Traditional financial planning is
the source of most of the stress that people feel in their financial lives. The term "Financial
Planning" is often used by self-proclaimed Financial Advisors as a
marketing tool to sell financial products and generate commissions on the
recommendations. The individual
working with the Financial Advisor generally has almost no way of
knowing whether the recommendations are in their best interest or the best
interest of the advisor. They also have little way of knowing whether
the products could have been obtained elsewhere at lower cost. This is because the
majority of Financial Advisors actually work for a mutual fund
broker/dealer or an insurance company, and don't really work for the client. The brokerage firms and insurance
companies actually control what products can be recommended!
Most believe that if you want to work with a Financial
Advisor, that you must work with someone that ultimately gets paid by selling
you mutual funds and insurance products. That
is completely FALSE!
A better alternative to remove conflicts of interest is to
work with a Fee-Only Financial
Advisor. Fee-Only advisors do NOT sell financial products or accept
commissions. They work for the client and usually are fiduciaries. Meaning they
must only make recommendations that are in your best interest.
You will also get more comprehensive advice from a Fee-Only
Advisor. Why? Because the commission guys only get paid by selling you
investments and insurance policies. Their advice will always relate back to the
products they want to sell you! They have ZERO incentive to help you with
your budget, your estate plan, your tax return, reducing your debt etc. All
they care about is telling you that you have done everything wrong up to
meeting them, and they can solve all your problems if you just buy the products
they recommend. A fee-only advisor will help you with your entire financial
life and be your coach along the way.
So what is the
cost of working with someone that gets paid a commission versus someone who
only gets paid a fee? Well, I know firsthand because I started out on
the commission side of the business in 2001. I was always fighting an ethical
battle with my employer’s management. I quickly realized that there is NO way
to avoid conflicts of interest when you work for a broker/dealer or an
insurance company that makes its money by their advisors selling financial
products.
Let’s look at an everyday married couple as an example:
75k of Household Income
50k of Investable Assets (IRA’s, College Plans,
Non-qualified Accounts)
Costs of the Commission Model:
·
On $50,000 of investments you will typically pay
a sales commission of 4.5% = $2,250
·
Mutual funds also usually cost you more each year
when working with a commission advisor because they have NO incentive to make
sure your mutual funds are cost effective. The 2010 industry average mutual
fund expense ratio was 1.15%. Vanguard, a top NO Load mutual fund company, had
a 2010 average expense ratio of 0.21%. Let’s not forget that load or commission
mutual funds have what’s known as a 12b-1 fee that the commission advisor gets
paid each year. All this equates to an additional $595 per year.
·
How much more in taxes will you pay since the
commission advisor has no incentive to help you with tax planning? And probably
knows nothing about tax planning! Let’s assume you only miss just 1% in
overlooked deductions each year = $750
·
How much more will you spend because no one has
helped you develop a realistic budget? Commission advisors are only paid when
you buy financial products. What incentive do they have to help you budget?
NONE! If you had a coach to hold you accountable could you save at least
another 2%? = $1,500
How much are you wasting on unneeded insurance premiums because you don’t have an advisor that examines all your insurance needs? (auto, home, life, disability, liability, id theft etc.) Let’s assume just $15 a month = $180
How much are you wasting on unneeded insurance premiums because you don’t have an advisor that examines all your insurance needs? (auto, home, life, disability, liability, id theft etc.) Let’s assume just $15 a month = $180
Lastly, what is the cost of bad advice? The last two are unquantifiable!
·
What will it cost you or your family if you
currently don’t have all the appropriate insurance coverage’s in place because your
advisor can’t or won’t advise you in all risk management areas?
· If you go to www.CFP.net,
there are only 7 Certified Financial Planners in Murfreesboro, TN (my home town). There
are about 110,000 people in Murfreesboro! That’s 7 people that have been
through the proper training to help you with every aspect of your financial
life! If you aren’t working with someone that has been properly trained in
financial planning, you DON’T get to wonder why you aren’t receiving good
advice. You wouldn’t go to a medical doctor who was NOT an M.D.! So don’t trust
someone with your money that isn’t a CFP!
Total Cost of Working
With a Commission Financial Advisor in our example = $5,275 +
And more than likely the commission advisor is NOT helping
you with every area of your financial life. Only your investments and life
insurance if you’re LUCKY!
Cost of Working
With a Fee-Only Financial Planner:
Well, this will vary from advisor to advisor, but my fee
for someone in our example would only be about $2,000 to help them with
everything! Including budgeting, investments, risk management, retirement
planning, debt management, and estate planning. And it also would include quarterly
meetings to re-evaluate their plan.
And you would get someone who is coaching you in every area
of your financial life. Not someone trying to sell you a financial product! It makes NO sense to over pay especially for inadequate
advice!
If you would like a free 2nd opinion of what your current
Financial Advisor is doing, give me a call at 615-878-2134 or go to www.jasonwqualls.com. I’ll tell you like
it is… which is also the TRUTH, because I hold fiduciary responsibility to my
clients. I don’t sell financial products or accept commissions! I only work for
my clients!
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