Is it worth it getting a financial advisor?

A financial advisor through my bank costs around $30 a month, is it worth it?

No offense to the people before me, but they are wrong. I was a financial advisor at a brokerage firm, and wealthy individuals definitely DO NOT pay 2% to have their money managed...it's actually under 1% because most companies can do the same for you so it becomes a competition on pricing. Now that I am in banking, the bank financial advisors WILL NOT only offer proprietary investments (investsments that this particular bank sells), as they will offer everything else. Be careful, because not all advisors and banks will be like that...some will sell proprietary because it makes their company more money in the end.

It really depends on the amount of money you have to work with, time you are willing to focus on doing it yourself versus letting a professional do it, and how long you are committing to investing your money. There are a few other factors to go with. My opinion and I have heard it at the 3 different banks that I have worked at, a bank financial advisor has much more to lose if you get mad at them. You'll probably end up moving the rest of your accounts as well somewhere else. On the other hand, brokerage firms like Merrill Lynch do not necessarily care because it's only 1 investment account to them and not bank accounts along with it. Either way, a bad experience hurts a company much more than a good one helps the company. Think about it...how many people do you tell about a bad experience versus a good one?!

If you trust your bank, use one of their advisors. You have to like the person as much, if not more, than what they are offering you. That advisor is making a commitment with your money....so you should trust him/her. Whether I offer investment A to you at my bank or another advisor offers you the same investment A at their bank, it really comes down to who you like more; the investment performs the same everywhere.

If you don't like/trust your bank, then find out who your friends, family, coworkers, etc. use and go to that person. You're not obligated in any way, shape or form, with an appointment!

Good luck

The factors that are relevant are:

How much money do you have to invest?
How knowledgeable are you about investing?
Do you have the time to manage your portfolio?

If you only have a few thousand to invest it would not make sense to pay anyone $360 a year for advice.

Even if you had $10,000, $360 is 3.6% of you portfolio. Still not worth it.

In my opinion you want your investment expenses to be lower than 2% of your portfolio. And hopefully less than 1% if you have decent knowledge of investments.

That sounds like a good deal. But, be aware of how objective they are in their investment recommendations. What are the banks relationships with the investment products they recommend and are they making commissions on these products. And are they only recommending their own in house investments.

Depends if they make you money or not.

A Financial Advisor through a brokerage makes sense, but what could a bank's "financial advisor" possibly tell you that you don't already know?

If you have a total portfolio of $100,000 then paying ANYONE $30 a month is nuts! But if you have assets of $500,000 or more, you should find a broker who will either work on a small commission based on how much she grows you portfolio, or on a negotiated fixed fee.

No you should not get a financial adviser unless you want to invest in something sadly the financial adviser for a bank has the banks interests in mind and not yours he will tell you about the banks options for you but not of any competitiors so you would not get an objective opinion which is crucial instead you will get a salesman that you have to pay for that is going to suggest the banks investments only that make the bank money I am taking accounting classes.

This seems to be a bit high. Typically the financial advisors will use "canned software" to tell you that you need to have x% of your assets in small cap stocks, y% in bonds, pay off credit cards etc. The high net worth people typically pay 2% of their assets to have a bank actively manage their assets. It is worth meeting the financial advisor just to get a sense of how good/bad they may be and try to negotiate the fee.

Usually not. You are usually your own best financial advisor.

For less than $30 you can buy Mutual Funds for Dummies or Boglehead's Guide to Investing and learn most of what you'll need to know about investing.

Banks are notorious for charging high fees for their investments. I would venture that a their advisors are also high-cost. You would be paying $360 per year for advise, and I highly doubt it would be worth it.

It could be, but consider this: every dollar they charge is a dollar more you have to earn to make it worth your while. Most mutual funds charge about 1% for administration and maintenance fees. Much more than that and the fees are an unacceptable expense in most finance circles.

If they are charging $360 a year, that means that 1% is $36,000.

So really, $36,000 is the mimumum you should have to invest with them to even consider them. If you do have that much, then you need to check them out to see if they are good enough to do a better job than anyone else would do.

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