Ask Terry Questions Choosing a financial advisor

Choosing a financial advisor

By Terry Savage on February 22, 2017 | Financial Planning / Retirement

We have saved for retirement and are now in our sixties. While we have chosen investments ourselves over the years, somewhat haphazardly but with reasonable success, we are now thinking we would like to have assistance diversifying and investing our money. What are your thoughts on active versus passive management at the present time? We have spoken to several individual representing good companies/banks including The Northern, Mesirow, TIAA, and Vanguard. Inevitably we find ourselves overwhelmed as to how to make the decision of who to work with. The industry seems opaque to us and while these sales people will tell you benchmarks for different risk tolerances, they do not seem to provide any insight into how THEY have performed on portfolios for individuals with i.e. moderate or moderate conservative etc risk tolerances. Are there any advisors who simply work for an hourly fee rather than on a percentage basis? We are most likely to buy and hold, but want to reconsult every 4-6-12 months. Thanks tons for any help or insight.

Terry Says

This is a pretty specific question, and I tried to respond by email -- but you must have entered an incorrect email address.  If you could post again, with an email address that works, I will try to point you in the right direction.

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