Financial Planners

[compuwiz1]

My father has been an agent with Northwestern Mutual since 1963. In our conversations, he has always put the clients first. I suppose that is why he has such a loyal following, as his renewal rates clearly indicate.

As a teen, I have sat in with him, where I have actually heard him say, you do not need this insurance, where he could have easily convinced them otherwise.

An agent who is driven by a purpose of improving lives, making sure people have what they need, in their own unique circumstances, is served best in the long run, as are his clients.

BTW, my father's specialty has been financial consulting and estate planning.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Modular
Thanks for the replies. I've been offered a job at a firm and I'm trying to decide whether or not to take it.

Can you look a little old lady in the eye, smile and steal her retirement nest egg? Can you sleep well knowing she'll be living on cat food soon, and not the fancy wet stuff either?

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: compuwiz1
My father has been an agent with Northwestern Mutual since 1963. In our conversations, he has always put the clients first. I suppose that is why he has such a loyal following, as his renewal rates clearly indicate.

As a teen, I have sat in with him, where I have actually heard him say, you do not need this insurance, where he could have easily convinced them otherwise.

An agent who is driven by a purpose of improving lives, making sure people have what they need, in their own unique circumstances, is served best in the long run, as are his clients.

BTW, my father's specialty has been financial consulting and estate planning.

I'm assuming does quite well for himself then. This is exactly how I would want to run my business, and how this company tells me they expect me to act.

You don't need to answer, but out of curiosity, is your father's practice fee or commission based? Has he ever run into a lawsuit or anything like that?

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: Modular

Originally posted by: compuwiz1
My father has been an agent with Northwestern Mutual since 1963. In our conversations, he has always put the clients first. I suppose that is why he has such a loyal following, as his renewal rates clearly indicate.

As a teen, I have sat in with him, where I have actually heard him say, you do not need this insurance, where he could have easily convinced them otherwise.

An agent who is driven by a purpose of improving lives, making sure people have what they need, in their own unique circumstances, is served best in the long run, as are his clients.

BTW, my father's specialty has been financial consulting and estate planning.

I'm assuming does quite well for himself then. This is exactly how I would want to run my business, and how this company tells me they expect me to act.

You don't need to answer, but out of curiosity, is your father's practice fee or commission based? Has he ever run into a lawsuit or anything like that?

The problem with doing this stuff is ethics. Sometimes a company will ask you to do questionable things to pump revenue, such as churn accounts to get more transaction fees, or pimp a certain fund that has a high management fee. There are dozens of ways they can play with the numbers, such as risk shifting (slowly changing the risk allocations over time so that the current portfolio is riskier, but higher returning, to make more money), which moves away from the original goals set down by the manager.

It all comes down to fiduciary responsibilities and how strong your company's and your moral standards are. When I took the CFA exams it was beaten into you, time and time again, that you had to act in the client's best interest. I have to sign an annual ethics statement. The CFP has you do that, but it's a much lighter load, and many times it's tossed by the wayside.

Just keep in mind that you will face these pressures. You are a salesman and the amount of food on the table will depend on how much you can sell. Will your company stand by you when you take the high road and tell them that doing something violates your ethics and the fiduciary duty owed to the client? Will your boss be willing to stake his bonus on ethics? Will you?

I'd think long and hard about who you will be working with and in what type of environment.

 

[User1001]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
I have met several CFPs. Mostly they seem like dim-witted idiots who try to get anybody to buy something. Since it can be largely commission based they'll sell their grandma a crap mutual fund to get a paycheck. Most couldn't figure out an efficient frontier if given a book, a calculator, and the answer. I'd liken them to pyramid scheme shills. At least on the low-end.

Thats why you try to get CFP who don't do commission just percentage of assets owned (usually less than 1%) or fee-based

 

[azilaga]

Some people need them, others don't. I have friends that have no tolerance for risk or just plain scared to handle their own money. Financial planners are suited for these types. I like to manage my own funds and be responsible for my gains and losses. So far (knock on wood), I've done alright managing my own finances.

 

[Modular]

OK, another question for those who may know: How do these positions generally get started? I know that some companies expect you to go out and get referrals from people that you know such as casual friends, people your spouse knows, etc. in order to get started. Is that the way that most of these positions start off?

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: Modular
OK, another question for those who may know: How do these positions generally get started? I know that some companies expect you to go out and get referrals from people that you know such as casual friends, people your spouse knows, etc. in order to get started. Is that the way that most of these positions start off?

you have to go out and find customers, like many 'sales' jobs you have to build your clientele from scratch.

so which of these companies is it?

ING Group
AXA
Assicurazioni Generali
Aviva
Prudential
Legal & General Group

my fathers company is under the AXA umbrella FWIW

 

[FlashG]

Anyone have any experience with Raymond James? Good/Bad?

 

[jamesave]

OP: Are you trying to be one?

 

[Knightsman]

Financial planners? You are the best to handle your money. You lose your money your hurt and have a vengeance to get it back... financial planner loses your money (makes you do it) he dont care.. I do invest in stocks myself. Having said that a person better than financial planner is a good tax attorney. That money can actually save you money on taxes or even make good choices like avoiding estate taxes etc.