Comments on: How long should you give an investment advisor before dumping them?

By: Brian Poncelet, CFP

Brian Poncelet, CFP — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:57:43 +0000

This is a great article. I suspect many people who read a lot spend time on their finances can do a pretty good job by themselves.

The one thing I’d say most DIYers miss out is reviewing risk management (insurance). If they are married have kids or self-employed most people have not reviewed this. Generally their idea is to be self-insured which may or may not make sense.

By: dubious

dubious — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:30:16 +0000

My bank is offering me a 5 year floating rate note with fixed rate 3% for the first two years and capped between min 3 and max 7% to the 3months USLIBOR for the year 3, 4 and 5. Am I having a good deal?

By: Xander

Xander — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:42:43 +0000

Michael said:
“They go to an advisor because they can’t handle their investments themselves, and this lack of knowledge makes them incapable of judging their advisors well.”

I agree but seeing as most ‘advisors’ have minimal training it isn’t to hard to learn what they know. A few months reading blogs, a few choice books, and speaking to a person or two who manages their own investments and I’d say you’re just as qualified as the majority of the experts.

Problem is that most are nervous or afraid of what they don’t know and figure it is too difficult or complex to learn. I was on of them until my foolproof, well diversified portfolio of excellent well performing mutual funds inexplicably tanked. At that point I figured I couldn’t screw up my investments any worse than an almost 50% loss. At least I would save the 2-3% mer.

People don’t change things until they become unbearable. People’s level of tolerance varies but eventually most people will have had enough and look for a better alternative. For some it is a new advisor, for others it will be doing it themselves.

Congratulation on the recognition. It is well deserved.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:06:50 +0000

Michael- at what point were you educated enough to know you were better off without the advisors?

2 Cents- thanks for the kind words.

By: A Lap Of The Blogs : WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com

A Lap Of The Blogs : WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:30:37 +0000

[...] My Wallet wonders how long you should give a financial advisor before you decide to terminate them. Hasta la vista [...]

By: Michael James

Michael James — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:00:29 +0000

There is a chicken-and-egg problem here. With what I know now, I can say that two advisors I used in the past we poor and terrible. But I didn’t know that at the time. Even when I’d learned enough that I decided to “fire” them, I still only had a vague feeling that I was better off without them. Very few people are competent to judge the quality of their investment advisors. They go to an advisor because they can’t handle their investments themselves, and this lack of knowledge makes them incapable of judging their advisors well.

By: 2 Cents @ Balance Junkie

2 Cents @ Balance Junkie — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:18:13 +0000

I’m not a big fan of advisors, but I have to agree that lumping them all into one lot is unfair. As consumers of financial services, it’s our responsibility to make our goals and risk tolerance level clear to our advisors. I also think it’s important to learn a little bit about investing so that we know when someone tells us to do something that is obviously not in our best interest.

Congratulations on the Globe mention. This is one of my favourite blogs too!