How To Choose A Financial Advisor

I will soon be getting a fairly large inheritence from the death of a relative. I'm in my mid twenties, still have two years of college left, so I'll need to get a financial advisor but I've heard of a lot of advisors ripping people off or not working for their best interest. How do I choose a reliable one?

Make yourself into one. That is the best advisor you will ever get.

Take and put the money into liquid funds at Schwab or Fidelity. Then invest it as you learn how. Small amounts at a time. Liquid funds at these brokerages pay 4.92 Yield on money market (5.03 APY) and on Yield Plus the yield on that is 5.68% and an APY of 5.88

Dont let the banks or the Merril Lynch's steal from you.

2007-04-15 15:50:09 by Dawood

Advise on how to find a good financial advisor

I have a limited amount of savings. I want to invest to try and increase amount.

Everybody wants to make money off your hard work. Try doing it yourself. First thing is to pay yourself first. Try to put aside 10 percent of your wages. After that, pay the rest of your bills. Read up on things like mutual funds and other investment vehicles and make your own decision.

Remember that your investment goals like risk and capital preservation will change over time. So don't be afraid to adjust. Try not to change your goal more then once a year.

2007-02-06 10:59:36 by ladnerboy2002

I live in Anaheim, CA and am looking to seek the help of a financial advisor but don't know where to start. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

Go to the Certified Financial Planner Board - http://www.cfpboard.org/ to find planners in your neighborhood.

You can also use a CPA with a Personal Financial Specialist designation. You can find them at http://www.aicpa.org/

You should look for a fee only adviser - one that gets paid by the hour or the task. Some advisers work on a commission basis. So although you don't need to pay for their services, you have to be concerned about conflict of interest - the adviser might steer you to a product that pays him well but is not necessarily the best for you.

Advisers are supposed to file a Form ADV which lists potential conflicts of interest. Ask for it and see if there is anything that makes you uncomfortable.

If you aren't a millionaire don't look for advisers who specialize in high end clients. You want someone who is more familiar with your personal financial circumstances and who is also one you feel comfortable confiding in and working with.

2007-08-08 11:19:36 by Rez

I want to invest my money. there are so many investment out here I do not know which to choose. A financial advisor will tell you anything. how do you know who is telling the truth. Anybody can tell me about stock and bonds? I need my money to work for me. I am working so hard I can not see my savings growing because my interest is under $7.00 from my bank. I am getting older I need to be well off before I get to 67 for retirement.

It is never too early to start saving, but ‘retirement is one of the greatest cons of all time. What you really want, what everyone really wants is Financial Independence.

Someone has set up a standard game plan for everyone. It basically goes as follows:
Age 0-5: Baby – Grow Up
Age 6-17: Child – Go to School
Age 18-21: Student – Go to College
Age 22-65: Adult – Work
Age 65+: Senior Citizen – Retire and Die

Retirement usually means that we are no longer dependent on work for our income and daily living needs. Our income is independent from our occupation.

So what you really want is ‘Financial Independence’ much earlier than scheduled for us in the standard game plan. In fact maybe the game plan we really want is more like:
Age 0-5: Baby – Grow Up
Age 6-17: Child – Go to School
Age 18-21: Student – Go to College
Age 22-39: Adult – Work towards Financial Independence
Age 40+: Financially Independent – Enjoy Life

So now that you have a goal of Financial Independence, you need to set a timescale to reach that by and a means of reaching that goal.

In this context you are generally talking about a savings and investment plan that will give you a sufficient amount of money to live off for the rest of your life.

You will need to equip yourself with the necessary knowledge and tools to make this work now.

To be successful you will need patience, discipline, and wisdom. But most importantly you need a plan.

It may prove expensive to acquire that much needed wisdom on our own. Learn by other peoples mistakes. Learn from other peoples successes. Read some books. Visit our local book store and find books that we like and feel comfortable with.

Some of the titles I have on my bookshelf include:
One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch
How to make money in Stocks by William J. O’Neil (Founder of Investor’s Business Daily)
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley and William D Danco

Check out web sites like fool.com and yahoo finance.
Investigate trading strategies with a proven track record over 3, 5, 10, and 15 years.

Diversify. Do not put all your eggs in one basket.

Pick something that you understand, find easy to use and will help you realise your goals. Pick a strategy where you can take responsibility for your investments and be in full control of your capital.

Systems like the Stocks Monthly system (which has generated an average return of 49%p.a. over the past 15 years) are definitely worth investigating once you are up to speed with the nuts and bolts of investing.

2007-06-29 22:54:51 by peaches and cream

I would be interested in the financial backround if it will pay with a base salary sufficient enough and has extra bonuses. I don't want to be working monster hours! I am currently a paralegal with my Real Estate license as well... I want to get into a good career with steady stable hours and one that I can be rewarded for my extra work that I choose to do. I want to work in an office, not at home. Can anyone tell me if they have done this in Houston or the Woodlands, Texas, and how it turned out? I need to know if it is a good idea to get into this, or not. I need to make at least $25,000 base salary. Thanks all.

It's a tough business to get into these days as in all commission jobs. If it does pay a salary, it will be a small one and not for a long period of time. Those financial sales jobs generally dont keep you if you dont bring in the sales. Good luck.

2006-08-16 10:01:00 by veronica_nhc