A good financial advisor can help you choose smart investments, map out your income needs in retirement, give you advice on estate planning, and maybe even help you save some money in taxes along the way. In other words, he or she can help you form a solid investment plan that changes with you. A not-so-good financial advisor might not do all—or any—of those things well. Here are five signs your financial advisor isn’t doing a good job. 1) The Investment Strategy is the Same for Every Client If your financial advisor is applying the same—or even just a very similar—investment strategy for every client, then chances are your unique financial situation and goals aren’t being taken into consideration. Lots of folks have similar goals, but a one-size-fits-all approach indicates that pretty much everyone has the same financial objectives, which is usually not the case. [+] Read More

Here are three approaches to generating the desired amount of retirement income. When deciding which option – or combination of options – is right for you, we’d encourage you to seek the help of a financial advisor. 1) Get the Most Out of Your Social Security Retirement Benefits There are several strategies to consider when trying to optimize how you activate your social security retirement benefits. We’ve written about two methods in particular that may help you increase the size of your Social Security check, if executed correctly. The first is the Restricted Application for Spousal Benefits, and the other is the File and Suspend Strategy. [+] Read More

According to a study conducted by benefit consultant Aon Hewitt and advice firm Financial Engines, investors who did not use the help of a financial advisor tended to underperform with their investments. The study looked at the 401(k) returns of more than 425,000 savers from 2006 through 2010, and found that the median annual return of those who got professional help was almost 3% higher than the return for those who invested on their own, even after taking fees into account.1 Why Did Investors Without a Financial Advisor Underperform? According to the study, one of the reasons for the performance gap was that the investors who self-managed were far more likely to be too aggressive or too conservative, instead of a diversified balance of the two. [+] Read More

One of an investor’s main goals in retirement is to have his or her income needs met for as long as they live. But sometimes folks forget to plan for how their spouses and families will have their income needs met as well. The central question to ask yourself, and it’s a difficult one, is: “If I pass away tomorrow, will my nest egg be able to support my family’s financial needs?” Here are four steps investor’s should take to find out how prepared they are, and whether or not their nest egg is big enough to support their family’s needs. 1) Take an Inventory of All Valuable Assets This can be a rather exhausting exercise, but it’s crucial to the planning process. You should have a full list of all of your assets (property, stocks, jewelry, anything with material value) as well as your debt (if any). You can use this list when creating an investment plan, to keep track of how much everything is worth over time. Make the list once, and then have your financial advisor ask you about it regularly to make sure it’s all there and accurately valued. [+] Read More

Thanks to advances in medical technology, folks are generally living longer. This is great news. But it also doubles as an action item for investors, because the longer you live, the more you’ll need saved to provide for your spending needs in retirement. The question then becomes, what is the best way to calculate your life expectancy so you can plan retirement accordingly? When Planning for Retirement, Use a Conservative Estimate for Life Expectancy Everyone can likely agree that when it comes to retirement planning, it’s better to have saved too much than too little. By making a conservative estimate of you and your spouse’s life expectancies, you encourage yourself to save more and invest for longer, so that you can secure your income and spending needs throughout a long retirement. It’s a smart approach. [+] Read More

When thinking about retirement income planning at a high level, it boils down to two main considerations: what are your retirement income sources, and what are your retirement income needs? Answering these questions is an important first step towards creating your retirement income strategy. What are Your Retirement Income Sources? We’ve written before about potential strategies to maximize social security payments, which can help to provide a supplemental boost to your retirement income. But for many investors, a main source of retirement income comes from their investment portfolios. Dividend paying stocks, dividend focused portfolio strategies, fixed income allocations, or selling stocks/portfolio holdings to raise cash are all ways investors can generate income in their investment portfolio. [+] Read More

It’s important to ensure you are getting appropriate value for the financial advisor fees you pay. Ultimately, money spent on financial advice should lead to more informed decisions about how to structure investment accounts, how to allocate your portfolio, what investments make sense and what steps need to be taken to reach your financial goals. In order to justify the cost of a financial advisor, we believe investors should expect these four things in return: 1) Sound Financial Advice There is a wide range of information your financial advisor should be able to provide you, including how to structure your accounts, deciding which accounts to use for income, assisting with important financial decisions and events, and helping with your estate plan. It helps if your financial advisor is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)—they should be able to offer advice pertaining to more areas than a normal financial advisor, including insurance and tax planning.1 [+] Read More

In a previous post, we examined various investment products and the potential investment fees associated with each. Many of those investment products—like mutual funds and annuities—may have fairly complicated fee structures. In some cases, it may be difficult to ascertain what the investment products actually cost you. We believe there is a potentially better solution for high net worth investors when it comes to investing and understanding the investment fees you’re paying. How Investment Fees Work in Separately Managed Accounts A separately managed account is one in which you give a money manager or financial advisor discretion over what investments to make on your behalf. The financial advisor or money manager may purchase individual stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, and so forth. Typically, separately managed account fees are a percentage of your assets under management which are deducted or paid every quarter. There are often no commission charges for trades, and the fees are often easier to understand than many other investments out there. [+] Read More

How much you’re paying in investment fees can depend on what type of investments you own and the services offered by your financial advisor. Below, we’ll break down some of the more common investments and offer you tips on how to calculate the fees you’re paying. Mutual Funds The annual fees for investing in mutual funds are known as a fund’s “expense ratio.” These are calculated by dividing the fund’s operating expenses by the average dollar value of its assets under management. Operating expenses are taken out of a fund's assets and lower the return to a fund's investors.1 There can also be other fees associated with mutual funds, such as those incurred through investor purchases, mutual fund exchanges and redemptions, investment advisory fees, marketing and distribution expenses (also known as 12b-1 fees), brokerage fees, and custodial, transfer agency, legal, and accountant’s fees.2 [+] Read More