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Posted by Jim on April 3, 2007, 2:31 pm
since I've received such terrific information here, came to think of it, I
should really ask here first :)
have requested my 1st-ever appointment with a financial planner and have no
illusions or plans about going with this particular individual but wanted to
learn through the experience and figured that since I approach new doctors
the same way, I should invest into at least a few 1-hour consultations
so here goes
1. what's generally a good idea on how to prepare for the appointment with a
financial planner?
my own WAG is, to collect a summary of all assets, salary, debts, accounts
with investments, savings, checking and some kind of idea of monthly
expenses now and into the future
be able to elaborate specific goals for self and household (ie. kids in
university, etc.)
2. should I ask about estate planning?
3. how much information is too much?
did I get that right? what am I missing?
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Posted by on April 3, 2007, 3:21 pm
>
> my own WAG is, to collect a summary of all assets, salary, debts,
> accounts with investments, savings, checking and some kind of idea of
> monthly expenses now and into the future
Add in your various insurance policies (life, disability, etc),
And maybe a list of your goals. Any FP will want you to start
thinking about it and probably send you off to come up with
such a list anyway. Retirement? When? College funds for the
kids? A house down payment, etc. Caring for your parents?
There are a lot of things. The FP may even suggest some thing
you hadn't thought of.
> 2. should I ask about estate planning?
If you haven't, you should. A will is pretty important,
even if you have a very simple estate and even if you
have very few people you want to receive it. It doesn't
have to be complicated, and many of your assets can be
handled outside of the will (IRAs, for example, always
have designated beneficiaries, as do 401ks. Most brokerage
accounts and mutual funds will let you designate them,
too)
> 3. how much information is too much?
Too much is hard to pull off. But too *disorganized* is
easy. Take some of the information you've compiled above
and write up a summary. Doesn't have to be complex or
even perfectly detailed, at least not to start with.
Hopefully, you've got the rest of the records in some
sort of organized system of folders. It might be easy
to just bring the most recent statement from each of
the accounts
Truthfully, before heading on down the road to the FP,
I'd strongly suggest reading Personal Finance for Dummies.
It's got a chapter on selecting and evaluating planners -
as much as it appears to be a do-it-yourself book, it's
a great starting point and it has worksheets ot help you
figure out exactly the information you'll want to bring
to a planner anyway (ie. assets, debts, net worth, etc)
and may cover things that some planners (not necessarily
good ones) might skip - like debt reduction. It's a very
basic book and you might breeze through a lot of it
going "yeah, yeah, of course I shouldn't carry a zillion
dollar debt on my credit card!" but it's organized, generally
pretty right on and will help you have a clear idea of
what to expect (or what you should expect) before you
plunk down a lot more money for someone else's help.
I know, the regulars are probably sick of hearing me
suggest this book. And, no, I have nothing to do with
the book, the author or the publisher.
--
Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
No HTML in E-Mail! -- http://www.expita.com/nomime.html
Are you posting responses that are easy for others to follow?
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2000/06/14/quoting
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Posted by joetaxpayer on April 3, 2007, 4:09 pm
BreadWithSpam@fractious.net wrote:
> Truthfully, before heading on down the road to the FP,
> I'd strongly suggest reading Personal Finance for Dummies.
> down a lot more money for someone else's help.
>
> I know, the regulars are probably sick of hearing me
> suggest this book. And, no, I have nothing to do with
> the book, the author or the publisher.
No more than my references to fairmark.com
The Dummies book is one I haven't read yet, but I'm inclined to read it
if only to add to my suggested reading list. My own goal is to take the
list and segment it into an 'objectives' and 'expertise' grid. If this
book is a good one for beginners, and is the answer to many people just
getting started, that's great, and considering this newsgroup gets a
steady stream of new visitors, I'd expect to hear this recommended again.
JOE
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Posted by PeterL on April 3, 2007, 4:17 pm
> since I've received such terrific information here, came to think of it, I
> should really ask here first :)
>
> have requested my 1st-ever appointment with a financial planner and have no
> illusions or plans about going with this particular individual but wanted to
> learn through the experience and figured that since I approach new doctors
> the same way, I should invest into at least a few 1-hour consultations
>
> so here goes
>
> 1. what's generally a good idea on how to prepare for the appointment with a
> financial planner?
>
> my own WAG is, to collect a summary of all assets, salary, debts, accounts
> with investments, savings, checking and some kind of idea of monthly
> expenses now and into the future
>
> be able to elaborate specific goals for self and household (ie. kids in
> university, etc.)
>
> 2. should I ask about estate planning?
> 3. how much information is too much?
>
> did I get that right? what am I missing?
What's his/her fee structure?
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Posted by Don on April 3, 2007, 4:25 pm
> 1. what's generally a good idea on how to prepare for the appointment with
> a financial planner?
>
> did I get that right? what am I missing?
Ask the financial planner how he or she is paid for the services offered.
Paradoxically perhaps, the best answer you could get to this question is:
"You will pay me $200 an hour or so for my time and advice." On the other
hand, if the answer is simply "You will owe me nothing," that is time to
divest yourself of the notion that you are getting something for free and
find out how the payment really comes about. If it comes from the companies
offering the products sold to you, may want to say "Wait a minute, is there
possibly a conflict of interests here?" and then explore the facts about
index funds, exchange traded funds, no-load funds, and so on, before you
act. Another idea: You compared this first visit to going to a doctor for
the first time. What would want to know about a doctor? Well, you might want
to know the same about a financial expert: qualifications, professional
designations, ethical standards that are followed, etc.
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