Ackerman, www.irvackerman.com, 703-430-6527. He does taxes and financial planning, doesn't work for a large firm (he works for himself). We've been with him for 10 years.
     
  4. Pluto

    Pluto New Member

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    Any idea about Ameriprise financial advisors? Do they belong to this category?
     
  5. jw25413

    jw25413 New Member

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    never use Ameriprise financial ( American Express that who they used to be) they rip you off like no tomorrow on there monthly fees
     
  6. Twriter

    Twriter Get a Mac!

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    I've never heard of Ameriprise, but it sounds like jw25413 has direct experience.
     
  7. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    I would concur with JW25413 - never used them, but have heard some pretty bad things about them in the past.
     
  8. doberman

    doberman New Member

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    We do use an Ameriprise financial advisor, and so far so good. We pay an annual fee, not any monthly fees. We didn't shop around to determine whether we're getting a bargain, but I feel good about the service we receive for the price we pay. Our agent advisor is very responsive.
     
  9. webeadams

    webeadams New Member

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    I'm checking out Irv Ackerman, his website looks good. Thanks for the suggestion. Has anyone worked with the Charles Schwab company? I am looking to switch from MorganStanley SmithBarney.
     
  10. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    We recently had a financial assessment with Primerica and were happy with it. We didn't do anything very extensive but felt the advice was solid. We didn't pay anything. Message board user Poptart is affiliated with them.
     
  11. rich351854

    rich351854 New Member

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    I have to disagreee with the crowd... large investment firms are exactly where you should go. The people have the backing of large research groups and typically the brokers earn more than those working independently. The hard part is finding one with the experience to manage your money.

    I would suggest looking at firms like Merrill Lynch (now BofA), UBS or JPMorgan
     
  12. webeadams

    webeadams New Member

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    Thanks for the suggestions. MorganStanley SmithBarney basically told me they didn't want my business anymore because I was too small potatoes - they only want customers with $250,000 or more. :( So that is why I'm looking to switch.
     
  13. '03 Cavalier

    '03 Cavalier New Member

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    I might be in the minority with this opinion, but I believe there's little (if anything) a financial advisor can add in terms of value. You're best off going with a self-directed indexed portfolio. There are virtually no barriers to entry in becoming a financial advisor, so most don't have any additional insight (and hardly any additional education) to offer on the markets. Plenty of studies have shown than any sort of active management (where an advisor picks stocks for you, or you buy an actively managed mutual fund) always underperforms the market indexes over any sort of long-term horizon (once you get over 3-4 years). Anytime you see a firm advertising that they've beat their benchmarked averages, keep in mind that all they're doing in cherry picking the handful of funds in their fund family. By pure statistical probabilities, every large firm is going to have a fund or two that beats the market for a couple of years. The same goes with any financial advisor.

    There's plenty of good free advice online about asset allocation based on your age. Aside from figuring that out, you're best off putting everything in your equity allocation in broad-based index funds (both U.S. and international). The key is picking index funds with low expense ratios. Some charge an absurd 1% expense ratio yearly. That will quickly eat up your gains. Vanguard funds and ETFs are typically very low fee across the board (some under 0.1% yearly) and a great choice.

    Bottom line, there is ZERO reason you should ever being paying anyone any sort of annual money management fee. Even in the tiny chance they actually do beat the market for a few years running, their management fee will eat up any advantage. And never believe anybody who picks stocks for your portfolio. Stock picking won't get you anywhere and typically the advisor is being compensated on the back-end for pushing this or that company.

    Don't feel bad about being booted from MorganStanley SmithBarney :) The only reason their financial advisors are in business is to eat up a percentage of your monthly assets. It's a blessing in disguise.
     
  14. '03 Cavalier

    '03 Cavalier New Member

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    One last thing: If you're looking to choose a good self-directed broker, the Barron's rankings are pretty useful: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/BA-OnlineBrokers_090316.pdf

    I believe some actually give you a couple of free mutual fund trades per month. I know Schwab has some extremely low-cost index funds (some lower than Vanguard) as well that it doesn't charge anything for trading.

    In case you couldn't tell, I'm extremely passionate about this subject. :) There's a lot of great data out there supporting passive (indexing) management over active. Let me know if you're interested, otherwise I'll stop spamming your thread now!
     
  15. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    However, if you're looking for some budgeting and money management advice, especially in regard to the best ways to invest your money (regardless of what specific companies you invest in), a financial advisor can be helpful. We received info about the difference and pros/cons of Roth IRAs versus regular IRAs, CDs, education investment programs, etc. We also received a financial assessment of our debts and net worth and advice on how to save money and pay down debts. We were also advised about life insurance beyond what an employer might provide.

    If you're looking for advice about which stocks to buy and things like that I don't have any tips for that.
     
  16. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Bingo

    Financial Advisor != Stock Broker
     
  17. Steve Campot

    Steve Campot Broadlands Real Estate Broker

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    I would call Jeff Kelling at 702-499-9613. he is also with primerica. He will take you through all matters financial and never try to sell you a stock. He looks at the big picture and has the backing of a large company.

    Good Luck,
    Steve Campot
     
  18. poptart

    poptart New Member

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    Thank you, Villager :) I'm happy to do a complimentary consultation for anyone who's interested just so they can get a sense of what services I provide. Please PM me here or send me an email at sgatesshannon@primerica.com

    Thanks!
     
  19. Brassy

    Brassy Hiyah

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    Kaos dad's folks used Westbourne Financial. Through them they use Schwab accounts. We inherited an IRA and have a brokerage and other accounts with our advisor, who has been great and he doesn't charge us anything up front. we pay maybe a 1% fee on sales.
     

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