Financial advisors

Archived discussion from Toril-2.
Dalar
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Financial advisors

Postby Dalar » Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:52 pm

So what do people know about financial advisors, including Ameriprise. Discuss.
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Corth
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Postby Corth » Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:22 pm

Don't goto one unless he/she is recomended by someone you trust.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

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Postby Zabam » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:38 pm

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't use one. Maybe if I hit the Powerball I'd might, but then again why as you can do everything that they can. The amount of work on your end depends on the type of investments you're interested in. Mutual funds are very easy (many have websites) and stocks do take some research time to contact the company about the process of buying their stock.

I have friends with good and bad experiences. Corth hit the nail on the head concerning "trust". Wherever/however you invest, you need peace of mind.

If you are starting out in the investment world, I'd recommend finding a local stock investors club. They usually get together to discuss investment issues and strategies; may be a good local asset to find decent avenues to put your hard earned money into. Sometimes they advertise in the local newspaper "local events" or "clubs and meetings" section.
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Postby kiryan » Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:04 pm

i advise you find a professional from a reputable firm.

they'll probably try and shuffle you off to a junior investor in their group, which is not bad, but I'd press for a more experienced member. They'll try to throw you off by saying you dont have enough money to work with the their top investors and its probably true.

but before that, you need to understand what you are want to do and let them give you suggestions on what to do to reach those goals. Without concrete, specific goals they really can't help you. Early retirement, buy a house in 10 years, or have 100k in liquid assets by age 35... you really can't just walk in and say I have x salary x bills what should i do with it.
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Corth
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Postby Corth » Sat Feb 11, 2006 2:24 am

I tend to think that FA's are a bit overrated. Learning how to guide your own money, especially at an early age, will pay huge dividends in the long term. It really does not have to be very difficult. As Zabam said, a mutual fund, or maybe better yet, an index fund like SPY, can give you sufficient diversification and make you good money in the long term.

Another thing to consider. An investment portfolio is not just what stocks or mutual funds you own. If you are holding cash you are investor in the US dollar. If you own your own home, you are putting a lot of investment eggs in a single basket - the value of your home. In fact, if you have a mortgage, you are investing in real estate on margin.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.
Lathander
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Postby Lathander » Sat Feb 11, 2006 11:32 pm

Well, I'll have to disagree with Corth unless you have like a hundred bucks to invest or something. That's like someone writing a will without a lawyer. :P

Don't know what kind of capital you are looking to work with, but I'd look for a CFP or CIMA designation myself. As someone else said, who you work with or who you get to work with partly depends on what you are trying to do and how much risk you are willing to take. The other thing is the amount of capital you have to put to work.

Lath
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Postby Corth » Sun Feb 12, 2006 5:37 am

Heh.. plenty of people are quite capable of doing their own will :)

Lat, I'll concede that if there is a lot of money to watch over, it makes sense to pay someone to manage it.

But whats wrong with your typical Joe Shmo maxing out his tax deferred options and then putting whatever money is left into SPY and calling it a day? Not many mutual funds consistently beat the S&P500. Its a mindless investment with historically very good returns.

The way I see it, in order for a financial advisor to make a sufficient return off your average Joe Shmo investor, its costing Mr. Shmo way too much of his limited resources...

Corth
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.
Sarell
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Postby Sarell » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:04 am

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/investors/invest_4.html

I found that interesting at an entry level on investment.

Anyhow... I had a friend who went to a financial advisor at his bank on advice from his parents, he helped him set up a few different places he could put a little bit of money each week for a few years and he was really happy with it. He got good returns and the outlay wasn't really big. If you don't know anything about investing like me, and have some money to play with, unlike me, it can't be bad to have someone reputable who's job it is to help people direct their money help out? There are lots of little jobs in life that you could do yourself, but I wouldn't wire up my house myself even though I think I might be able to do it with a few books and a trip to the hardware store!

I guess it's about balancing how much you have to play with, VS cost of your advisor, VS what kind of returns you can expect to achieve. So yeh, I have no personal experience but my friend found it worthwhile hehe.

Oh _and_ I'll give you some financial advice for free aswell, blow ALL your cash on holidays and entertainment with no regard for the future, it's hella fun! But don't get a credit card that's not your cash!
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Postby fobble » Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:16 pm

I'm only going to post the financial pay I was offered and negotiated with when I was going through employement process as Financial Advisor at AXA in 2002 Spring (I was straight out of college).

Financial Pay
1. 40% commission, no maximum limit. (Earn 40 cent per 1 dollar sold)
2. US $ 25 g or 30 g? Base salary + commission

Requirement
1. I must pass two exams for licenses (forgot which ones)
2. Must meet sales quota of US $ 2,000 ? per month

During interview phases with dept. managers and supervisors, these are some of things they told me.

'You are __ethnicity__American right? Do you goto church? If you do make sure you bring lot of business card because we know church is great place to hand out your cards especially for _ethnicity__american. At first it's odd but after while you'll see them as money so don't feel bad handing it out. Maybe you could even help them.'

Basically, most people who's business card says Financial advisor...they're salesman. If they have some letters showing they have certification such as CFP (Certified Financial Planner) CMA (Certified Management Accountant) CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)than they're actually advisor who can help you plan your stuff rather than looking for commission off you.
fobble
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Postby fobble » Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:19 pm

I forgot to mention that the two exams I was required pass was not for becoming certified in areas related to financial planning. It was for stockbroker license that's it so I can sell stocks...nothing else.
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Postby Ambar » Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:15 pm

I'm sorry but thats like saying all doctors are quacks and all lawyers are ambulance chasers (err sorry corf:P)

I have a financial advisor who .. wow .. advises .. before him I had no idea what an IRA or mutual funds at all were ..

Be chosy, be smart, dont just jump into something becuae it sounds good at the time. look to 40+ years down the road .. etc
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Snurgt
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Postby Snurgt » Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:45 am

If you are going to go the financial advisor route, use fee-only financial advisors, not those commission based.

Also check out the diehards board on the morningstar forums, great bunch with great advice, and the price is right.
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Postby Malia » Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:58 pm

I work with New York Life as a career and I'll be the first to tell ya that 90% of the world just goes through life not even thinking about it, or they think about it for a day or two and do nothing about, or do something 1x and then never review what they are doing or how its working.

All people are told to buy low and sell high, its a really easy concept.

when microsoft started to skyrocket, what did people do.. bought it.
when enron dived to the toilet, what did people do..sold it.

Human nature is to do the EXACT OPPISITE of what we should do =) Most people out there buy high (when something is already doing well) and sell low (they get out of it cuz its doing crapy)

There are programs that at NYL that will help you keep allocation even, say 25% 4 areas just to keep it easy. Over the life of the stockmarket not all 4 will be doing well at once, usualy 2 or doiing well and 2 arent doing so well, so the program will automaticly sell yer higher ones, and buy the lower ones to keep you even again and your gains will be higher then those that sell their low ones and invest in the ones that are doing well, cuz thats buying high and selling low.

I'm not saying that people cant do it alone, but there are good companies out there that know what they are doing. New York Life has been around since 1845, has 12Billion in surplus (if everyone died who had a life policy and we paid out the 12B would be extra) It costs nothing to sit down with someone and talk it over, at least you can get some education on it. Im not liscened in California Brian but if you want a referal id recomend someone down there for you.
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Vaprak
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Postby Vaprak » Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:07 pm

I do most of my retirement investment with Ameriprise financial.

I think the main thing is to do something, anything at a young age. Yes, you want a reputable firm to work with, but you need to make an effort of your own as well.

Try to sock away at least 10% of your gross income if not 20%. Max out your contributions to a Roth IRA and put it in a growth fund at your age. Also if your employer offers matching funds for a 401k you should always do at least the matching amount otherwise you're throwing away free money.

I think once you get past the point where you're maxing out your Roth IRA contributions is when you really need an advisor to help you pick the right investments so that you're not getting socked by taxes.
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Dalar
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Postby Dalar » Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:43 pm

Thanks for all the advice guys! I signed up a few hours before the post for a fee-based FA.

Vaprak: have you ever seen amexsux.com?
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Vaprak
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Postby Vaprak » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:58 pm

My ameriprise advisor is my boss's wife and I've never had a problem or felt that I've been treated unfairly. I only have a portion of my investments in AXP funds as they don't seem to perform as well as some other funds out there so it hasn't been an issue of costing me much money. I've never felt pushed into buying something I didn't want. Of course it's entirely possible that I'm the exception and not the rule. Who knows.

I hadn't looked at that site before, but thanks for pointing it out. I'll ask my advisor (boss's wife heh) a few questions, but she's so nice a lady I doubt she'd do anything bad to anyone intentionally much less me.
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Dalar
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Postby Dalar » Wed Feb 15, 2006 11:52 pm

Yea it looks like the site is made from a couple of disgruntled people.
It will be fixed in Toril 2.0.

Aremat group-says 'tanks i highly suggest investing 20 silver in training weapons from cm to cut down on the losing scales to shield'

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