Comments on: I love these hilarious comments from angry financial advisers

By: Houston Mortgage Broker

Houston Mortgage Broker — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:39:11 +0000

In this generation, people tend to be looking for the fast cash, and not necessarily looking for long term investing. In this situation there is really no need for an advisor and if you should choose to use an advisor, I would want a flat fee. This is defiantly a down fall in our economy. There are too many people looking for the easy way out and I think the younger generation is not up to speed on how important retirement really is because they think they will get their hands on the fast money. This could really hurt the jobs of advisors in the future or they may need to charge a commission.

By: anonymous analyst

anonymous analyst — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:16:15 +0000

Not everyone needs an advisor. Those with multiple accounts, special tax situation, etc…yes. The average Joe, not so much. If you truly are deficient in anything investing oriented, but have limited assets, you can do a couple things starting from the most expensive on to the least expensive. 1) Hire and advisor just to do a financial plan. Some will do this for as little as a few hundred dollars. other will charge thousands….not recommended. An advisor will essentially interview you and then develop recommendations which you then can take and act upon yourself. 2) Use someone like Scott Trade. They have very low fees and for that low fee they also have access to advisors. 3) Lastly, open an E-Trade account and buy an asset allocation or balanced fund. Morningstar.com is free and they make recommendations on funds in every category. Look for a no-load fund (meaning you don’t have to pay them an upfront fee for the privilege of buying their fund).

Of course you could always stay tuned here for more great insight from Ramit.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:03:51 +0000

It seems like paying people to buy stuff for you, based on the number of things they buy (unless they only buy what you want, which is counter-intuitive with financial advisors) is like writing a blank check. Here, take my money! I’m sure many are quite ethical, but I’d certainly feel safer with a flat fee. Or a simple index fund.

By: Don Luis

Don Luis — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:06:16 +0000

Somehow, financial advisers appear to be reduced to equity investement decisions on this and many other forums. I wonder, shouldn’t a financial advisor (or planner, for that matter) also take care of such issues as retirement planning, proper tax models, college savings planning, estate planning, etc.?
Of course, while we belong to the below 35 and no kids demographic, we tend to go after the “quick” money that can be made with equities. For that I really don’t need an adviser. But there’s so much more than that to personal finance. Can we trust financial planners for those other issues?

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:47:06 +0000

I like Suze’s message that it’s up to us to take responsibility for our money, too. I’d like to hear your opinion on some of the specific advice she gives, Ramit.

By: Harried Housewife

Harried Housewife — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:41:41 +0000

I thought you’d get a kick out of my recent Suze blog:

http://www.mortgageloan.com/blog/harried-housewife/suze-with-a-z/#more-9

Suze’s bottom line message in the financial advisor column you reference is the right one: Take responsibility for your money and don’t depend on others.

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:06:31 +0000

I like most of the comments on here, well thought out. The only problem with fee only financial planners is that they usually require a minimum amount to work with them, which is an amount that most people don’t have. I just hate how everyone is so narrow minded about financial advising, not everyone needs a financial advisor. Most people should do it on their own, because they dont’ have that much money to deal with. The problem is the same problem with obesity in America. People aren’t disciplined to do it themselves. So it’s just like someone hiring a dietician, someone to coach them to be there and to be disciplined about it. Of course we’re on a financial blog so most of us think we don’t need a financial advisor. Obviously since we’re on here we are already interested in our finances, a lot of people could care less and just want to have that comfort that someone is looking out after their money, because it wouldn’t be them. America had an average savings of -.4% last year…..America is in debt up to their eyeballs.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:14:30 +0000

If financial advisers want to eat, then they can charge a flat fee. None of this commission crap.

By: Doug Bromley

Doug Bromley — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:03:41 +0000

Don’t suppose you’d be able to do any more UK or even euro-centric posts could you? You used to be very national-generic but its becoming more US-centric these days.

I know you’re probably an American but I’m sure there’s a lot you could post about that’d cover everyone?

Keep up the good work.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:49:15 +0000

There’s a great part of “The Millionaire Next Door” where it talks about a guy who was always getting calls from financial advisers because he subscribed to a bunch of financial magazines. Whenever they called he told them: “If I’m going to hire a financial adviser, I want someone who is going to get better returns on my money than I’m getting now. Fax me a copy of YOUR OWN tax returns for the past several years. If your money, which you will obviously manage the best you know how, is earning a higher return than mine currently is, I will hire you.” Not one of them ever pursued his offer.