How to find a "non-biased" financial advisor?

they all make money in much the same way - you take the risk, they take the commission

Firms that do not manage their funds, make money by retailing others' funds.

Same process.

FinAdv look trustworthy. One look and you will entrust your newborn to them.

Don't pay them for their advice. They know nothing of the market only what they parrot off studies produced by other nits. Their licensing is just so they know not to make any promises about future returns and thus avoid liability for their employer and themselves.

What is the solution? Vanguard funds.

biaseverywhere wrote:

they all make money in much the same way - you take the risk, they take the commission

Firms that do not manage their funds, make money by retailing others' funds.

Same process.

FinAdv look trustworthy. One look and you will entrust your newborn to them.

Don't pay them for their advice. They know nothing of the market only what they parrot off studies produced by other nits. Their licensing is just so they know not to make any promises about future returns and thus avoid liability for their employer and themselves.

What is the solution? Vanguard funds.

Thanks for the advice. I'm 100% in Vanguard, but my wife doesn't have that option.

Look for a fee based financial planner close to you. Napfa is the best known organization--

https://www.napfa.org/

Good luck!

they're all looking to make a quick buck

find a skilled close friend or family member to advise you for free

You can find some "fee only" advice at places like Fidelity, Scarborough Group, etc. Pay them a few hundred bucks one-time-fee to look over your situation and offer some advice.

I used to have a company actively manage my stuff until I realized that paying 1% annually for somebody to manage some of my funds which already carried a management fee was plain stupid.

I now use Morningstar Reports and ratings to chose my investments and my 401K allocations - consisting now of some mutual funds, but mostly ETF's. I also don't mix insurance with investments.

Avaya wrote:

biaseverywhere wrote:

they all make money in much the same way - you take the risk, they take the commission

Firms that do not manage their funds, make money by retailing others' funds.

Same process.

FinAdv look trustworthy. One look and you will entrust your newborn to them.

Don't pay them for their advice. They know nothing of the market only what they parrot off studies produced by other nits. Their licensing is just so they know not to make any promises about future returns and thus avoid liability for their employer and themselves.

What is the solution? Vanguard funds.

Thanks for the advice. I'm 100% in Vanguard, but my wife doesn't have that option.

What do you mean she doesn't have that option? Just about anyone can set up an account with Vanguard. It's probably the easiest, lowest cost investment outlet out there.

Go read the book "A Random Walk Down Wall Street". You'll never have to pay for financial advice again.

I'm an independent certified financial planner and I have my own registered investment advisory company. I charge $600-$800 for a financial plan.

Find someone like me. That's the closest you will get to a true conflict of interest free situation.

Hmmm, so you get paid regardless of outcome

Just search the board for old threads by a poster named "Flagpole". He is an authority in matters such as this, and will even explain "the miracle of compound interest " to you

I think you mean "fee only" not "fee based" right? Fee only will act as your fiduciary (in your best interest) Fee based may also sell you some products to their advantage.

Fee only are usually paid in one of 3 ways.

1. Tiered price based on complexity of your situation. (in my area we were quoted $7000 to manage assets of 1.5m)

2. Percentage of assets (somewhere around 1%)

3. Hourly (in my area this is a range from $2500 to $4500)

Sir Octane wrote:

Look for a fee based financial planner close to you. Napfa is the best known organization--

https://www.napfa.org/

Good luck!

^This.

rosiep wrote:

Hmmm, so you get paid regardless of outcome

What's the problem with that? He is offering a service, not guaranteeing an outcome.

If you were offering coaching services for running, would you agree to not get paid if the person failed to set a PR?

Financial advisors will always get paid, regardless. Free advice typically is a thinly-veiled sales pitch, and is rarely comprehensive and non-biased.

Psycho-logist wrote:Free advice typically is a thinly-veiled sales pitch, and is rarely comprehensive and non-biased.

Unless it comes from a close family member or associate. Ideally, you will want to seek out more than one opinion. My suggestion is to develop a rough overarching game plan with a financial advisor and then have it reviewed, critiqued and optimized by a personal associate.

ricedelman.com

They work for 1-2% of your portfolio. No commissions. They have about fifteen categories and split your money to diversify. I believe they rebalance a few times a year. Offices around the country.

I don't see any reason to pay 1% or more, esp if you then have to pay mutual funds exp ratios. that can add up to 2% or more easily. Brutal.

I generally charge 0.7% and use ETFs, for a total of 0.85% or so. Less for larger accounts.

But that's only if they ask me to manage money for them - oftentimes I'll simply do a financial plan for a flat fee and never manage their money. I'll usually recommend Vanguard asset allocation funds in that case. That's the least conflicted route.

Try the CFP website - you can talk to a few CFPs easily that way. CFPs have to work as fiduciaries.

Big Dog Investments wrote:

Sir Octane wrote:

Look for a fee based financial planner close to you. Napfa is the best known organization--

https://www.napfa.org/

Good luck!

^This.

Thanks! I'm spending some time on the website now, scanning through CFPs.