How do you find a good financial advisor?

[GasX]

Most preliminary looking I have done (talking to bank, IRA administrator, etc...) amounts to little more than a person pushing the mutual funds with high loads that make them money. Anyone know how to find a good financial advisor that doesn't charge based on assets under management or by forcing you to buy their funds?

I want to put together a plan for me and my future wife that gets us retired ASAP and protects our assets both from the taxman and each other in case of divorce.

 

[GasX]

Noone has any advice on getting advice?

 

[Zombie]

get recommendation from people who do use financial advisors. See if your parents or relatives would recommend somebody.

 

[richardycc]

according to someone, you should ask them what is their net worth, if they have less than 1million or tell you its none of your business, you should keep looking.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: richardycc
according to someone, you should ask them what is their net worth, if they have less than 1million or tell you its none of your business, you should keep looking.

That's an interesting way to look at it.

I just found

this site. It seems to be a good resource - at least for an initial screening.

 

[Homerboy]

Word of mouth... thats how I did it and I swear I have the best guy in the world.

 

[dirtboy]

So you want free financial advice?

Let me guess, you're going to go waste someone's time, then turn around and buy a no-load index fund.

 

[Hammer]

word of mouth. or a friend/family member.

 

[kranky]

I was also uncomfortable with getting someone to prepare an entire plan for me for nothing, when I had no intention of using their products.

So I went to American Express Financial Services and paid a couple hundred for an indepth plan (much more than you'd get free from anyone), and didn't feel any obligation to use them beyond that.

Most of the inputs come from you...

What are your financial goals? What % of your current income do you want when retired? What's your risk tolerance? etc. etc.

 

[merlocka]

I'll do it for free.

1) Pay of your credit cards every month
2) Buy a house you can afford with a 15 year fixed loan and get term life insurance if you have a family.
3) Max out your 401k and IRA
4) Calculate what 6 months of expenses would be and put that amount in a money market account.
5) Take whatever is left over and stick 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund. Use a discount broker.

If you want to get more creative than that, you're probably making a bad decision. If you want someone else to tell you these same 5 things, find a fee-based (not percentage based) financial advisor.

-merlocka....OUT

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: merlocka
I'll do it for free.

1) Pay of your credit cards every month
2) Buy a house you can afford with a 15 year fixed loan and get term life insurance if you have a family.
3) Max out your 401k and IRA
4) Calculate what 6 months of expenses would be and put that amount in a money market account.
5) Take whatever is left over and stick 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund. Use a discount broker.

If you want to get more creative than that, you're probably making a bad decision. If you want someone else to tell you these same 5 things, find a fee-based (not percentage based) financial advisor.

-merlocka....OUT

While that is good advice, it's a little over simplified for my tastes...

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

While that is good advice, it's a little over simplified for my tastes...

Agreed that it's simplified, but you have to admit it's amazing that so many of the population don't do these simple steps. FYI - I wasn't trying to insult you, obviously you are looking for assistance in the planning for various income levels when retired, which a good FA can certainly help with. Finding someone you trust isn't easy and I agree that referrals are valuable here.

In my personal experiance I've found that no matter how good the advisor might be, no one cares about my money more than I do