@colorado_mom you may first want to make an appt with a FA that is fee for time first - of course look for one with all the right credentials, and perhaps find someone with personal experience with them. If you find a financial planner/retirement specialist that you want to have review your current financial position/investments - then you can evaluate between the two. Operating under a fiduciary standard thing is big - “This standard requires that we act at all times for the sole benefit and interest of our clients. We believe, as does the law, that the fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care, and that it is superior to other ordinary business relationships. While some financial institutions operate strictly based on suitability guidelines and imposed regulations, we proudly aspire to the elevated fiduciary standard.” To me that means they put your financial interests before their own. He has access to the entire universe of investment products without limitations so they can help us get the most value for our dollar. Don does explain the investments and the fee structures - which we have understood. I just will continue to refresh myself and understand better at our next meeting. Then I can give an ‘update’ on this thread too.
The word fiduciary comes from the Latin fiduciarius, meaning “holding in trust” and from fides, meaning “faith”.That kind of sums up what you are looking for - having someone you believe can do this- enhance and preserve client wealth and estate well.
Don’s stated primary focus is to enhance and preserve client wealth and estate. Our first ind’l meeting with Don was an hour. Then we decided to continue and meet again - and then we eventually shifted some funds. We had experience before with a financial representative that works for a particular company rather than for the client (stock brokerage firm). So we knew what we did not want too.
I knew with some loose ends with money in various funds that needed to be moved/consolidated, we needed a good plan. I still have one last one to eventually move/roll over - with Retirement System of AL in Deferred Compensation Account - that I may be able to move/roll over once I am 59.5 (in April) - I have to call the State of AL (my former employer) to find out…
In 2013 I actually was considering making an appt with a local fee only person - had pulled up some information on some in our area, and then this two evening Retirement Planning course came up - which we attended, and Don was the instructor.
This kind of gives an idea of what we have found with Don. Recently there was a short article on Don in our local paper “On the Job” - his job description “Providing pre-retirees and retirees with income, estate, advanced tax and investment planning strategies for retirement.” Best Perk: “Watching the fear of the future leave clients’ faces. Many people come to me afraid that they have not saved enough for their golden years and are terrified of running out of money. I help create a retirement plan that can provide them with structured income, which in turn makes them feel more secure.” Ambition “When my parents transitioned into retirement, I witnessed the stress they went through, as they were unprepared and alone in their financial planning. This motivated me to pursue a career as a financial advisor so that I could inspire individuals to play an active role in their personal finances. My goal is to help educate and inform others approaching retirement so they can avoid the same challenges my parents faced.” Best Advice Received “Strive for excellence and you’ll be rewarded.” Best advice to give “Focus intensely on what you can control and know what you can’t.” It’s a bad day when “I can’t help someone recognize the important changes that need to be made to their retirement plan in order to dramatically improve their financial situation for the future.”
Our risk tolerance is continually assessed and reviewed; review of social security and tax implications for us. All part of the package - and those areas are important. Every meeting, we review where we are, and Don provides recommendations for us to consider. Attending the semi-annual "State of the Markets’ Don and his two partners present (and we schedule our ind’l meeting just after that, so we can ask about what that analysis means to our financial position).
The short course in March 2013 was at our local University - the small fee paid for the materials which was a binder titled “Life Planning for Retirement” by FMT Solutions. Don taught the course (he has had his own business since 2000). I couldn’t make the first night of the course (which I picked up the binder and understood the material - also H wouldn’t have enjoyed going w/o me) - the second night moved fast because it was a lot more ‘meat’ - even I had to try to ‘keep up’ to process all the info Don was presenting - he moved fast to cover all the written material. The sections were Retirement Distributions, Investments, Risk Management, and Estate Planning (the first night was Life Planning, Retirement Expenses, Retirement Roadblocks, and Income Sources), . Saw a couple we knew if the class, and it reaffirmed that we didn’t miss much with the first class, and they also were absorbing/processing all from the 2nd class. Don explained it all well, and I wrote notes on the various pages. We then signed up to attend the free restaurant dinner meeting which was April 2013 (and I took notes from that). Then we started some meetings with Don with first one May 2013 - and over the period, we consolidated some funds with him. He had a list of items to bring to our initial meeting - most recent tax return, bank/CD accounts showing yields, mutual fund and brokerage statements, IRA’s, 401k’s, etc, any life insurance policies, any annuity statements - fixed, variable or equity index. Also we had a questionnaire, that helped with assessing our risk tolerance. One of his partners ran a dinner meeting June 2014, so I attended and learned from that.
IMHO we have a positive thing going. Snapshot now looks good. We have reduced our risk a lot and our assets have grown.
Kudos to the people that can handle their own investments well.
I hope this feedback helps.
