Independent financial advisors - rip off or worth their cost?
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If you get a good one, hang onto him or her. But it seems as though you've not had good ones, and after 10 years you have developed enough financial education to work things out for yourself. I'd say definitely do your own investment research - I personally swear by the Guardian Money Section on Saturdays - but there are probably other papers. There has rarely been a financial issue I've not understood from reading it, although I do sometimes have to read the article twice !
going by their lifestyles,thay are a rip off,i know one.
Go to www.suzeorman.com or watch her show on CNBC (if you get it there). I believe she says if they immediately tell you what their take is, then they are not a good one to go with. But she has some good info on her site. You might consider finding one of her books at the library too. She's a financial advisor herself, but offers her info for free via her website, show, and books (if you check them out instead of buying them).
I guess it's the luck of the draw. I had one for 10 years who earned his money through commission on products he sold me. Recently he told me that he wanted to change the way he earned his money, and charge fees up front, and I would receive a better more personal service.
I took that as confirmation that he gave me crap service for a long time, and was only interested in the sales commission and not really interested in reviewing my policies and needs.
This made me look for another IFA and I found one that seems good so far and has told me that he will review my pension portfolio on an annual basis to ensure that the allocations to different funds are appropriate.
This is what I call a value added service and is what my old advisor did not do. Whether or not the new guy is any good remains to be seen, but I'm willing to let him try as he was a recommendation from a friend
My approach to investment, if I had the time, would be to stock pick myself. You gotta have the nerve to do this though. So much easier to put it with a big mutual and let them send you a statement annually. But this will mean you have little control over your money and you get charged loads for a rubbish performance.
I should agree with you that you should see some growth in 10 years. On other side I think you have waited too long to make move. Most will move if they don't see any growth in year or two.
There are two problems in this industry. 1st customers are greedy and wants maximum return without understanding the risk. 2nd is more crooks than honest professional in financial industry. And 3rd is media who shows big pictures on stock tips and small investor thinks financial magazines are 'THE BIBLE' to become rich!
I worked as financial planner for years. Financial professional analyze market much different way then most others. Problem is customer thinks that financial professional has a magic to make money grow! (if they do, they won't be working!) It doesn't happen that way. FA helps you select the best vehicle to make your money grow with lowering the overall risk, reducing tax liability, however FA can't predict uncertainty like 9-11 or natural disasters.
I would suggest you to get some references before selecting new FA.
It depends on the person. If they are charging you up front it is a rip off, there is no way they can justify that. the % per year should mean that you are in an advisory platform, so it is cheaper to place trades. It helps if you trade a lot but not if you buy a couple stocks and leave them for years. Sounds like whoever you were talking to was a scam artist though, trying to get your money up front without doing anything. and your old IFA probably invested you a lot in tech stocks before the crash and has been trying to dig back out. But really this question is like asking if you should buy from a used car salesman, it depends on the salesman, could be a great deal, or you could lose a lot of money.
Also: Financial advisors have nothing to do with taxes and are not certified to give tax advice, so ignore that comment. And a financial advisor is not a fund manager, the idea of a financial advisor is to put you into the kinds of investments that are right for you based on timeline, risk aversion, and the market. Unless you spend all your time researching these things (not to mention getting a degree and certifications) there is no way you are going to know as much about what is suitable for you as someone who does it for a living every single day.
try this site for tips and know how..
www.bestinvest.co.uk
all the best!
They are a huge rip off. Only go to them for complicated tax situations with which you are not familiar. For straight forward investments the double layer of charges will kill you. Use your common sense, like I do. Academic research has shown repeatedly that 80% of fund managers do not beat the index.
I received a invitation from a big firm of IFAs, to invest in a selection of UT supervised them and when I calculated the long term effect of the total charges (which were well concealed), I could not believe my eyes. I can give you more info on this if you want.
i work for a company which is savings and investments. and from my time there the IFA are better than the FA's simply because FA's are paid a set amount of money, so if you're money isnt doing well it doesnt matter to them cause there still getting paid.The IFAs tend to do more work because they are working commission, so if you're funds dont do well neither do they. HOWEVER, i get numerous amounts of calls a day from FAs and IFAs asking ME what to tell the customer and which product is performing the best. Most of the FAs and IFA dont actually know a great deal about what they are selling, and thats what worries me the most. They can perform the speeches in your dinning room, because its rehearsed, and it may seem overwhelming and impressive.. but really.. its not!!
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