Financial Planner

[walleye vision]

I was wondering if any of you know of a good financial planner around the cities? One major stipulation is that I will not pay commisions, I'll pay an hourly wage for advice...that's just my philosophy when it comes to this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

WV

[Valv]

My wife works for Ameriprise Financial for past 9 years, give them a try.

[mnhunter2]

You should be looking for a Certified Financial Planner, hopefully an independant CFP whose advice shouldn't be influenced by having a captive contract.

[PerchJerker]

I pay mine a fee (a percent) based on the total assets he manages. The more the value of my accounts goes up, the more money he makes. There is no sales commission, transaction charge, hourly fee, etc.

[Sandmannd]

Walleye Vision, I work for a company and we put plans together for nothing. The way we work is differant than your general fiancial planners and the out of pocket is very minimal. We actually work like PerchJerker's guy. Not really any out of pocket. If you have questions you can email me at [email protected]. I can give you my number if you email me. Don't realy want to put it out on the web.

[insurance guy]

My first recommendation is to talk to your car and home insurance agent that you already have a relationship with. I'm an Allstate agent and I have a person on staff in my office that specializes in financial and estate planning and we will do it for you at no cost because you're an existing customer including a very comprehensive estate plan that many companies will charge a lot for. State Farm and many of the other major insurance carriers are now actively involved in the financial services business as well as regular insurance

[Walleye Guy]

Two areas of advice on financial planners:

1. Before picking any financial planners you should interview 3 or 4 different firms/individuals. If you want to include your insurance agent that is fine. Financial planners will be dealing with your future livelyhood and your family's well being once you are gone. Picking the first one that somebody recommends generally isn't a wise decision.

2. Make sure that whomever you pick has the ability to sell all types of products and policies. Don't tie yourself to a financial planner who can only sell "Brand X" mutual funds or "Brand X" insurance policies. They should be shopping on your behalf for funds and policies that have the highest return and the lowest total cost of ownership.

There are many good financial planners out there. There are also many who's first priority is to pad their pockets with commissions. Getting one who is also certified is also a must.

[mnhunter2]

Before you meet with someone about a financial plan I would find out if the are a Certified Financial Planner, the financial service/insurance industry has a lot of people calling themselves financial planners while only a few are truely Certified Financial Planners.

[fivebucks]

My advise, and something I've been meaning to do also, is to find someone who sells NO product and just charges you to evaluate your situation and make recommendations on types of products to invest in. I am leary of any firm that sells a product because ultimately they will want to sell you something and they will make money that way, and it may not be in your best interest. I haven't done my research so I am of no help to you as far as a recommendation. I am not even sure where to start looking. Good luck and if you find a few good ones to look at please post back here.

[Sandmannd]

Quote:

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My advise, and something I've been meaning to do also, is to find someone who sells NO product and just charges you to evaluate your situation and make recommendations on types of products to invest in. I am leary of any firm that sells a product because ultimately they will want to sell you something and they will make money that way, and it may not be in your best interest. I haven't done my research so I am of no help to you as far as a recommendation. I am not even sure where to start looking. Good luck and if you find a few good ones to look at please post back here.

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This is real good advice. I'm not sure how all other companies work but the one I'm with doesn't charge. We get paid from the companies you invest in. I had a friend I recently worked with and the last person he went to charged him $500 just to draw up a plan. When he came back they wanted him to buy expensive insurance and when he wouldn't they told him they couldn't help him until he bought a policy. With financial people along with mortgage people there are a lot of sharks out there that are laying to take your money. Be real careful who you work with, you should never have to buy anything or put money into something you don't feel comfortable with.