# Financial Advisors, Do they really Exist?



## needshave (Apr 16, 2018)

As we all get older, we want to downsize. We are no exceptions. We have a considerable amount of real estate property (commercial and residential) that we will want to sell. We plan to leave little behind but we will need someone to advise on estate planning, the establishment of and the side-lining of funds for long-term care, housing expenses, etc. We have met with a reported Elder Care Attorney, but we have obvious concerns with the proposal and I'm not totally convinced our best interests are his goals or concerns. Have you been down this road, do you have some recommendations?

Also if you downsized from your larger residence, did you find a good source of information to facilitate its sell or simply hand it off to a real estate salesperson and hope for the best?

Any information would be of great interest to us. Thank you for your time


----------



## HipGnosis (Apr 16, 2018)

Neither a financial adviser nor an elder care attorney are who you should talk to about that.
You need to talk with an estate planner. 
Don't go to a burger joint and ask for prime rib.

HipG

.


----------



## needshave (Apr 16, 2018)

The Financial Advisor was the recommendation of our Estate Planner due to the complexity of our property holdings.


----------



## Lethe200 (Apr 22, 2018)

I'm a little confused by the terms you're using. Is your Estate Planner the Elder Care Attorney you mentioned?

If he is recommending a financial adviser to you, then what you need is someone with *fiduciary duty *to his/her clients. There are over 6,000 various titles of "financial adviser" floating around but there are only THREE that count. Any broker or adviser with Series 7 or 65 license can invest in stocks on your behalf. But ONLY RIAs can draw up a financial plan for you (which used to be called "estate plan" but legally is now called a "financial plan"):

•Certified Financial Planner 
•Chartered Financial Consultant 
•CPA with Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation 

There is a legal difference in saying: “we can help you plan for the future” (from anybody; I could say it to you without breaking any laws) vs “We can prepare a *financial plan *for you” (only those 3 titles listed above).

You may or may not need an actual financial plan. Be prepared to pay separately for one if you do. You MUST vet the advisers you interview. There are bad CFPs just as there are bad doctors. NEVER use an adviser who has you make any investment money checks out to him/her or their firm. Your portfolio should always be held at a financial institution: Bank of New York, Charles Schwab Brokerage, American Funds, Ameriprise, etc.

Although financial institutions all offer CFPs on staff, I think most people are best served by independents. It can be difficult to find the best ones because really good CFPs seldom do any hard advertising (like TV ads or big splashy sidebar ads on Net pages). They are "word of mouth" people; their customers are next generation family of older customers, or get referred to them by active clients.

Both the CFP, NAPFA, and Garrett Planning websites have very good "interview questionnaires" for use in interviewing CFPs. The first interview is free but it really won't tell you anything beyond the superficial. A CFP has to know a great deal of detail about your financial situation in order to work effectively for you and in concert with your legal and tax advisers. That takes time, so the research you do beforehand is all the more important.

Any CFP will want some idea of the size of your investment portfolio as well as a general idea of net worth. You want someone whose other clients fit roughly with you because that will be the firm's major focus when investing in the markets. You will want to have the names of at least 2, preferably 3, clients who are willing to be referrals for the CFP firm (this takes time to arrange, easily 1-3 months). 

You want to see a redacted copy of a couple of financial plans, *if *you are considering buying one. Almost all are done by computer programs that run Monte Carlo simulations. A cheapo version runs a few hundred simulations. A top-notch software will run retirement scenarios in five-figure analyses to obtain a more substantive report.

CFP Board: https://www.cfp.net/ (most are fee-based)

NAPFA (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors): https://www.napfa.org/

Garrett Planning Network: https://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com/ (all are independent CFPs who work hourly rates)

I think there's one or two other independent CFP groups similar to Garrett, but I have to leave the house so don't have time to look right now. Anyway, hope that helps.


----------



## mathjak107 (Apr 23, 2018)

a good financial planner should have a brain trust working with him .ours is teamed with an estate / elder care attorney and an accountant . the 3 work together when needed to resolve all the issues .


----------

